The Effort and Reward of Teaching Medical Psychology in Germany: an Online Survey

Background: The increasing significance of university teaching also leads to higher demands for academic teachers. Against this background this study inquires how teachers in the field of medical pychology experience and evaluate their various activities and how their efforts on the one hand and gratifications on the other hand relate to each other (as conceptualized by the effort-reward-imbalance, ERI). Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in 2012 among the academic staff of departments of medical psychology in Germany. The questionnaire was answered by 188 participants (return rate: 39.2%), of whom 62% were women. Work stress was measured according to Siegrist’s effort–reward-imbalance (ERI) model. Further questions referred to the distribution of academic activities and meaningfulness. Results: Among all participants, 67.3% were satisfied with the portion of their workload devoted to teaching, while 63% wanted more time for research. The ERI-coefficient was on average M=0.76 (SD=0.45), thus indicating a shift towards reward. There were no associations with gender, age, or fixed-term work contracts. Meaningfulness was associated negatively with the ERI (r=-.21, p=.012), and positively with overcommitment (r=.52, p<.001) and the desire for less administrative tasks (r=.24, p=.017). Conclusions: Teaching medical psychology is evaluated as positive and meaningful by a majority of respondents. In general, the rewarding aspects seem to outweigh the stressful factors. Thus, teaching might be a protective factor with regard to coping with work related burden.