Journal of Occupational Health Psychology最新文献

In this study, we challenge the commonly held belief that virtual meeting fatigue manifests as exhaustion (i.e., active fatigue) resulting from overloading demands and instead suggest that participation in virtual meetings may lead to increased drowsiness (i.e., passive fatigue) due to underload of stimulation. Using subjective and cardiac measures (heart rate variability), we investigated the relationships between virtual versus face-to-face meetings and different types of fatigue (active and passive) among 44 knowledge workers during real-life meetings (N = 382). Our multilevel path analysis revealed a link between virtual meetings and higher levels of passive fatigue, which then impacted cognitive performance. Additionally, our results suggest that work engagement may act as an individual-level moderator, explaining why some knowledge workers are affected, while others are not. Given the growing amount of time spent in virtual meetings, these findings emphasize the risks to mental energy and cognitive performance and highlight the protective role of high general work engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examines the predictive value of conflict and conflict-related variations in negative emotion dynamics, with respect to three cortisol indicators (cortisol awakening responses; overall cortisol output; diurnal cortisol slopes). A total of 166 workers provided momentary reports on conflict(s) with colleagues and negative emotions 10 times a day for 2 workdays and salivary cortisol samples 5 times a day. The results of latent growth curve piecewise multilevel models revealed that the occurrence of a conflict and the number of conflicts introduced significant variations in specific cortisol parameters indicating greater cortisol levels throughout the day. Moreover, the conflict-elicited negative emotion boost predicted a lower reduction of cortisol levels from morning to evening. Last, the postconflict decline in negative emotions was negatively associated with overall cortisol production. This study contributes to establishing a potential association between naturally occurring episodic conflicts at work and daily cortisol patterns, identifying within-person fluctuations in negative emotions as psychological mechanisms through which this occurs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous research has typically conceptualized physical activity as a recovery activity after work that promotes well-being by allowing employees to detach from work and replenish their resources. Here, we aimed to go beyond this framework by proposing a new theoretical model of how physical activity in the morning before work affects employee well-being. Drawing upon the transactional theory of stress, we theorized that physical activity before work shapes employees' appraisal of their upcoming workday which, in turn, affects their well-being. In a preregistered study (N = 269), we utilized a within-person daily experience sampling approach to test our model. Results showed that two types of appraisals are particularly important for explaining the effects of physical activity before work on employee well-being: First, challenge appraisal mediated the effects of physical activity before work on work engagement. Second, we found an indirect effect via threat appraisal of physical activity before work on job-related anxiety. Exploratorily, we found that threat appraisal also mediated the effect of physical activity before work on emotional exhaustion. In conclusion, our results show that physical activity before work is beneficially related to several types of well-being outcomes by increasing challenge appraisal and decreasing threat appraisal. Furthermore, our study advances theoretical understanding on physical activity and work stress by shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the effect of physical activity on employee well-being and showing that physical activity before work benefits well-being by shaping how employees appraise their work situation on a day-to-day basis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Focusing on the definition of recovery as a process, we examined how the four core recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, control, and mastery) develop during the evening. We tested whether the specific developments of recovery experiences are important for next-day favorable mood states-beyond the mean levels of recovery experiences. We collected data from 92 employees who completed daily morning and afternoon surveys over 10 workdays. In the morning surveys, we implemented the day-reconstruction method to assess detailed information about employees' recovery experiences during several episodes of the previous evening. Our final data set included 477 morning surveys with a total of 1,998 episodes and 383 afternoon surveys. Multilevel growth curve analyses showed that, in general, psychological detachment, relaxation, and control follow a positive linear trend and mastery a negative quadratic trend during the evening. Moreover, path analyses showed that the day-level increase of psychological detachment is important for next-day mood. Specifically, we found that after evenings during which employees experienced a higher increase in psychological detachment than they usually did, they had higher favorable mood states in the subsequent afternoon. Further, our results did not support associations between day-level slopes of relaxation, control, and mastery as well as next-day mood. Hence, our study demonstrates that recovery experiences systematically change during an evening and that this change is partially relevant for next-afternoon mood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous research examining differences in levels of well-being between leaders and nonleaders has yielded mixed results. To explain the inconsistencies, we compare levels of well-being among nonleaders, mid-level leaders, and high-level leaders. Drawing from the job demands-resources model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007, 2017) and the expanded version proposed by Crawford et al. (2010), we anticipate mid-level leaders will have lower levels of well-being compared to senior leaders and nonleaders, and females will be more vulnerable than males in mid-level leadership. In Study 1, we use multilevel models and propensity score matching (N = 24,067) and find mid-level leaders have worse general health conditions compared to nonleaders and high-level leaders, and that this effect is more pronounced among females. In Study 2, we collect experience sampling data from workers (N = 86; 1,634 observations) who completed a short survey four times daily for five consecutive working days. Mid-level leaders report more end-of-day negative emotions than high-level leaders and nonleaders, mediated by higher job demands and lower levels of job control to combat the negative effects of job demands; an effect that is particularly pronounced among female respondents. In Study 3, we use a two-wave time-lagged survey study (N = 330) and find middle managers have more challenge and hindrance job demands than nonleaders, and insufficient job control to offset the negative effects of job demands. Female middle managers report the most physical health symptoms and enjoy less eudaemonic well-being than their male counterparts. We conclude that leadership levels and gender have important and overlooked impacts on well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Although previous research suggests that off-job activities are generally important for recovery from work stress, a profound understanding of which aspects of recovery activities benefit the recovery process and why is still lacking. In the present work, we introduce a dimensional approach toward studying recovery activities and present a taxonomy of key recovery activity dimensions (physical, mental, social, spiritual, creative, virtual, and outdoor). Across four studies (total N = 908) using cross-sectional, time-lagged, and a diary design, we develop and validate the Recovery Activity Characteristics (RAC) questionnaire, a multidimensional measure of RAC. Results demonstrate its content validity, high scale reliabilities, and a strong factor structure. With a 10-day diary study involving two daily measurement occasions, we demonstrate the role of RAC for recovery experiences and downstream well-being outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of carefully differentiating the active ingredients of recovery activities as they differentially relate to same evening and next-morning exhaustion and vigor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

As home working becomes more common, employers may struggle to provide health promotion interventions that can successfully bridge the gap between employees' intentions to engage in healthier behaviors and actual action. Based on past evidence that action planning can successfully encourage the adoption of healthier behaviors, this mixed-methods study of a web-based self-help intervention incorporated a randomized planning trial that included quantitative measures of engagement and follow-up qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants. Participants either (a) selected a movement plan for incorporating a series of 2-min exercise videos into their work week to break up sedentary time and a balanced meal plan with recipe cards for a week's lunches and dinners or (b) received access to these resources without a plan. Selecting a movement plan was more effective at increasing engagement with the web resources compared to the no-plan condition. In the follow-up interviews, participants indicated that the plan helped to remind participants to engage with the resources and made it simpler for them to follow the guidance for exercises and meals. Ease of use and being able to fit exercises and meals around work tasks were key factors that facilitated uptake of the resources, while lack of time and worries about how colleagues would perceive them taking breaks to use the resources were barriers to uptake. Participants' self-efficacy was associated with general resource use but not plan adherence. Overall, including plans with online self-help resources could enhance their uptake. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

We tested the effects of a randomized controlled trial Total Worker Health intervention on workplace safety outcomes. The intervention targeted employee sleep at both the supervisor-level (e.g., sleep-specific support training) and employee-level (e.g., sleep tracking and individualized sleep feedback). The intervention components were developed using principles of the Total Worker Health approach and the theory of triadic influence for health behaviors. We hypothesized that employees in the treatment group would report greater safety compliance, safety participation, and safety motivation, and would be less likely to experience a work-related accident or injury following the intervention through improvements in sleep quantity and quality, as well as increased perceptions of supervisors' support for sleep. It was theorized that the indirect effects of the intervention on workplace safety outcomes via sleep mediators operated through a resource pathway, whereas the supervisor support for sleep mediator operated through an exchange pathway. Results broadly revealed that employees in the treatment group, compared to those in the control group, reported greater workplace safety behaviors and safety motivation, and reduced workplace accidents and injuries 9 months post-baseline, through lower dissatisfaction with sleep, reduced sleep-related impairments, and greater supervisor support for sleep 4 months post-baseline. Intervening on sleep and supervisor support for sleep in an integrated Total Worker Health framework can have a positive impact on workplace safety. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).