Sectoral Differences in Psychosocial Well-Being: The Role of Work Environment Factors Across Public Administration, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, and Energy Services

Abstract

The psychosocial well-being of employees is crucial to health and productivity, and it forms the basis for organisational sustainability. Unfortunately, most studies rely on narrow indicators or small samples and thus are not generalisable. The present study aims to identify psychosocial and health-related factors that distinguish employees with high and low SWB and determine whether these effects are universal or sector-specific. A total of 1628 employees with organisations in Latvia’s public administration, healthcare, pharmaceutical and energy sectors participated by completing the Multidimensional Psychosocial Well-Being Scale for Employed Persons (MPSWEP). This instrument assesses five key work environment factors: social inclusion, professional development, work intensity, health risks and autonomy. Subjective well-being (SWB) was measured as a separate outcome variable, and additional self-reported health problems were included as an independent variable in the analysis. Higher odds of high SWB were observed with greater social inclusion (OR = 5.11; p < 0.001), whereas higher work intensity (OR = 0.51; p < 0.001) and health problems (OR = 0.25; p < 0.001) were associated with lower odds of high SWB. Model accuracy was high (AUC = 0.85–0.87), with significant differences between sectors. The results suggest that some resources universally facilitate well-being across sectors, while others exert more sector-specific effects.