Zombie at Work (Aggressive) Zombie at Home: The Relationship Between Work Boredom and Romantic Partner Undermining and Disengagement

Work boredom is an understudied topic within Industrial/Organizational psychology, and studies have yet to examine work boredom in the context of the work-nonwork interface. The present study reviewed the current work boredom literature and then examined two pathways by which boredom may be related to employees\u27 behavior at home. It proposed that negative affect, in the form of frustration, is a link between work boredom and undermining behaviors toward one\u27s romantic partner. The cognitive pathway connecting work boredom with romantic partner disengagement, was proposed to be affective rumination. These pathways were expected to be buffered with a high work-nonwork segmentation preference. Data were gathered from 142 dyads of cohabitating romantic couples. Hypotheses addressing the spillover effect were not supported. However, work boredom was associated with both frustration and affective rumination. The study concludes with implications and future research suggestions

How mobile instant messaging affects public employees’ daily work: An empirical examination based on stressor-strain-outcome model

The phenomenon of excessive instant messaging usage in the workplace has garnered increasing attention in recent years. Despite its pervasiveness, extant literature predominantly focused on the psychological well-being, with the subsequent influences on work performance remaining largely unexplored. Using data from street-level bureaus in China, this study examines how work-oriented mobile instant messaging stressors result in psychological reactions and daily work performance decrement as well. Results demonstrate that information overload, compulsive usage and normative response pressure are significant predictors of strain which was represented by cognitive fatigue, emotional fatigue and invasion of life. These strain constructs can further impair individual’s work performance. The findings from this research provide meaningful theoretical insights and carry practical implications

La sobrecarga de información percibida por los estudiantes universitarios y su influencia en el síndrome de respuesta inmediata al smartphone durante la pandemia de la COVID-19: Tomando la perspectiva de la personalidad

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected university students’ learning and social interaction to a large level, causing different degrees of negative emotions and made them extremely sensitive to smartphone information. However, little is known about the link between personalities, perceived information overload (PIO) and smartphone immediate response syndrome (SIRS) during students' learning process in this specific emergency social context. Therefore, based on the person-environment fit model, this study investigated 482 university students from mainland China during the epidemic by a snowball sampling approach, and analyzed the relationship between their personalities, PIO and SIRS by structural equation modeling. Results indicated that individuals with extraversion and neuroticism formed SIRS from different psychological paths. PIO plays a partial mediating role between neuroticism and SIRS and a fully mediating role between extraversion and SIRS. These findings validate the association among individual personality, PIO and SIRS in the non-conventional environment and highlights the difference exist in cellphone-related psychological path between extraverted and neurotic students. Therefore, it is recommended that PIO should be controlled in a targeted manner for individuals with different personality and guide them using cellphones rationally during the epidemic.La pandemia causada por la COVID-19 ha afectado en gran medida al aprendizaje y a la interacción social de los estudiantes universitarios, provocando emociones negativas de diferentes grados y haciéndoles extremadamente sensibles a la información de los smartphones. Sin embargo, se sabe poco sobre la relación entre la personalidad, la sobrecarga de información percibida (SIP) y el síndrome de respuesta inmediata al smartphone (SIRS) durante el proceso de aprendizaje de los estudiantes en este contexto social de emergencia específico. Por lo tanto, basándose en el modelo de ajuste persona-ambiente, este estudio investigó a 482 estudiantes universitarios de China continental durante la epidemia mediante un enfoque de muestreo de bola de nieve, y analizó la relación entre su personalidad, SIP y SIRS mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados indicaron que los individuos con extraversión y neuroticismo formaron el SIRS a partir de diferentes vías psicológicas. La SIP desempeña un papel mediador parcial entre el neuroticismo y el SIRS y un papel totalmente mediador entre la extraversión y el SIRS. Estos resultados validan la asociación entre la personalidad individual, la SIP y el SIRS en el entorno no convencional y pone de manifiesto la diferencia que existe en la trayectoria psicológica relacionada con el teléfono móvil entre los estudiantes extrovertidos y los neuróticos. Por lo tanto, se recomienda controlar la SIP de forma específica para los individuos con personalidad diferente y guiarlos en el uso racional de los teléfonos móviles durante la epidemia

Why do People Share Misinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The World Health Organization have emphasised that misinformation - spreading rapidly through social media - poses a serious threat to the COVID-19 response. Drawing from theories of health perception and cognitive load, we develop and test a research model hypothesizing why people share unverified COVID-19 information through social media. Our findings suggest a person's trust in online information and perceived information overload are strong predictors of unverified information sharing. Furthermore, these factors, along with a person's perceived COVID-19 severity and vulnerability influence cyberchondria. Females were significantly more likely to suffer from cyberchondria, however, males were more likely to share news without fact checking their source. Our findings suggest that to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and cyberchondria, measures should be taken to enhance a healthy skepticism of health news while simultaneously guarding against information overload

Job-related factors that predict the psychological health and well-being of urban taxi drivers

A vast body of research conducted over several decades has established that (a) psychological stress is a major occupational health problem, and (b) drivers in the transport industry are one of several occupational groups who report disproportionately high levels of work-induced stress and psychological ill health. Although the psychological health of truck, coach and urban bus drivers has been studied extensively over the past three decades, the taxi industry has not received the same level of research scrutiny. Only two studies have investigated the effects that driving a taxi has on drivers’ psychological health and well-being. These studies identified potential job-related factors that may influence drivers’ health. The present research aimed to further contribute to knowledge by investigating job-related environmental, organisational and individual factors and their effects on the levels of depression, anxiety, stress and well-being of a sample of taxi drivers in the Brisbane metropolitan area. The theoretical framework for this research utilised Karasek’s (1979) job demand-control model of job strain. In essence, jobs in which demands are high and control is low create an increased level of job strain, which can manifest as psychological illness and a diminished sense of job-related well-being. In addition to the job demands and job control environmental factors, the individual factors of driver aggression, risk-taking and coping strategies, and the organisational factor of safety climate, were incorporated into a proposed ‘extended Karasek model’ in order to more accurately predict the psychological health and well-being of the taxi drivers

Detecting Flow Experiences in Cognitive Tasks - A Neurophysiological Approach

Das Flow-Erlebnis beschreibt einen Zustand vollständiger Aufgabenvertiefung und mühelosen Handelns, der mit Höchstleistungen, persönlichem Wachstum, sowie allgemeinem Wohlbefinden verbunden ist. Für Unternehmen stellen häufigere Flow-Erlebnisse der ArbeitnehmerInnen daher auch eine produktivitäts- und zufriedenheitsfördernde Basis dar. Vor allem da sich aktuell globale Phänomene wie die steigende Nachfrage nach Wissensarbeit und das niedrige Arbeitsengagement zuspitzen, können Unternehmen von einer Förderung von Flow profitieren. Die Unterstützung von Flow stellt allerdings aufgrund der Vielfalt von Arbeitnehmerfertigkeiten, -aufgaben, und -arbeitsplätzen eine komplexe Herausforderung dar. WissensarbeiterInnen stehen dynamischen Aufgaben gegenüber, die diverse Kompetenzen und die Kooperation mit anderen erfordern. Arbeitsplätze werden vielseitiger, indem die Grenzen zwischen ko-präsenten und virtuellen Interaktionen verschwinden. Diese Vielfalt bedeutet, dass eine solide Flow-Förderung nur durch personen-, aufgaben- und situationsunabhängige Ansätze erfolgen kann. Aus diesem Grund werden zunehmend die neurophysiologischen Grundlagen des Flow-Erlebens untersucht. Auf deren Basis könnten adaptive Neuro-Informationssysteme entwickelt werden, die mittels tragbarer Sensorik Flow kontinuierlich erkennen und fördern können. Diese Wissensbasis ist bislang jedoch nur spärlich und in stark fragmentierter Form vorhanden. Für das Individuum existieren lediglich konkurrierende Vorschläge, die noch nicht durch situations- und sensorübergreifende Studien konsolidiert wurden. Für Gruppen existiert noch fast keine Forschung zu neurophysiologischen Flow-Korrelaten, insbesondere keine im Kontext digital-mediierter Interaktionen. In dieser Dissertation werden genau diese Forschungslücken durch die situationsübergreifende Beobachtung von Flow mit tragbaren EKG und EEG Sensoren adressiert. Dabei werden zentrale Grenzen der experimentellen Flow-Forschung berücksichtigt, vor allem die Defizite etablierter Paradigmen zum kontrollierten Hervorrufen von Flow. Indem Erlebnisse in zwei kognitiven Aufgaben und mehreren Manipulationen (von Schwierigkeit, Natürlichkeit, Autonomie und sozialer Interaktion) variiert werden, wird untersucht, wie Flow intensiver hervorgerufen und wie das Erlebnis stabiler über Situationen hinweg beobachtet werden kann. Die Studienergebnisse deuten dabei insgesamt auf ein Flow-Muster von moderater physiologischer Aktivierung und mentaler Arbeitslast, von erhöhter, aufgabenorientierter Aufmerksamkeit und von affektiver Neutralität hin. Vor allem die EEG Daten zeigen ein diagnostisches Potenzial, schwächere von stärkeren Flow-Zuständen unterscheiden zu können, indem optimale und nicht-optimale Aufgabenschwierigkeiten (für Individuen und Gruppen) erkannt werden. Um das Flow-Erleben weiter zu fördern, werden geeignete Wege für zukünftige Forschung abschließend diskutiert

Monotony: the effect of task demand on subjective experience and performance

Although monotony is widely recognised as being detrimental to performance, its occurrence and effects are not yet well understood. This is despite the fact that task-related characteristics, such as monotony and low task demand, have been shown to contribute to performance decrements over time. Three empirical studies were conducted in this research to further our understanding of the factors that contribute to the experience of monotony and the role task demand may play in mitigating monotony-related effects on performance. The first study was lab-based to determine the effect of task demand on the subjective experience and performance of a computer-based monotonous task. Forty participants performed a monotonous task characterised by either low cognitive demand or high cognitive demand, as well as a number of self-report scales. Results clearly demonstrated that despite a similar subjective experience across both tasks, there were clear benefits for performance of the high demand monotonous task. Study two was designed to determine if monotony and fatigue are indeed issues for the potentially ‘at risk’ population of train drivers and if so, are there defining factors that contribute to these experiences. Survey results indicate that train drivers, particularly passenger drivers, experience monotony and fatigue on a regular basis while driving trains for work and the majority believe that these experiences adversely impact on their train management skills. Results also showed that train drivers are able to distinguish between the experiences of monotony and of fatigue and many utilise a somewhat limited range of strategies to cope with these experiences. Study three combined what was learned from the first two studies to determine if increasing the cognitive demand of a monotonous train driving task could mitigate the monotony-related effects on performance. The results clearly show that even a relatively minor increase in cognitive demand can mitigate adverse monotony-related effects on performance for extended periods of time, in this case over two hours of driving in a highly monotonous simulated scenario. Monotony is an inherent characteristic of transport industries, including rail, aviation and road transport, which can have adverse impact on safety, reliability and efficiency. These studies highlight possible strategies for mitigating these adverse effects

Social media users’ online subjective well-being and fatigue: A network heterogeneity perspective

Scholars have drawn increasing attention to the implications of the dark side of social media for users’ online subjective well-being (OSWB). We develop a research framework based on the limited-capacity model to examine the relationship between OSWB and social media fatigue. Moreover, we explore the associations between specific aspects related to network heterogeneity and social media fatigue for social media users in the United States of America (USA). Further, we examine the mediating effect of network heterogeneity on the association between OSWB and social media fatigue. We utilised a cross-sectional research design to collect data from Prolific Academic (N = 320) and analysed the data through structural equation modelling. The results indicate that OSWB is positively correlated with the network heterogeneity aspect of self-disclosure and negatively correlated with social comparison. OSWB, moreover, is negatively correlated with fatigue, while privacy concerns and self-disclosure are positively correlated with fatigue. Further, of the network heterogeneity aspects we considered, only social comparison is a partial mediator for the relationship between OSWB and social media fatigue. The findings provide insights into the pathways through which social media users’ OSWB and network heterogeneity can induce social media fatigue, raising critical implications for theory and practice.publishedVersio

Adverse consequences of emotional support seeking through social network sites in coping with stress from a global pandemic

This study explores how using social networking sites (SNSs) to cope with stressors induced by a global pandemic (in this case, COVID-19) can have negative consequences. The pandemic has imposed particular stressors on individuals, such as the threats of contracting the virus and of unemployment. Owing to the lockdowns and confinements implemented to limit the spread of the pandemic, SNS use has surged worldwide. Drawing on Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress and coping, we consider COVID-19 obsession to be an adverse emotional response to the stressors brought about by the pandemic and emotional support seeking through SNS as a coping strategy. Furthermore, we identify SNS exhaustion as an adverse outcome of this form of coping. Finally, we analyze the intention to reduce SNS use as a corrective behavioral outcome to mitigate the negative effect of SNS-mediated coping. The findings indicate that: 1) the threat of the COVID-19 disease and the threat of unem-ployment drive COVID-19 obsession; 2) COVID-19 obsession contributes to emotional support seeking through SNS; 3) emotional support seeking through SNS exerts a positive effect on SNS exhaustion; 4) SNS exhaustion contributes to the intention to reduce SNS use. Our results advance Information Systems (IS) research by focusing on the use of Information Technology (IT) to cope with stressors that are essentially not IT-related; such research is largely absent from previous literature. Furthermore, our paper contributes to the increasing amount of literature on IT-mediated coping with stressors and reduced social media use

Sustained Vigilance, Errors, and Job Satisfaction in a Population of Critical Care and Emergency Department Nurses

Despite the continuing efforts of health care organizations to provide a culture of safety, an unacceptable number of medication incidents and hospital errors continue to occur. This study focuses on these events as they relate to job satisfaction in the context of sustained vigilance required of acute care nurses. A constellation of variables contribute to errors including fatigue, stress, overload, protocol satisfaction, and practice risk. The study includes an intense examination of the physiological and psychological effects of night shift work. The results reflect a correlation between fatigue and errors with a less robust, though still statistically significant, association with job satisfaction and control of the practice environment