Mood disturbances and musculoskeletal discomfort: Effects of electronic performance monitoring under different levels of VDT data-entry performance

Abstract

The effects of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) work management on mood disturbances and musculoskeletal discomfort were evaluated under three levels of data‐entry task performance. EPM work management (i.e., performance monitoring and feedback) was used to induce compliance with data‐entry performance standards of greater than or equal to 200 keystrokes per minute and less than or equal to six errors per minute. Forty‐seven female office workers who had difficulty maintaining the data‐entry speed standard were assigned at random to EPM work management or no EPM work management. Participants in both work management conditions were divided into three keystroke performance groups (low, moderate, high). Self‐ratings of mood disturbance and musculoskeletal discomfort were recorded at periodic intervals over three consecutive workdays. Regardless of the level of data‐entry performance, the increase in perceived time pressure across the workdays was greater under EPM work management than under no EPM wor...