Technology-assisted supplemental work, psychological detachment, and employee well-being: A daily diary study:
01 May 2021-German Journal of Human Resource Management (SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England)-Vol. 35, Iss: 2, pp 199-223
TL;DR: Information and communication technologies facilitate connectivity to work-related matters after official working hours, and therefore more and more employees engage in technology-assisted supplementa... as discussed by the authors, which is a good idea.
Abstract: Information and communication technologies facilitate connectivity to work-related matters after official working hours. Therefore, more and more employees engage in technology-assisted supplementa...
Citations
More filters
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Work-related stress is the second most common work-related health issue after dorsal disorders in the European Union and it affects 28% of EU employees as mentioned in this paper, which is the highest rate in the world.
Abstract: Taking into account the changes that are currently taking place in our country, it is clear that these changes, which occur in almost all companies, lead to new stress factors for both employees and the organization. Occupational stress is a major problem for employees and managers, but also for the whole society. The issue of stress in organizations has given birth to many debates and studies. It is a common theme that is addressed by managers, employees and consultants from different perspectives. According to a study by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, in the European Union, work-related stress is the second work-related health issue after dorsal disorders. It affects 28% of EU employees. The European Parliament is fully involved in addressing issues related to the psychological support of the staff. Preventing work-related stress is one of the objectives set out in the Communique of the European Commission for Employment and Social Affairs regarding their new health and safety at work strategy. Manifestations of stress in organizations are easily observable, being manifested by behaviors such as: difficulties in adapting to the changes required to work or the dramatic drop in labor productivity. Also a double action is met: both the person who passes through the stressful situation and at the organization level on which it is reflected the existence of a stressful environment. This paper aims to address the implications of workplace stress, symptoms of stress in the workplace and strategies to eliminate and prevent stress at work This paper represents an exploratory research based on qualitative methods, being consulted various sources of information: the literature, case studies, media articles, reports of relevant organizations, etc.
336 citations
21 Jan 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors summarized research on recovery during work breaks, leisure-time evenings, weekends, and vacations, focusing on day-level and longitudinal field studies, and presented findings from intervention research demonstrating that recovery processes can be improved by deliberate training programs.
Abstract: Unwinding and recovering from everyday work is important for sustaining employees’ well-being, motivation, and job performance. Accordingly, research on work recovery has grown tremendously in the past few decades. This article summarizes research on recovery during work breaks, leisure-time evenings, weekends, and vacations. Focusing on day-level and longitudinal field studies, the article describes predictors as well as outcomes of recovery in different recovery settings and addresses potential between-group and cross-cultural differences. It presents findings from intervention research demonstrating that recovery processes can be improved by deliberate training programs. The article then discusses how future recovery research can address emerging themes relevant to the future of work—changing boundaries between work and nonwork life, increased reliance on teams and technology, and changes in employment arrangements. We conclude with an overall summary, open research questions, directions for methodological improvements, and practical implications.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate how individual, social, and material pressures concomitantly impact individual work practices in a team context, and show that individual collaboration technology use and team-level response expectations are independently contributing to TASW.
Abstract: Supported by various collaboration technologies that allow communication from any place or time, employees increasingly engage in technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW). Challenges associated with managing work and nonwork time have been further complicated by a global pandemic that has altered traditional work patterns and locations. To date, studies applying a TASW framework have focused mainly on individual uses of technology or connectivity behaviors and not considered the potential team and social pressures underlying these processes. This study provides clarity on the differences between technology use and TASW and sheds light on the drivers of TASW in a work environment characterized by high connectivity and diverse team structures. Specifically, we demonstrate how individual, social, and material pressures concomitantly impact individual work practices in a team context. Drawing on multisource and multilevel data provided by 443 employees nested in 122 teams, this study shows that individual collaboration technology use and team-level response expectations are independently contributing to TASW. Though the persistence of communication afforded by collaboration technologies mitigates the impact of collaboration technology use on TASW, this persistence is not found to impact the relationship between team-level response expectations and TASW. We discuss how these findings inform our understanding of TASW.
7 citations
Cites background from "Technology-assisted supplemental wo..."
...…technologyassisted supplemental work (TASW) has been steadily on the rise over the past decades and may contribute to a host of negative outcomes (Eichberger et al., 2020) the ways individual, social, and technological factors independently or conjointly affect these work practices are largely…...
[...]
TL;DR: Work-related extended availability (WREA; the availability of employees for work-related matters in their leisure time) seems to be associated with decreases in well-being and life-domain balance, but to date there is no quantitative synthesis of the scattered evidence as mentioned in this paper .
Abstract: Work-related extended availability (WREA; the availability of employees for work-related matters in their leisure time) seems to be associated with decreases in well-being and life-domain balance, but to date there is no quantitative synthesis of the scattered evidence. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis (113 articles with 121 studies relying on k = 117 independent samples with N = 131,872) on the associations between WREA and employee outcomes while examining potential moderators as well as differences between availability demands and behaviors. WREA was adversely associated with recuperation, well-being and private life, but favorably with some work-related criteria. There were no systematic differences in effect sizes between availability demands and behaviors; however, segmentation preferences were a moderator. Overall, these results suggest that WREA may pose a threat to employee recuperation, well-being and private lives, especially when employees prefer separating work and private life. However, positive potentials of WREA should not be overlooked.
Plain Language Summary
Work-related extended availability (WREA) refers to the availability of employees for work-related matters in their leisure time. Studies have shown that WREA may go along with primarily negative consequences for employees, but to date, there is no comprehensive overview of the literature statistically summarizing the current state of research, which was done in the study at hand. We assumed that WREA be related to problems with recovery, poorer well-being and difficulties to find a balance between work and private life. We also assessed in how far WREA goes along with attitudes towards work, absence from work and the intention to change jobs. Moreover, we considered differences between demands to be available and behaviors of actually taking care of work-related matters during leisure time. Finally, we investigated factors that may be associated with stronger consequences of WREA. We included 113 scientific papers with a total of 131,872 participants. WREA was related to problems with recovery, poorer well-being and difficulties to find a balance between work and private life, but also to more positive attitudes towards work. We did not find systematic differences between demands to be available and availability behaviors. However, we found that the relationship between WREA and work creating conflict with family life were stronger in samples with higher preferences to segment work and private life. Our findings suggest that WREA may pose a threat to employee recuperation, well-being and private lives, especially when employees prefer separating life domains. Still, positive potentials of WREA should not be overlooked.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated the causal relationship between work-related ICT use, detachment, and task progress, and they found that low psychological detachment increased ICT usage and progress in task progress.
Abstract: Abstract Based on the stressor-detachment model, previous research has assumed that work-related ICT use in the evening impairs psychological detachment. However, since most of the studies to date have assessed cross-sectional relationships, little is known about the actual direction of effects. In this 5-day diary study, we implemented a day-level longitudinal model to shed light on the causal relationships between work-related ICT use, detachment, and task progress ( N = 340 employees, N = 1289 day-level cases). We also investigated the role of unfinished work tasks because we assumed, based on boundary theory, that they are a driving force leading to impaired detachment and work-related ICT use in the evening. Contrary to current research consensus but in line with our expectations, we found that low psychological detachment increased work-related ICT use and task progress. We found no evidence for reversed lagged effects. These results applied both to planned and unplanned ICT use. Furthermore, our results support the notion that unfinished work tasks precede ICT use and detachment. Thus, our findings suggest that work-related ICT use should not be treated as a stressor in its own right in the stressor-detachment model. Instead, it needs to be investigated as a behavioral outcome that employees engage in when they cannot detach from work.
5 citations
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping, which have become major themes of theory and investigation in psychology.
Abstract: Here is a monumental work that continues in the tradition pioneered by co-author Richard Lazarus in his classic book Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. Dr. Lazarus and his collaborator, Dr. Susan Folkman, present here a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping which have become major themes of theory and investigation. As an integrative theoretical analysis, this volume pulls together two decades of research and thought on issues in behavioral medicine, emotion, stress management, treatment, and life span development. A selective review of the most pertinent literature is included in each chapter. The total reference listing for the book extends to 60 pages. This work is necessarily multidisciplinary, reflecting the many dimensions of stress-related problems and their situation within a complex social context. While the emphasis is on psychological aspects of stress, the book is oriented towards professionals in various disciplines, as well as advanced students and educated laypersons. The intended audience ranges from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, and social workers to sociologists, anthropologists, medical researchers, and physiologists.
37,447 citations
"Technology-assisted supplemental wo..." refers background in this paper
...According to transactional stress theory, the experience of stress differs between individuals, as it is influenced by primary and secondary appraisal (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984)....
[...]
...Therefore, they drew on transactional stress theory (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) to derive an extended version of the basic SDM....
[...]
...Rather, the association depends on how harmful a job stressor is perceived (i.e. primary appraisal) and on the perceived availability of coping resources (i.e. secondary appraisal; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984)....
[...]
...…mental connectedness to the work domain is used to engage in coping strategies like planning, problem-solving, or reinterpreting and accepting job demands in a positive way (Carver et al., 1989; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), the positive relationship between detachment and well-being will be weaker....
[...]
...Finally, Sonnentag and Fritz (2015) argue that the positive association between detachment and well-being can be weaker when job-related thoughts are used for cognitive coping (Carver et al., 1989; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984)....
[...]
TL;DR: A multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress was developed and an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies was allowed.
Abstract: We developed a multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress. Five scales (of four items each) measure conceptually distinct aspects of problem-focused coping (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, seeking of instrumental social support); five scales measure aspects of what might be viewed as emotional-focused coping (seeking of emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, turning to religion); and three scales measure coping responses that arguably are less useful (focus on and venting of emotions, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement). Study 1 reports the development of scale items. Study 2 reports correlations between the various coping scales and several theoretically relevant personality measures in an effort to provide preliminary information about the inventory's convergent and discriminant validity. Study 3 uses the inventory to assess coping responses among a group of undergraduates who were attempting to cope with a specific stressful episode. This study also allowed an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies.
10,143 citations
"Technology-assisted supplemental wo..." refers background or methods in this paper
...…mental connectedness to the work domain is used to engage in coping strategies like planning, problem-solving, or reinterpreting and accepting job demands in a positive way (Carver et al., 1989; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), the positive relationship between detachment and well-being will be weaker....
[...]
...Finally, Sonnentag and Fritz (2015) argue that the positive association between detachment and well-being can be weaker when job-related thoughts are used for cognitive coping (Carver et al., 1989; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984)....
[...]
...We measured cognitive coping with items of the situational version of the brief COPE (Carver, 1997) and items of the long COPE (Carver et al., 1989)....
[...]
TL;DR: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) as discussed by the authors is a self-report measure of subjectively assessed social support, which has good internal and test-retest reliability as well as moderate construct validity.
Abstract: The development of a self-report measure of subjectively assessed social support, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), is described. Subjects included 136 female and 139 male university undergraduates. Three subscales, each addressing a different source of support, were identified and found to have strong factorial validity: (a) Family, (b) Friends, and (c) Significant Other. In addition, the research demonstrated that the MSPSS has good internal and test-retest reliability as well as moderate construct validity. As predicted, high levels of perceived social support were associated with low levels of depression and anxiety symptomatology as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Gender differences with respect to the MSPSS are also presented. The value of the MSPSS as a research instrument is discussed, along with implications for future research.
8,983 citations
"Technology-assisted supplemental wo..." refers methods in this paper
...We measured social support with the 12-item scale of perceived social support (Zimet et al., 1988)....
[...]
TL;DR: A brief form of a previously published measure of coping assessing several responses known to be relevant to effective and ineffective coping called the COPE inventory is presented, which has proven to be useful in health-related research.
Abstract: Studies of coping in applied settings often confront the need to minimize time demands on participants. The problem of participant response burden is exacerbated further by the fact that these studies typically are designed to test multiple hypotheses with the same sample, a strategy that entails the use of many time-consuming measures. Such research would benefit from a brief measure of coping assessing several responses known to be relevant to effective and ineffective coping. This article presents such a brief form of a previously published measure called the COPE inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Wcintraub, 1989), which has proven to be useful in health-related research. The Brief COPE omits two scales of the full COPE, reduces others to two items per scale, and adds one scale. Psychometric properties of the Brief COPE arc reported, derived from a sample of adults participating in a study of the process of recovery after Hurricane Andrew.
5,820 citations
"Technology-assisted supplemental wo..." refers methods in this paper
...We measured cognitive coping with items of the situational version of the brief COPE (Carver, 1997) and items of the long COPE (Carver et al., 1989)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the controversial practice of using parcels of items as manifest variables in structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures and conclude that the unconsidered use of parcels is never warranted, while, at the same time, the considered use of items cannot be dismissed out of hand.
Abstract: We examine the controversial practice of using parcels of items as manifest variables in structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures. After detailing arguments pro and con, we conclude that the unconsidered use of parcels is never warranted, while, at the same time, the considered use of parcels cannot be dismissed out of hand. In large part, the decision to parcel or not depends on one's philosophical stance regarding scientific inquiry (e.g., empiricist vs. pragmatist) and the substantive goal of a study (e.g., to understand the structure of a set of items or to examine the nature of a set of constructs). Prior to creating parcels, however, we recommend strongly that investigators acquire a thorough understanding of the nature and dimensionality of the items to be parceled. With this knowledge in hand, various techniques for creating parcels can be utilized to minimize potential pitfalls and to optimize the measurement structure of constructs in SEM procedures. A number of parceling techniques are des...
5,426 citations
"Technology-assisted supplemental wo..." refers methods in this paper
...Following recommendations by Little et al. (2002), we built parcels for scales with more than five items using the items-to-construct balance technique....
[...]