This study proposes a theoretical model of challenge/hindrance stressors of hybrid work on emotional and behavioral reactions based on the conservation of resources theory. We investigate a mediation model by incorporating emotional exhaustion as a mediator to connect the relationship between two stressors and psychological withdrawal behavior. In addition, we identify proactive personality as a key personal resource to moderator the above mediating effects. The two-wave panel data was collected through online questionnaire surveys with a one-month interval. This study targeted at employees worked in the United States and 213 valid questionnaires were collected. Our results show that: (1) challenge/hindrance stressors of hybrid work are positively related to emotional exhaustion; (2) emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between challenge/hindrance stressors of hybrid work and psychological withdrawal behavior; (3) proactive personality weakens the positive relationship between challenge stressors of hybrid work and emotional exhaustion. However, the moderating effect of proactive personality on the indirect effect of hindrance stressors of hybrid work on psychological withdrawal behavior via emotional exhaustion was not found. The implications of this study for theory and practice are discussed.
In the face of extreme and enduring stressors, a self-protection coping mode can be entered to conserve resources (Conservation of Resources (COR) theory principle 4). Self-protection coping is underexplored in COR theory yet may offer insights about how people deal with the significant challenges posed by work today. We investigate this using a large-group collaborative auto-ethnography (CAE) with 15 academic workers during a period when resources were severely stretched or exhausted (the first four months of the Covid-19 lockdown). We identify three defensive coping strategies, applied in self-protection mode, that are akin to Karen Horney's neurotic trends of ‘moving away from’, ‘moving against’ and ‘moving towards’ others. We also identify that, even when in self-protection mode, workers engage in resource (re)investment activities, in an attempt to (re)gain control of, and (re)build resources. These multiple self-protection coping strategies are applied in a seemingly haphazard and interchangeable way but appear to serve an adaptive function for trying out how best to conserve resources, defend the self, and extend resources towards recovery. Our findings emphasize the need for organizations and society to provide support and resources at times of adversity, to help people rebuild their work, their lives and their well-being.
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world of work, leaving individuals wondering what AI means for the future of their career. The current research investigates the moderating role of future work self salience (FWSS) on the effect of interacting with AI on perceived control over one's future work self and proactive career behavior. In a first longitudinal experiment with full-time employees in the UK (N = 174), participants interacting with AI to solve a task (compared to a control group) experienced increased perceived control over their future work self when FWSS was high, in contrast to those with low FWSS. We replicated this pattern in a second longitudinal study with German business students (N = 208). Building on these findings, a third longitudinal experiment with German full-time employees (N = 155) extended the model by demonstrating a moderated mediation: for individuals with high FWSS, AI interaction increased perceived control over the future work self and thus promoted proactive career behavior. In contrast, perceived control and proactive career behavior decreased for those with low FWSS. This research demonstrates the potential impact of AI interactions on work-related outcomes, offering critical insights for both theory and practice.
Post-maternity leave reentry, the period when mothers return to work following a maternity leave, is a profound transition in a woman's life that often sets the foundation for her work and career progression. While scholars have looked at the intraindividual aspects of this transition, the experience of reentry extends beyond the returning mother. This transition occurs in a dynamic relational and organizational system that impacts a returning mother's adjustment to work. In this study, we bring relational dynamics to the forefront of this transition as we examine how and why returning mothers' work-based relationships shift during reentry and the implications this has for returning mothers' readjustment. Drawing on qualitative data from academic mothers' retrospective accounts of their reentry transitions, our findings reveal that returning mothers experience relational movement, defined as perceived shifts in one's relational experiences. Our findings provide evidence of how relational movement plays a role in facilitating returning mothers' well-being as they readjust to work. Our theorizing of how and why relational movement occurs during reentry transitions brings to focus the complex, changing nature of women's relationships with colleagues during this time, as well as implications for women's broader workplace and career experiences.