Engineering

Philosophy

Public relations

Longitudinal study

Dysfunctional family

Empirical research

Mechanical engineering

Excellence

Psychology

Politics

Political science

Work (physics)

Epistemology

Sociology

Medicine

Clinical psychology

Higher education

Pathology

Studies in Higher Education

Theories of what determines research performance have evolved from political and economic science, amongst other disciplines. Contemporary research shows that universities have a problematic work environment characterized by bullying, insecure jobs, and dysfunctional leadership. In this study, we explore the relationship between the psycho-social work environment (PSWE) and research performance. The study consists of longitudinal data from a medical university in Sweden. PSWE was assessed by employee surveys and the outcome was register data from 8 years of bibliometrics and external funding. SEM-analyses were applied building on theoretical and empirical models. Results show that PSWE explained future research performance, with the highest impact on the quality of publications. The most important PSWE factors for good performance were fair, considerate leaders and a supportive social climate. The results suggest that improving the psycho-social work environment at the universities could be one strategy to improve research performance.

An overlooked key to excellence in research: a longitudinal cohort study on the association between the psycho-social work environment and research performance