Beyond depletion: Daily self‐control motivation as an explanation of self‐control failure at work

The organizational self-control literature usually applies resource perspectives that explain self-control failure at work by depletion of self-control resources. However, these perspectives neglect the role of self-control motivation. On a daily level, we examine several self-control aspects (resources, motivation, demands, and effort) as predictors of a manifestation of self-control failure at work, namely, daily counterproductive work behavior toward the organization (CWB-O). Additionally, we investigate self-control effort as a mechanism predicting the depletion of self-control resources throughout the day. We analyzed data from 155 employees in a 2-week diary study with 2 daily measurement points. Multilevel path modeling showed that self-control motivation and self-control demands, but not self-control resource depletion, predicted self-control effort. There was an indirect effect from self-control motivation on CWB-O via self-control effort but no indirect effect from self-control demands on self-control resource depletion throughout the day via self-control effort. Findings suggest that self-control motivation is a crucial factor explaining self-control failure at work and cast further doubt on the idea that exerted self-control effort is the only mechanism leading to self-control resource depletion

Reasons for interruptions at work: Illuminating the perspective of the interrupter

This research sheds light on two crucial yet overlooked aspects of work interruptions: the perspective of employees who initiate interruptions and the reasons behind those interruptions. Building on earlier research on interruptions and theories on employee motivation, we identified six key reasons for interruptions that we integrated into a typology. This typology combined three interruption topics (performance, belongingness, and hedonic well-being) and two interruption foci (benefitting the interrupter and benefitting the interruptee; i.e., self-focused and other-focused). We validated this typology using qualitative reports and a scale-development approach, thereby creating the interruption-for-a-reason scale (IFRS). We found that interruptions were typically initiated for good reasons and positively correlated with social exchange constructs. That is, initiating interruptions was linked to requesting social support and to performing prosocial behaviors to coworkers. Altogether, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of interruptions by offering a new perspective on interruptions that addresses the complexities of this phenomenon. Illuminating the interrupters' perspective and the various reasons for interruptions is key to a more balanced examination of the positive and negative aspects of interruptions

Understanding "Zoom fatigue": A mixed-method approach

Video conference meetings, which became frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic, might result in exhaustion (so-called "Zoom fatigue"). However, only little is known about "Zoom fatigue," the objective characteristics shaping it, and the subjective experiences eliciting this phenomenon. Gaining this knowledge is critical for understanding work life during the pandemic. Study 1, a within-person quantitative investigation, tested whether video conferences are exhausting and if objective characteristics (i.e. meeting size, meeting duration, and the presence of the supervisor) moderate "Zoom fatigue". Employees from Germany and Israel (N = 81) participated in a 2-week study, with meetings nested within persons (n = 988). Results showed that video conferences are exhausting-more than meetings held through other media. However, objective characteristics did not moderate this relationship. In Study 2, qualitative data from Germany and Israel (N = 53) revealed employees' subjective experiences in video conferences that may lead to "Zoom fatigue". These include, for example, experiences of loss and comparison with the "good old times" before the pandemic. Employees suggested ways to mitigate "Zoom fatigue," particularly, better management of meetings by leaders. Our results provide empirical support for "Zoom fatigue" and suggest which subjective experiences elicit this phenomenon, opening directions for research and practice

Hierarchical Status and Conflict Styles in the Taiwanese Workforce and Their Relationships to Chinese and Universal Values

[[abstract]]Hierarchy plays an important role in Taiwanese organizations. Therefore, this study investigated the conflict style preferences of superiors, peers and subordinates in their most common, hierarchical relationships. Additionally, to understand the specific cultural influences on conflict handling in Taiwanese organizations better, the relationships of universal and Chinese values with conflict styles were investigated in order to see which values can predict conflict styles. Taiwanese individuals who work full time in Taiwan (N =410) were separated by an item into three groups (superiors, N = 81; peers, N = 194; subordinates, N = 135), and took an online survey about conflict style, universal and Chinese value preferences. It was found that superiors do not prefer dominating conflict style significantly more than avoiding [t = - 1.811, p = .074] or obliging [t = 2.447, p = .017] when handling conflict with their subordinates. For the groups of peers a significant preference for compromising over dominating [t = -19.922, p = .000], avoiding [t = -12.024, p = .000], and obliging [t = -11.052, p =.000], when handling conflicts with their peers was shown. As expected, subordinates showed a significant preference for avoiding [t = .14.403, p = .000] and obliging [t = .27.971, p = .000] over dominating conflict styles when handling conflicts with their superiors. Via using multiple regression, it was found that universal and especially Chinese values such as harmony with others, having few desires, protecting your face, ordering relationships by status and observing this order, self-cultivation or filial piety can predict how conflicts are handled within Taiwanese organizations. Further research should focus more on variables specific for Chinese cultures

The role of recovery for morning cognitive appraisal of work demands: A diary study

We examined the role of daily recovery for morning cognitive appraisal of work demands in a daily diary study. We predicted that psychological detachment from work during the evening would be associated with changes in cognitive appraisal from afternoon to the next morning. Additionally, we predicted that these associations are mediated by state of being recovered in the morning. We collected data from 183 employees with 3 daily measurement occasions over 2 consecutive workweeks. We analyzed the data using multilevel path modeling with latent variance decomposition into within- and between-person variance parts. Results showed that psychological detachment predicted a decrease in hindrance and threat appraisal but no change in challenge appraisal from afternoon to morning. State of being recovered mediated the relationship between psychological detachment and threat appraisal but not hindrance appraisal. Psychological detachment was indirectly related to an increase in challenge appraisal via state of being recovered in the morning. Our results provide insights on predictors of cognitive appraisal and the role of recovery for cognitive processes in the stress process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Understanding “Zoom fatigue”: A mixed-method approach

Video conference meetings, which became frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic, might result in exhaustion (so-called "Zoom fatigue"). However, only little is known about "Zoom fatigue," the objective characteristics shaping it, and the subjective experiences eliciting this phenomenon. Gaining this knowledge is critical for understanding work life during the pandemic. Study 1, a within-person quantitative investigation, tested whether video conferences are exhausting and if objective characteristics (i.e. meeting size, meeting duration, and the presence of the supervisor) moderate "Zoom fatigue". Employees from Germany and Israel (N = 81) participated in a 2-week study, with meetings nested within persons (n = 988). Results showed that video conferences are exhausting-more than meetings held through other media. However, objective characteristics did not moderate this relationship. In Study 2, qualitative data from Germany and Israel (N = 53) revealed employees' subjective experiences in video conferences that may lead to "Zoom fatigue". These include, for example, experiences of loss and comparison with the "good old times" before the pandemic. Employees suggested ways to mitigate "Zoom fatigue," particularly, better management of meetings by leaders. Our results provide empirical support for "Zoom fatigue" and suggest which subjective experiences elicit this phenomenon, opening directions for research and practice

Beyond depletion: Daily self-control motivation as an explanation of self-control failure at work

The organizational self-control literature usually applies resource perspectives that explain self-control failure at work by depletion of self-control resources. However, these perspectives neglect the role of self-control motivation. On a daily level, we examine several self-control aspects (resources, motivation, demands, and effort) as predictors of a manifestation of self-control failure at work, namely, daily counterproductive work behavior toward the organization (CWB-O). Additionally, we investigate self-control effort as a mechanism predicting the depletion of self-control resources throughout the day. We analyzed data from 155 employees in a 2-week diary study with 2 daily measurement points. Multilevel path modeling showed that self-control motivation and self-control demands, but not self-control resource depletion, predicted self-control effort. There was an indirect effect from self-control motivation on CWB-O via self-control effort but no indirect effect from self-control demands on self-control resource depletion throughout the day via self-control effort. Findings suggest that self-control motivation is a crucial factor explaining self-control failure at work and cast further doubt on the idea that exerted self-control effort is the only mechanism leading to self-control resource depletion

Conquering unwanted habits at the workplace:Day-level processes and longer term change in habit strength

Although habits are a well-researched topic within psychology, habits enacted at the workplace received limited attention in the organizational literature. In this article we examine habits that employees show at the workplace. Because workplace habits are not always functional for performance or affective outcomes, and because employees themselves may regard specific habits as undesirable, it is important to identify ways of how employees can abandon such unwanted habits. We report findings from a daily-survey study (N = 145 persons) in which we examined if self-regulatory processes predict disengagement from undesirable habits and engagement in more desirable alternative behaviors. Multilevel path analysis showed that day-specific implementation intentions and day-specific vigilant monitoring were negatively related to day-specific habitual behavior and positively related to day-specific alternative behaviors, both in the morning and in the afternoon. Analysis of follow-up data (N = 126 persons) showed that change in habit strength was stable over a 2-month period, suggesting that implementation intentions, vigilant monitoring, and the associated enactment of alternative behavior indeed may help to disengage from unwanted habits, particularly with respect to task-related habits and when consistency in vigilant monitoring is high. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Obtaining Semi-Formal Models from Qualitative Data: From Interviews Into BPMN Models in User-Centered Design Processes

Gathering qualitative user data in a user-centered design process is one of the very early steps to create interactive systems. However, generating structured models from qualitative data towards descriptions that can be used for the implementation of interactive systems and prototypes raises various challenges, such as a strong influence of the modeler's knowledge and their interpretation of the gathered qualitative data. Introducing the modeler's bias may result in a system implementation which does not fully represent the information provided in the original qualitative data, generating an unwanted gap between what the user needs and what the system provides. To address this challenge, in this paper we present a structured and manual transformation method, which enables a modeler to create BPMN models from interview data by reducing the modeler's individual influence on the resulting BPMN model. We evaluate this approach in the context of the implementation of persuasive systems, which should support changing unwanted work-related habits. Therefore, we conducted unstructured interviews with office workers, thinking aloud interviews, in which we asked office workers to imagine a situation where they showed an unwanted work-related habit and to describe this habit together with an alternative behavior. In a quantitative experimental study, we then asked study participants to create BPMN models either with or without our new transformation method. Our analyses showed that when using our method, different participants created very similar BPMN models of the habits, even with little training. We conclude that the major contribution of our work is that the presented method can be applied to the creation of structured models from unstructured interview data. This method that makes use of rich interview data is suitable for the design and implementation of interactive systems