Man-machine interaction and absenteeism

Abstract

Designed a study of a paper products factory to provide objective data for the hypothesis that certain classes of industrial work cause alienation, using absenteeism as an index of dissatisfaction. A questionnaire was developed involving 38 distinctive features of man-machine interaction that characterized 40 different job stations involving a labor force of 230 male workers. Absentee records for a set of 6,000 man-work weeks provided the basis for the computation of absentee rates for each station. Of the 40 job stations, those that embodied conditions where employees (a) set their own pace, and/or (b) could adjust or correct the machine had less absenteeism associated with them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)