Italian seafarers have a remarkable capacity to resilience, are efficient at work and have a strong sense of responsibility. On the other hand, they collaborate little with each other and have to deal with negative factors such as repetitiveness and stress. However, the differences in their perceptions, which vary depending on the location of the seafarer within the work hierarchy. This is highlighted by a research presented yesterday in Genoa, at Palazzo San Giorgio, during the conference "In the heads of seafarers: a psychological analysis of needs" organized by the workers' union Seafarers USCLAC-UNCDIM-SMACD and held under the Port & Shipping tech conference, Genoa Shipping Week event.

The study was carried out by Psicologia del Mare, a research group of the University of Turin and Sapienza - University of Rome composed of PhD students and female professors psychologists specialized in occupational psychology and legal-forensic that deals with promoting well-being psychological among Italian and foreign seafarers. The firm explored psychosocial risks and protective factors in Italian seafaring and was conducted through a Online questionnaire, aimed at mapping the main stressors and workers' protective ones.

The sample investigated is over 848 seafarers (of which 519 for the analyses), 94% men, with an average age of 41 years, for 79% with a secondary school diploma degree and conjugates for 51%. As regards the status of seafarers covered by the research, 45% are officers, 33% commanders or chief engineers and 21% non-commissioned officers or commons. As for the type of ships they are used, 48% operate on passenger ships, 32% on cargo and 19% on operating units.

From the point of view of labor resources, the study highlights How in general Italian seafarers can count on low levels of support among peers and transformative leadership, in more critical way among lower workers in the border hierarchies. Regarding quality of the working environment and safety climate exist differences significant in perception: commanders/directors/chief commissioners consider the working environment to be more appropriate than those who has a lower status (value of 3.5 on a scale of 1 to 5) and put in place more security behaviors than non-commissioned officers/commons. Seafarers at the top of the board they are characterized by higher levels of responsibility, autonomy and flexibility (values between 4 and 5) and report suffer from work pressures to a lesser extent. Commanders/directors/chief commissioners finally report minors negative relational dynamics in the workplace and minor emotional loneliness compared to officers, while there are no significant differences with NCOs and municipalities.

Regarding the workload of commanders/directors/heads of commissioners report lower work pressures than non-commissioned officers/commons, and lower physical load than all those which are inferior in degree. However, they report a greater load cognitive with respect to non-commissioned officers/commons. In relation to the stress management finally, commanders and directors and Chief Commissioners report lower levels of stress related to time management compared to officers, but with higher levels of stress related to the management of a possible emergency.

In summary, seafarers, regardless of status covered on board, show high levels of resilience, self-efficacy work and even humor, while they would seem more compromised the levels of support received from colleagues and the Transformative leadership. These resources are critical to allow the individual to adapt to a specific context, and deal with stress adequately, decreasing the risk of develop forms of malaise such as sleep disorders or burnout (exhaustion).

Finally, all seafarers seem to consider the work repetitive which, together with an environment in itself "monotonous" (e.g. employment on the same routes for several months, exposure to an external environment that is always the same) can increase levels of hypostimulation related to lack of response to the fundamental need for interaction with the environment and, therefore, at higher levels of malaise on board and consequent atypical behaviors.

The research, in conclusion, shows the need to intervene in the general population of seafarers on some items (e.g. support from colleagues, work routines), but to customize any training and / or intervention according to the status held on board, i.e. the specific difficulties Report: only in this way will it be possible to intervene in a complete and in line with the needs of the individual, and increase so the level of well-being at work.