<p>Although it is not exactly stress, there are many self-rating scales for workload. The most popular one is the NASA-Task Load Index (<strong>NASA-TLX</strong>; <a href="https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=http://humansystems.arc.nasa.gov/groups/tlx/downloads/NASA-TLXChapter.pdf&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiHpNLI7O7OAhWBPxoKHWzuDSYQFggiMAE&amp;usg=AFQjCNGA36vyRtaGFVvgmqkClwD35YlJ0w&amp;sig2=piv2bGWdnjAEJlR0rQTjhQ" rel="nofollow">Hart &amp; Staveland, 1988</a>; see also <a href="https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=http://humansystems.arc.nasa.gov/groups/tlx/downloads/TLXScale.pdf&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjE5sCO7e7OAhUEfhoKHcHMC_wQFggmMAM&amp;usg=AFQjCNFL3N_CBBniIYlCRYrY-I9m59vqSQ&amp;sig2=Uw3ZdoLOTd3pBAq_5Krikw" rel="nofollow">here</a>). The NASA-TLX consists of six dimensions, which a.o. describe temporal demands, mental effort and frustration. Although there is some weighting procedure accompanied with it, you can just sum the scores of each dimension to get a general workload score. </p>

<p>Another popular scale is the rating scale mental effort (<strong>RSME</strong>; <a href="https://adasgeek.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/rsme/" rel="nofollow">Zijlstra, 1993</a>). This scale is one-dimensional and is responded to by marking a cross on a line. The scale ranges from 0 to 150 and is marked with anchors points at uneven intervals. </p>

<p>Last one I know is the Integrated Workload Scale (<strong>IWS</strong>; <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687005000918" rel="nofollow">Pickup et al. 2005</a>). This scale consists of nine items which describe a particular degree of workload ranging from "not demanding" to "work too demanding". The scale acknowledges that workload is influenced by several dimension and, therefore, the items do describe several dimensions, such as mental effort and temporal demands. The scale has been developed for train traffic controllers but a validation study suggests that it can be used in different languages and in many other domains (<a href="http://www.intergo.nl/public/Downloads/119/bestand/2015_how%20busy%20is%20busy.%20Validation%20of%20the%20dutch%20IWS.pdf" rel="nofollow">Kramer, Johnson &amp; Zeilstra, 2015</a>).  </p>

<p>The benefit of the RSME and the IWS is that they can easily be used during the task, since the rating procedure it rather simple and short. Of course, there are also several physiological (e.g. skin conductance, HRV) and performance measures (e.g. RT to a secondary task). For a comparison please refer to <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=683356" rel="nofollow">Brookhuis &amp; De Waard (2001)</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-01T18:43:01.983Z
2016-09-14T13:05:06.343Z
2016-09-14T13:05:06.343Z
Robin Kramer-ten Have
<p>I'm trying to find a standardised test that is used to measure stress in the workplace. So far I've found <a href="http://www.arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk/~/media/Spoergeskemaer/copsoq/uk/copsoq-ii-short-questionnaire-english.pdf#" rel="nofollow">Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire - COPSOQ II</a>, which looks good. But I want to see what other options there are, or if there are any known major problems with COPSOQ II. Equally even the short version of COPSOQ II is arguably too long for what I want to use it for, so shorter suggestions would be greatly appreciated too.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-29T10:47:57.850Z
Related question: http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/13979/how-to-measure-stress-quantitatively
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T11:58:02.913Z
Bears no relevance for my purposes.
figurine
<test><io-psychology><stress>
Standardised test to measure workplace stress
figurine
# Standardised test to measure workplace stress

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-09-01)

I'm trying to find a standardised test that is used to measure stress in the workplace. So far I've found [Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire - COPSOQ II](http://www.arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk/~/media/Spoergeskemaer/copsoq/uk/copsoq-ii-short-questionnaire-english.pdf#), which looks good. But I want to see what other options there are, or if there are any known major problems with COPSOQ II. Equally even the short version of COPSOQ II is arguably too long for what I want to use it for, so shorter suggestions would be greatly appreciated too.

**Tags:** test, io-psychology, stress

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related question: http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/13979/how-to-measure-stress-quantitatively  
> **username_0**: Bears no relevance for my purposes.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-09-01. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Although it is not exactly stress, there are many self-rating scales for workload. The most popular one is the NASA-Task Load Index (**NASA-TLX**; [Hart & Staveland, 1988](https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://humansystems.arc.nasa.gov/groups/tlx/downloads/NASA-TLXChapter.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwiHpNLI7O7OAhWBPxoKHWzuDSYQFggiMAE&usg=AFQjCNGA36vyRtaGFVvgmqkClwD35YlJ0w&sig2=piv2bGWdnjAEJlR0rQTjhQ); see also [here](https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://humansystems.arc.nasa.gov/groups/tlx/downloads/TLXScale.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjE5sCO7e7OAhUEfhoKHcHMC_wQFggmMAM&usg=AFQjCNFL3N_CBBniIYlCRYrY-I9m59vqSQ&sig2=Uw3ZdoLOTd3pBAq_5Krikw)). The NASA-TLX consists of six dimensions, which a.o. describe temporal demands, mental effort and frustration. Although there is some weighting procedure accompanied with it, you can just sum the scores of each dimension to get a general workload score.

Another popular scale is the rating scale mental effort (**RSME**; [Zijlstra, 1993](https://adasgeek.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/rsme/)). This scale is one-dimensional and is responded to by marking a cross on a line. The scale ranges from 0 to 150 and is marked with anchors points at uneven intervals.

Last one I know is the Integrated Workload Scale (**IWS**; [Pickup et al. 2005](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687005000918)). This scale consists of nine items which describe a particular degree of workload ranging from "not demanding" to "work too demanding". The scale acknowledges that workload is influenced by several dimension and, therefore, the items do describe several dimensions, such as mental effort and temporal demands. The scale has been developed for train traffic controllers but a validation study suggests that it can be used in different languages and in many other domains ([Kramer, Johnson & Zeilstra, 2015](http://www.intergo.nl/public/Downloads/119/bestand/2015_how%20busy%20is%20busy.%20Validation%20of%20the%20dutch%20IWS.pdf)).

The benefit of the RSME and the IWS is that they can easily be used during the task, since the rating procedure it rather simple and short. Of course, there are also several physiological (e.g. skin conductance, HRV) and performance measures (e.g. RT to a secondary task). For a comparison please refer to [Brookhuis & De Waard (2001)](https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=683356).


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