Comparison of the effectiveness of training based on solution-focused brief therapy and rational emotive behavioral therapy on meaning of work among employees of oil company

Different studies have shown that solution-focused brief therapy and rational-emotional-behavioral therapy have been effective on improving work indices, but the question is that “are trainings based on solution-focused brief therapy and rational-emotive-behavioral therapy effective on meaning of work and, if so, which one is more effective?”

The present research was conducted by the aim of comparing the effectiveness of training based on solution-focused brief therapy and rational-emotive-behavioral therapy on meaning of work among employees of oil Company.

The present research was conducted by semi-experimental method in which a pretest-posttest-follow up with control group design was used. The research population included all the headquarters’ staff of the oil pipeline and telecommunication company of the North region of Sari, Iran, in 2017 who were 230 individuals. The sample included 45 individuals who were selected by available sampling method and were assigned into two experiment groups and one control group through random assignment method. The research tool was Work as Meaning of Steger, Dik and Duffy (2012). The first experiment group received training based on solution-focused brief therapy (Abbas Pour, 2014), and the second experiment group received training based on rational-emotional-behavioral therapy (Jahanyan Najaf Abadi, 2010) in eight 2-hour sessions. For analyzing the data, variance analysis with repeated measures and Bonferroni post hoc test were used.

Results indicated that, in the end of the therapy and after one-month follow-up, both training interventions were effective on improving meaning of work and its components (positive meaning, meaning-making through work, and higher motivations) in experiment groups. Moreover, there was significant difference between the effective of training based on solution-focused brief therapy and training based on rational- emotive -behavioral therapy, and the latter was more effective on improving meaning of work and its components (p< 0/01). 

Training based on rational- emotive -behavioral therapy is an appropriate and effective interventional option for improving meaning of work among staff.