Quality of working life and music in the manufacturing workplace

Abstract

This study aimed to understand how the insertion of music in the work environment contributes to achieving Quality of Working Life (QWL), from the perspective of biopsychosocial and organisational well-being. The context where the study was conducted was the manufacturing area of a major textile company located in Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The use of a case study was the research strategy adopted, with exploratory and descriptive objectives. The primary data was collected through the focus group technique and semi-structured interviews were used as an additional tool. Respecting the theoretical saturation criterion, four focus groups were formed, each comprising eight randomly selected participants from the seventy-six co-workers in the sector. The data was analysed qualitatively, using the content analysis technique. Twenty-eight QWL attributes were identified. It was concluded that musical insertion provides biological, social and, above all, psychological and organisational well-being to the co-workers, contributing to achieving QWL in the work environment researched.