The study “Influence of psychological stress at the workplace on ‘neuroenhancement’ – empirical study of employed persons” focuses on the question of whether work stress and unfavorable working conditions promote the use of drugs and psychotropic substances.
The intake of exogenous substances by healthy people with the aim of increasing concentration, memory, vigilance (sustained attention) and/or psychological well-being, without there being a medical need for the intake, is referred to in science as “neuroenhancement”.
According to expert assumptions, work-related factors represent significant causes of neuroenhancement in the workplace.
It is hypothesized that stressful workplace conditions (e.g., long working hours, constant time pressure), constant demands on creativity and concentration, and stressful work environments promote the use of – supposedly – performance-enhancing drugs.
The research project will investigate which factors lead to the intake of neuroenhancers by employees.
A special focus will be on stressful workplace conditions that trigger neuroenhancement.
In addition, the project will investigate which individual factors promote or inhibit the use of neuroenhancement and what connection there is between the use of neuroenhancement and mental health.