Experience, vulnerability, or overload? Emotional job demands as moderator in trajectories of emotional well-being and job satisfaction across the working lifespan

Employees exert emotional effort in order to perform their work effectively, albeit to varying degrees based on their occupation. These emotional job demands (EJDs) affect employees’ well-being, yet evidence is mixed as to whether these effects are positive or negative. One limiting factor in extant studies is that they investigated short-term effects or cross-sectional relationships between EJDs (usually assessed at the employee level) and work outcomes. The present study used an accelerated longitudinal design with a 10-year timespan of data (effectively covering the whole working lifespan) to test the effects of EJDs at the occupational level on long-term trajectories of well-being. Drawing on the model of strengths and vulnerabilities integration (SAVI) from the lifespan psychology literature, we tested three competing effects: an experience effect (EJDs predict increased well-being), a vulnerability effect (EJDs predict diminished well-being), and an overload effect (a non-linear relationship in which very high levels lead to more unfavorable trajectories). Using data of N = 2,478 working adults in Germany drawn from the Socioeconomic Panel Study (SOEP), in tandem with data on EJDs from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), we found an overload effect of EJDs on trajectories of positive affect and job satisfaction. However, EJDs did not influence trajectories of negative affect. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice

A Temporal Perspective on Social Comparisons in Organizations

Individuals evaluate their social standing through comparisons with others. These social comparisons affect individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior at the workplace. This dissertation aims to advance our knowledge of the effects of these comparisons by taking a temporal perspective on the social comparison process. Contrary to previous research that looked at social comparisons as a single snapshot in time, this dissertation acknowledges the dynamic nature of social comparisons, in particular, that individuals’ standing may change over time. In three chapters, this dissertation examines how considerations of future status are derived from past relative trajectories and lead to positive and negative interpersonal as well the role of individuals’ goal orientation in their preferences for different temporal and static comparisons

How do occupational role demands influence age-related trajectories of emotional functioning?

Prior research indicates that older in comparison to younger workers regulate their emotions at the workplace more effectively, yet, this does not seem to apply for all older workers. The question arises which factors influence age-related trajectories of emotional functioning. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between occupational role demands and age-related trajectories of emotional functioning. Research on cognitive aging shows that workers with cognitively demanding jobs show more positive age trajectories of cognitive functioning than workers with less cognitively demanding jobs. This study tests the idea that workers with emotionally demanding jobs (relative to emotionally less demanding jobs) will grow with their duties over the course of their lifespan and improve their emotional functioning over time. This idea is tested with longitudinal data over ten years from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study combined with information from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database

Keeping (Future) Rivals Down: Temporal social comparison predicts coworker social undermining via future status threat and envy

The extant social undermining literature suggests that employees envy and, consequently, undermine coworkers when they feel that these coworkers are better off and thus pose a threat to their own current status. With the present research, we draw on the sociofunctional approach to emotions to propose that an anticipated future status threat can similarly incline employees to feel envy toward, and subsequently undermine, their coworkers. We argue that employees pay special attention to coworkers’ past development in relation to their own, because faster-rising coworkers may pose a future status threat even if they are still performing worse in absolute terms in the present. With a set of two behavioral experiments (N 90 and N 168), we establish that participants react to faster-rising coworkers with social undermining behavior when the climate is competitive (vs. less competitive). We extended these results with a scenario experiment (N 376) showing that, in these situations, participants extrapolate lower future status than said coworker and thus respond with envy and undermining behavior. A two-wave field study (N 252) replicated the complete moderated serial mediation model. Our findings help to explain why employees sometimes undermine others who present no immediate threat to their status. As such, we extend theorizing on social undermining and social comparison

Deeskalierende Kommunikation im polizeilichen Einsatz – Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Trainingsprogramms

Es wird die Entwicklung und Erprobung eines Trainingsprogramms zur deeskalierenden Kommunikation im polizeilichen Einsatz vorgestellt. Im Rahmen einer multimodalen Datenerhebung wurden an zwei deutschen Standorten der kommunalen Stadtpolizei und der Landespolizei Situationen mit hohem Eskalationspotenzial identifiziert. Mit Blick auf diese Situationen wurden 10 thematisch unabhängige Trainingsmodule entwickelt und in acht Sitzungen mit Gruppen von Einsatzkräften erprobt. Die Einheiten basieren auf etablierten Modellen der Sozial-, Arbeits-, Emotions- und Kommunikationspsychologie. Im Vordergrund steht das aktive Ausprobieren und Erarbeiten persönlich stimmiger kommunikativer Handlungsformen. Wir schließen mit einer Reflexion der Trainingserfahrungen und Erkenntnissen aus der formativen Trainingsevaluation. Die Trainingsmaterialien können zur Weiterverwendung angefragt werden

Exploring the challenges and facilitators that impact the experiences of being an older female worker in the European labour market: Findings from a rapid review of literature

Older women make a significant contribution to the labour market yet still experience negative workplace impacts. We undertook a rapid review of literature to assess the current experiences of older female workers in the European labour market with the aim to inform policy innovation and service development that improves the working lives of older women in Europe. Electronic databases including Business Source Complete, Social Policy and Practice and PubMED were searched. 4797 records were identified, of which 24 full-text reports were included. Compared to men, older women were found to experience more adverse health impacts as a result of work-related stress. Older women bear a greater share of caring responsibilities which has a negative impact on their health. A lack of support for menopausal symptoms in the workplace often prompted early retirement for older female workers. Income and role disparities between men and women were identified, with women having relatively discontinuous employment histories and lower pension funds due to a higher burden of unpaid, domestic labour throughout their life course. This has a cumulative effect on their income, their role and position at work, and their ability to retire. Older women also reported experiencing workplace discrimination, and lack of autonomy and job control, and less training and developement opportunities. Flexible working was found to be contested terrain, with it being a means to support older women to maintain careers but also resulting in poorer career outcomes