A study of occupational stress among university academic staff in Indonesia and Malaysia

Occupational stress in any profession and in any country is likely to be experienced by the employees employed and university academic staffs are no exceptions in this regard. The study is aimed to determine the profile of occupational stress levels and its associated factors among Indonesian and Malaysian university academic staff. The study used a survey method with purposive sampling technique. The validated questionnaire used to collect data, namely the Occupational Stress Scale (OSS) and the Stress Source Scale (SSQ). Data was collected from 263 staffs in several different faculties. The findings showed that in both Indonesia and Malaysia, the level of stress of academic staff is in the moderate category. The occupational environment factors that influenced the occupational stress in Indonesia and Malaysia were experiences of violent and aggressive behaviour. Meanwhile, the health factors in Indonesia were psychological tensions and in Malaysia were mental well-being. Future research is needed in terms of what strategies academic staff may use to cope with the work related stress in the university set up of Indonesia dan Malaysia with a larger sample size and with examination of other causes and effects of work stress as well.