Flexible and Fit: Examining the Relationship Between Flexible Work Arrangements and Employee Health

Flexible work arrangements have the potential to simultaneously benefit organizations and their employees (Galinsky, Sakai, & Wigton, 2011), and have been classified as an essential component to an effective workplace. Flexibility may positively influence health behaviors and health outcomes through empowering employees to control the organization of their work demands and outside activities (Casey & Gzywacz, 2008), and through helping to buffer the negative effects of work demands. This study hypothesized positive relationships between subjective flexibility and health outcomes through improved health behaviors. Work demands were expected to negatively influence health outcomes through decreased health behaviors, though these relationships were expected to be buffered by flexibility. Family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) were expected to moderate such relationships, increasing positive relationships between flexibility and health behaviors, and buffering negative relationships with demands. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data collected through Amazon\u27s Mechanical Turk (N=470). Overall, results revealed positive relationships with flexibility and negative associations with demands to employee health, though many pathways were nonsignificant. FSSB did not moderate relationships with flexibility, but did buffer negative relationships with demands. Flexibility did not act as a buffer to demands. Findings help to contribute to a limited body of research linking flexibility to health behaviors and outcomes, and offer unique contributions in examining multiple perspectives of an employee\u27s work arrangements and health indicators in a comprehensive model

The Mediating Effects of Positive Psychological States on the Relationships Between Hindrance Stressors and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Multi-Level Approach

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are informal and voluntary behaviors that positively contribute to organizational functioning (Organ 1997; Katz & Kahn, 1978). To better understand and encourage such behaviors, the present study investigated the influence of hindrance stressors and positive psychological states in the workplace. Responses from a sample of university employees were analyzed to examine the individual and unit-level effects of role ambiguity, organizational constraints, and lack of job control on individual-level supervisor-rated OCBs through individual and unit-level positive psychological states. Results showed that each hindrance stressor negatively influenced OCB participation directly and through decreased positive psychological states at the individual-level (Level 1). All unit-level (Level 2) hindrance stressors demonstrated negative relationships to OCBs directly, and lack of job control at the unit- level (Level 2) was also a significant direct predictor beyond the individual-level (Level 1). Hindrance stressors at the unit-level (Level 2) mediated by decreased unit-level (Level 2) positive psychological states predicted decreased OCBs above any individual-level (Level 1) effects of hindrance stressors and positive psychological states. These results provide evidence of incremental variance explained by unit-membership in the relationship between hindrance stressors and positive psychological states on OCB performance. Implications for the current literature, future research, and applied interventions to help diminish barriers and increase OCBs are discussed

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Towards Mental Health Treatment

The present study assessed implicit and explicit attitudes toward mental health treatment, and whether the different attitude assessments were related to treatment-seeking. Undergraduate students (N=192) completed three Implicit Association Tests (IAT), which were computer-based reaction time tasks where participants responded to terms for mental health and medical treatments that were paired with the attributes good versus bad, effective versus ineffective, and honoring versus humiliating. Survey items assessed explicit ratings of mental health treatment and medical treatment on these attributes, as well as more general attitudes toward mental health treatment. The IAT results revealed a significant negative implicit bias toward mental health treatment as being less effective, good, and honoring than medical treatment. Explicit survey measures also showed more negative responses toward mental health treatment. Some correspondence was also obtained between the implicit biases reflected by the IAT and the explicit biases shown on the self-report survey. Finally, students who had sought mental health treatment had more positive explicit attitudes toward mental health treatment than those who had not sought treatment, but no differences were obtained on the implicit attitude measures. The current study helps to progress research working to reduce stigma towards mental health treatment and increase treatment-seeking behaviors