Occupational Health Psychology

Overview

What does this Occupational Health Psychology MSc programme at Leiden University entail?

Are you interested in the new but rapidly developing area within psychology? Occupational Health Psychology concerns the application of psychology to improving the quality of work life and to protecting and promoting the safety, health and well-being of workers” (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – NIOSH). Occupational Health Psychology is designed to address the contemporary societal concerns for occupational health and safety. The term ‘health’ in ‘occupational health psychology’ does not only include workers’ physical state, but also emotional, cognitive, motivational and behavioural aspects.

Reasons to choose Occupational Health Psychology at Leiden University

• Leiden University is the only university in The Netherlands where you can study this unique specialisation.

• Occupational Health Psychology is widely oriented at the job market; from researcher to consultant, coach or HR manager

• You will learn to look at the context of the workplace from different disciplines: Health Psychology, Social and Organisational Psychology and Applied Cognitive Psychology. This makes Occupational Health Psychology a very versatile specialisation.

• You will study relevant subjects, like stress, safety and work-life balance. You can make a real difference to the well-being of people.

Professional skills

This specialisation Occupational Health Psychology provides you with advanced training in practical skills for interventions in the field of work and health. This includes: the acquisition of principles and methods relevant to, for instance:

• Health promotion and stress prevention in the workplace (worksite health promotion)

• Management of social psychological issues in organisational behaviour (e.g. leadership, motivation, dealing with diversity)

• Risk management of organisational accidents (engineering a safety culture)

• Optimisation of performance and work productivity (e.g. cognitive enhancement)

Research skills

In line with the profile of Leiden University as a research-intensive institution, the teaching programme is based on state-of-the art scientific research. It maintains a strong emphasis on the acquisition of academic and research skills. Training is provided in all relevant skills, including:

• Reviewing the relevant literature

• Applying theoretical knowledge to analyse practical problems

• Developing hypotheses and writing research proposals

• Designing and carrying out empirical studies

• Designing and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions

• Conducting advanced statistical analyses

• Presenting results and recommendations