The association between psychological and physiological stress responses was examined in 20 male workers at an assembly line. Each worker was studied during a 2 h period on two consecutive days in their normal job and, in order to obtain physiological baseline values, during a corresponding paid 2 h period off the job on the third day. Self-reports of work demands, mood, etc., measurements of catecholamine and cortisol excretion and of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were obtained at the end of each of the three 2 h periods. Work induced a significant elevation in almost all psychological and physiological measurements. Levels were consistently lower in workers reporting a 'good' workday compared to those reporting a 'normal' or a 'bad' day. Correlations between selfreports and physiological values showed that catecholamine and cortisol responses, respectively, tended to be associated selectively with different psychological conditions, catecholamine values being associated with feelings of time pressure and pressure by demands, cortisol values with irritation, tenseness and tiredness. The results show that perceived stress at an assembly line is consistently reflected in cardiovascular and neuroendocrine functions of the workers.

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SummaryPsychological and physiological stress responses of 36 male and 29 female assembly workers were examined during and after work at a car engine factory. Two dierent ways of organizing assembly work were compared, (1) a more traditional assembly line with ®xed work stations organized as a chain and involving short repetitive work cycles and, (2) a new and more¯exible work organization with small autonomous groups having greater opportunities to in¯uence the pace and content of their work. Each worker was examined during and after a normal day at work on 2 consecutive days and, in order to obtain endocrine baseline data, during a corresponding work-free period at home. As expected, both female and male workers in the¯exible organization reported signi®cantly more variation, independence and abilities to learn new skills at work. Workers in both forms of work organization showed a signi®cant increase in urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine during work compared to the work-free day at home. Males had signi®cantly higher epinephrine and systolic blood pressure levels than females. Successive self-reports of tiredness increased signi®cantly more at the assembly line compared to the¯exible work organization. In keeping with this, systolic blood pressure, heart rate and epinephrine increased signi®cantly during the work shift at the assembly line but not during work in the¯exible organization. Catecholamine levels revealed that the subjects were able to unwind more rapidly after work in the¯exible organization. This pattern was particularly pronounced for the female workers. In summary, the various stress indicators support the notion that the¯exible work organization induces less stress than the assembly line and that the female workers were able to bene®t most from this new form of work organization.

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