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Job characteristics, work- nonwork interference and the role of recovery strategies amongst employees in a tertiary institution
Abstract and Figures
Orientation: Although work characteristics and recovery strategies are associated with work- family interference, the influence on specific types of work-nonwork interference (W-NWI) has not been investigated.
Research purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of work characteristics and recovery strategies on four types of W-NWI.
Motivation for the study: It is clear from the literature that job characteristics and W-NWI have adverse effects on employees’ health and well-being. It is therefore important to identify work characteristics and recovery strategies associated with W-NWI.
Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. The target population was married employees with children working at a Tertiary Education Institution (TEI) in the North West Province (N = 366).
Main findings: Work pressure and emotional demands significantly predicted all the work-nonwork role interference dimensions. A lack of autonomy predicted work-parent interference and work-religion and/or spirituality interference, whilst a lack of development possibilities predicted work-religion and/or spirituality interference. Relaxation and mastery recovery experiences significantly predicted lower work-parent interference. A lack of psychological detachment and relaxation were significantly associated with lower work- spouse interference. Relaxation and control significantly predicted lower work-domestic interference, whilst psychological detachment significantly predicted lower work-religion and/or spirituality interference.
Practical/managerial implications: The results give managers insight into the specific work characteristics and recovery experiences that play a role in W-NWI, upon which interventions can be based to address these issues.
Contribution/value-add: This study provides information on the relationship between work characteristics, recovery experiences and the effect on different types of W-NWI.
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... Similar results were reported in an international study by Adebayo (2006), on 126 employed postgraduate students in Nigeria, where a relationship was found between workload, conceptualised similarly to job demands, and WSC. Similarly, in the South African context, Oosthuizen, Mostert, and Koekemoer (2011) found that where employees experienced high job demand, they experienced high worknon-work interference with the four non-work roles researched in their study, namely, parent, spouse, religion and domestic. It is therefore expected that if the work role interferes with the other non-work roles, it possibly interferes with the school role as well. ...
... Job control, the second antecedent considered in relation to WSC, is the 'control over how or what work is completed' (Butler 2007, 503). This concept has also been defined as autonomy (Oosthuizen, Mostert, and Koekemoer 2011), and been found to negatively predict WSC (Butler 2007). That is, the more individuals were able to decide which activities to undertake and how to do so at work, the less WSC they experienced. ...
While there has been a proliferation of interest and research into work-family studies we know little about how employees who study while working manage their multiple and sometimes conflicting roles. This research focuses on non-traditional students (NTS), whose representation in the general student population has increased, and explores how they attempt to balance their work and school responsibilities. The question of what factors potentially impact NTS’s academic and job satisfaction remains mostly unanswered and is the question this article attempts to address. Data were collected from over 200 non-traditional students studying across different regional campuses of a US university, testing several hypotheses including relevant demographic and non-demographic variables. Results revealed academic satisfaction was impacted by job-related factors while job satisfaction tended to be influenced mostly by factors in the general work domain. Demographic factors did not appear to predict job satisfaction and nor did they significantly predict academic satisfaction. The paper outlines some future opportunities for research to better understand the work-school dynamic in the lives of non-traditional students.
... There is evidence showing that both are related to lack of detachment from work during off-job time. For example, decision-making and other cognitive demands (related to job complexity) have been associated with lack of detachment (Kinnunen, Feldt, Siltaloppi, & Sonnentag, 2011;Oosthuizen, Mostert, & Koekemoer, 2011). Emotional demands (Oosthuizen et al., 2011) as well as emotional dissonance, that is, displaying emotions other than one actually feels (Sonnentag, Kuttler, & Fritz, 2010), have also been related to poor detachment from work. ...
... For example, decision-making and other cognitive demands (related to job complexity) have been associated with lack of detachment (Kinnunen, Feldt, Siltaloppi, & Sonnentag, 2011;Oosthuizen, Mostert, & Koekemoer, 2011). Emotional demands (Oosthuizen et al., 2011) as well as emotional dissonance, that is, displaying emotions other than one actually feels (Sonnentag, Kuttler, & Fritz, 2010), have also been related to poor detachment from work. As far as we know, the role of cognitive and emotional demands in affective rumination and problem-solving pondering has not yet been examined. ...
The aim of this 2-year longitudinal study was to identify long-term patterns of work-related rumination in terms of affective rumination, problem-solving pondering, and lack of psychological detachment from work during off-job time. We also examined how the patterns differed in job demands and wellbeing outcomes. The data were collected via questionnaires in three waves among employees (N = 664). Through latent profile analysis (LPA), five stable long-term patterns of rumination were identified: (1) no rumination (n = 81), (2) moderate detachment from work (n = 228), (3) moderate rumination combined with low detachment (n = 216), (4) affective rumination (n = 54), and (5) problem-solving pondering (n = 85), both combined with low detachment. The patterns differed in the job demands and well-being outcomes examined. Job demands (time pressure, cognitive and emotional demands) were at the highest level across time in patterns 3–5 and lowest in pattern 1. Patterns 3 and 4 were associated with poorer well-being outcomes (higher job exhaustion and more sleeping problems, and lower work engagement) across time. By contrast, pattern 5 showed positive outcomes, especially high level of work engagement. Thus, the different patterns of work-related ruminative thoughts suggest diverse relationships with job demands and well-being.
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... Individual work and family field is inseparable and has a strong permeability. When individuals are in a low level of psychological detachment, they can easily transmit negative emotions from work to family life, causing dissatisfaction among family members and resulting in workfamily conflict (Frenkel et al., 2011;Oosthuizen et al., 2011;Ma et al., 2014). Therefore, this study proposes the hypothesis that psychological detachment is negatively related to individual work-family conflict. ...
Although a number of studies have examined the effects of abusive supervision variability, which refers to leaders engaging in differential abuse toward different subordinates within the team on work-related outcomes, scant research has investigated whether and how abusive supervision variability affects non-work outcomes. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the current study explores how abusive supervision variability affects work–family conflict through psychological detachment, as well as the moderating role of optimism. Results based on a survey of 260 employees from nine companies show that abusive supervision variability is significantly and positively related to work–family conflict. Psychological detachment mediates the effect of abusive supervision variability on work–family conflict. Optimism moderates the relationship between abusive supervision variability and psychological detachment and the indirect effects of abusive supervision variability on work–family conflict through psychological detachment. This study extends the literature on the effects of abusive supervision variability and provides several important practical implications.
... The SDM postulates that job stressors increase negative activation, which in turn prevents detachment. Such negative activation, pervades physically, cognitively, and emotionally, thus maintaining systems active during off-work periods of time [7,[30][31][32]. ...
Psychological detachment is the central experience of recovery from work-related stress that allows individuals to reduce burnout symptoms. The stressor-detachment model (SDM) contends that job resources moderate the relationship between job stressors and psychological detachment. We designed an instrument to measure job resources from a multidimensional perspective. A sample of n = 394 individuals from the health service industry participated in the study. Data indicate that job resources comprise a four-factor structure underlying a formative model. Consistent with the SDM, a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis suggests a moderating effect of job resources (e.g., control over working conditions, leaders’ emotional support), between work intensification and psychological detachment. In addition; results indicate that workers who perceive high levels of support from their organization achieved higher levels of detachment compared with those who perceived low levels of support. Theoretical as well as practical implications for stress management practices, occupational health, and well-being are discussed.
... More specifically, average between-person correlations with detachment were lower and less heterogeneous in diary studies than in cross-sectional studies with one measurement occasion. This finding might be explained by the more reliable measurement of variables in diary studies due to repeated measurement and a reduction of retrospective bias (Ohly et al., 2010). Moreover, the average negative association between negative affectivity/neuroticism and detachment was no longer significant in diary studies (and also in three longitudinal studies). ...
Detachment from work has been proposed as an important non-work experience helping employees to recover from work demands. This meta-analysis (86 publications, k = 91 independent study samples, N = 38,124 employees) examined core antecedents and outcomes of detachment in employee samples. With regard to outcomes, results indicated average positive correlations between detachment and self-reported mental (i.e., less exhaustion, higher life satisfaction, more well-being, better sleep) and physical (i.e., lower physical discomfort) health, state well-being (i.e., less fatigue, higher positive affect, more intensive state of recovery), and task performance (small to medium sized effects). However, average relationships between detachment and physiological stress indicators and work motivation were not significant while associations with contextual performance and creativity were significant, but negative. Concerning work characteristics, as expected, job demands were negatively related and job resources were positively related to detachment (small sized effects). Further, analyses revealed that person characteristics such as negative affectivity/neuroticism (small sized effect) and heavy work investment (medium sized effect) were negatively related to detachment whereas detachment and demographic variables (i.e., age and gender) were not related. Moreover, we found a medium sized average negative relationship between engagement in work-related activities during non-work time and detachment. For most of the examined relationships heterogeneity of effect sizes was moderate to high. We identified study design, samples' gender distribution, and affective valence of work-related thoughts as moderators for some of these aforementioned relationships. The results of this meta-analysis point to detachment as a non-work (recovery) experience that is influenced by work-related and personal characteristics which in turn is relevant for a range of employee outcomes.
... Several studies have failed to find that job control is directly associated with psychological detachment and relaxation (Siltaloppi et al., 2009;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). On the other hand, decision-making demands, which are highly related to job control, have been negatively associated with psychological detachment (Kinnunen et al., 2011;Oosthuizen, Mostert, & Koekemoer, 2011). Because the direct effects of job control remain inconclusive, we investigate whether job control serves as a boundary condition (cross-level moderator) rather than as a predictor for psychological detachment and relaxation. ...
The aim of this study was (1) to investigate whether threat (e.g., anxiety, fear) and challenge (e.g., confidence, excitement) emotions that employees experience before work while thinking about the upcoming workday predict their recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) after work and (2) to explore the moderating role of job control on the effect of threat and challenge emotions on recovery experiences. For two to four weeks, 57 blue-collar workers at an airport’s hub station completed a diary. Multilevel analyses (N=1104) reveal that threat emotions in the morning decrease psychological detachment and relaxation after work. Job control buffers this negative effect. Furthermore, challenge emotions in the morning boost mastery after work. Next, when employees have low job control, challenge emotions also boost the recovery experience control. Practical implications and the need for future studies to examine more fine-grained mechanisms for better understanding how threat and challenge emotions experienced before starting work affect recovery experiences after work are discussed.
Recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control; Sonnentag and Fritz (Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 204–221, 2007)) are thought to enhance both work and health outcomes, though the mechanisms are not well understood. We propose and test an integrated theoretical model in which work engagement and exhaustion fully mediate the effects of recovery experiences on job performance and health complaints, respectively. Meta-analytic associations (k = 316; independent samples; N = 99,329 participants) show that relaxation and mastery experiences positively predict job outcomes (work engagement, job performance, citizenship behavior, creativity, job satisfaction) and personal outcomes (positive affect, life satisfaction, well-being), whereas psychological detachment reduces negative personal outcomes (negative affect, exhaustion, work-family conflict), but does not seem to benefit job outcomes (work engagement, job performance, citizenship behavior, creativity). Control experiences exhibit negligible incremental effects. Path analysis largely supports the theoretical model specifying separate pathways by which recovery experiences predict job and health outcomes. Methodologically, diary and post-respite studies tend to exhibit smaller effects than do cross-sectional studies. Finally, within-person correlations of recovery experiences with outcomes tend to be in the same direction, but smaller than corresponding between-person correlations. Implications for recovery experiences theory and research are discussed.
This study extends previous research on recovery from work stress by investigating the role of qualitative job demands and leadership in employees’ work-related rumination (WRR). The long-term development of WRR was examined from a person-centred approach across 22 months. Drawing on the stressor-detachment framework and conservation of resources theory, we investigated whether different WRR profiles could be understood in terms of levels of and changes in quantitative, cognitive, and emotional job demands, several aspects of supervisory leadership, and exhaustion that was expected to result from the impeded energy restoration process. A three-wave questionnaire study was conducted among Finnish municipal employees in heterogeneous occupations. Factor mixture modelling was used to identify latent classes (i.e. subgroups of participants with similar mean levels and mean-level changes) of WRR. The results indicated five distinct classes of WRR. Participants in the higher WRR classes reported higher levels of job demands, less supervisor fairness, and more abusive supervision. In the decreasing class, WRR decreased concurrently with decreasing job demands. Exhaustion showed considerable congruence with WRR both between and within persons. The findings are discussed from the point of view of a loss cycle concerning energetic psychological resources and difficulties in goal attainment.
Zusammenfassung
Mentale Distanzierung von der Arbeit während der Ruhezeit (Detachment) ist ein wichtiger psychologischer Erholungsprozess, der die positive Beziehung zwischen psychischen Arbeitsanforderungen und beeinträchtigenden Beanspruchungsfolgen vermitteln soll. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war die metaanalytische Prüfung von drei Kernaussagen des Stressor-Detachment-Modells. Wie angenommen korrelierten psychische Arbeitsanforderungen und Detachment negativ miteinander. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Personenmerkmale (negative Affektivität/Neurotizismus, exzessives Arbeitsengagement) diese Beziehung weiter beeinflussen. Im Einklang mit den Modellvorstellungen ging ein höheres Detachment mit weniger Ermüdungs- und Erschöpfungssymptomen einher (mittlere bis große Effekte). Detachment klärte über den Einfluss anderer Variablen inkrementelle Varianz in beiden Beanspruchungsfolgen auf. Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass Detachment die Beziehung zwischen psychischen Arbeitsanforderungen und ermüdungsrelevanten Beanspruchungsfolgen vermittelt und die Wechselwirkung zwischen beiden Variablen besser beschreibt als das klassische Belastungs-Beanspruchungs-Modell. Zusätzlich können wir erstmals zeigen, dass eine verstärkte Arbeitsextensivierung die negative Beziehung zwischen psychischen Arbeitsanforderungen und Detachment zumindest teilweise erklärt. Unsere Ergebnisse unterstreichen, dass mentale Erholung von der Arbeit ein wichtiges Bindeglied zwischen psychischen Arbeitsanforderungen und ermüdungsrelevanten Beanspruchungsfolgen darstellt. Praktische Relevanz: Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass mangelnde mentale Distanzierung von der Arbeit während der Ruhezeit als Frühindikator für beeinträchtigende Beanspruchungsfolgen und Kennzeichen ungünstiger Arbeitsgestaltung betrachtet werden kann. Zur Sicherung ausreichender mentaler Erholung von der Arbeit sollten deshalb Arbeitsanforderungen optimiert und Arbeitszeiten begrenzt werden.
Das Projekt "Psychische Gesundheit in der Arbeitswelt - Wissenschaftliche Standortbestimmung" zielt darauf ab, psychische Belastungsfaktoren bezogen auf den gesicherten Stand der Wissenschaft zu bewerten, Aufschluss über neue Arbeitsanforderungen durch den Wandel der Arbeit zu gewinnen sowie offene Forschungsfragen zu identifizieren. Für mehr als 20 Arbeitsbedingungsfaktoren wurden systematische Übersichtsarbeiten (Scoping Reviews) angefertigt. Die Arbeitsbedingungsfaktoren wurden vier Themenfeldern zugeordnet: "Arbeitsaufgabe", "Führung und Organisation", "Arbeitszeit" und "Technische Faktoren".
Der Faktor "Detachment" gehört zum Themenfeld "Arbeitszeit". Detachment wird als physische und mentale Distanzierung von der Arbeit (während der Ruhezeit zwischen zwei Arbeitstagen oder Arbeitsschichten) und als wichtige Voraussetzung für Erholung verstanden. Der Bericht stellt zum einen die Auswirkungen von Detachment auf Erholung, affektives Wohlbefinden, physische Gesundheit, Schlaf, Lebenszufriedenheit, Ermüdung und Erschöpfung dar, auf der anderen Seite aber auch die Wirkung zentraler Arbeitsbedingungsfaktoren auf das Detachment (soziale Unterstützung, Handlungsspielraum, Arbeitszeit, Rollenkonflikte, soziale Konflikt, quantitative und emotionale Anforderungen). Dabei werden die in der ausgewerteten Literatur formulierten Gestaltungsaussagen reflektiert.
Much research and theory suggests that an increase in perceived personal control is preferred and will result in positive reactions, whereas a decrease in personal control is not desired and will result in negative reactions. However, there are many negative as well as positive consequences to changes in personal control that contribute to one's reaction to increases in perceived control. I review research that identifies conditions under which increases in perceived control result in a tendency to relinquish personal control, negative affect, and a poorer performance on subsequent tasks. Three mediators are suggested for these effects. Changes in perceived personal control are said to result in changes in concern for self-presentation, changes in the perceived likelihood of obtaining desired outcomes, and changes in perceived predictability. Under certain conditions, each of these may lead to negative rather than positive reactions to increased control.
An examination of the literature on conflict between work and family roles suggests that work-family conflict exists when: (a) time devoted to the requirements of one role makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of another; (b) strain from participation in one role makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of another; and (c) specific behaviors required by one role make it difficult to fulfill the requirements of another. A model of work-family conflict is proposed, and a series of research propositions is presented.
The aim of this study is to determine which job characteristics and coping strategies predict negative and positive work-home interference (WHI) in the nursing environment. Random samples (n = 300) were taken of registered nurses in the Johannesburg, Klerksdorp, Krugersdorp, Potchefstroom and Pretoria regions. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to measure job characteristics. The Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) was used to measure coping strategies, and the Survey Work-Home Interaction-Nijmegen (SWING) to measure WHI. The results show that time demands, pressure, role clarity and colleague support are the main job characteristics that predict negative WHI. Problem-solving coping predicts less negative WHI and avoidance coping predicts more negative WHI. Time demands, autonomy and role clarity are the main variables that predict positive WHI. Problem-solving coping is the only coping strategy that predicts positive WHI.
The aim of the present study was to test a structural model of job resources, positive work-home interaction (WHI) and work engagement, and to examine the possible mediating role of positive WHI in this relationship. A random sample of 468 police officers in the North West Province was taken. It was hypothesised that job resources are positively related to positive WHI and work engagement, and that there is also a positive relationship between positive WHI and work engagement. In addition, it was expected that positive WHI will partially mediate the relationship with work engagement. To test these hypotheses, structural equation modelling was used to determine the direct relationship between the variables as well as the (partial) mediating role of positive WHI. From the results, it can be concluded that there is a relationship between job resources, positive WHI and work engagement. In addition, the results suggest that job resources exert its positive effects directly on work engagement as well as indirectly through positive WHI, providing support for the partial mediating effect of positive WHI.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether work±home interaction fully or partially mediates between job resources (including job control and job support) and work engagement. The Effort-Recovery model was used as theoretical framework. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 326) were taken of workers employed in the earthmoving equipment industry in eight provinces of South Africa. The Survey Work±home Interaction ± Nijmegen (SWING) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were administered. Job control and job support were measured by items that were adapted from the Job Content Questionnaire and a validated questionnaire on experience and evaluation of work. Multiple regression analysis showed that work± home interaction partially mediated between job resources (job control and job support) and work engagement.
Objectives The present study was designed to investigate the causal relationships between (time- and strain-based) work-home interference and employee health. The effort-recovery theory provided the theoretical basis for this study. Methods Two-phase longitudinal data (with a 1-year time lag) were gathered from 730 Dutch police officers to test the following hypotheses with structural equation modeling: (i) work-home interference predicts health deterioration, (ii) health complaints precede increased levels of such interference, and (iii) both processes operate. The relationship between stable and changed levels of work-home interference across time and their relationships with the course of health were tested with a group-by-time analysis of variance. Four subgroups were created that differed in starting point and the development of work-home interference across time. Results The normal causal model, in which strain-based (but not time-based) work-home interference was longitudinally related to increased health complaints I year later, fit the data well and significantly better than the reversed causal model. Although the reciprocal model also provided a good fit, it was less parsimonious than the normal causal model. In addition, both an increment in (strain-based) work-home interference across time and a long-lasting experience of high (strain-based) work-home interference were associated with a deterioration in health. Conclusions It was concluded that (strain-based) work-home interference acts as a precursor of health impairment and that different patterns of (strain-based) work-home interference across time are related to different health courses. Particularly long-term experience of (strain-based) work-home interference seems responsible for an accumulation of health complaints.
