Autonomous or controlled self-regulation, that is the question: A self-determination perspective on the impact of commuting on employees’ domain-specific functioning

The few studies that have considered psychological processes during the commute have drawn an ambiguous picture, with some emphasizing the negative and others the positive consequences of commuting. Drawing on self-determination theory, we develop a framework that expands on the costs and benefits of commuting for employees’ subsequent domain-related functioning at work and home. Specifically, we propose employees’ basic needs satisfaction and processes of autonomous and controlled self-regulation as mechanisms that explain how psychological commute characteristics spill over to domain-related functioning through experienced subjective vitality. In doing so, we introduce a taxonomy of psychological commute characteristics and highlight the importance of separating these underlying subjective characteristics from objective aspects of the commuting environment. Our research encourages scholars to conduct within- and between-person studies to examine how the objective commute environment and associated psychological commute characteristics affect employees’ self-regulation

The positive relationship between servant leadership and employees’ psychological health:A multi-method approach

Servant leadership is thought to encourage socially responsible and moral behaviors. In the present article, we test the positive relationship between servant leadership and employees’ psychological health. We argue that servant leadership is positively related to employees’ health because servant leaders shape employees’ needs and create work environments that fulfill these needs. We examine the proposed relationship of servant leadership (a) competing for variance with different well-known stressors, (b) in multiple samples, (c) at the within- and between-person level, and (d) in relation to long- and short-term indicators of strain. On the basis of this multi-method approach we seek to demonstrate that our results are invariant across different methodological conditions. In Study 1 (N=443), we simultaneously tested the between-person level relationships of servant leadership and job ambiguity to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization as the core symptoms of burnout. In Study 2 (N=75), we simultaneously tested the relationships of person-level servant leadership and day-level emotional dissonance to day-level ego depletion and need for recovery as outcomes. The results of both studies demonstrate that servant leadership is negatively related to strain and accounts for unique variance in short- and long-term indicators of strain over and above that explained by well-known job-stressors. Accordingly, servant leadership can be regarded as an important determinant of employees’ psychological health

Can faith move mountains? How implicit theories about willpower moderate the adverse effect of daily emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work and its spillover to the home-domain

Recent findings have demonstrated that implicit theories about willpower (the belief whether willpower relies on a limited vs. nonlimited resource) moderate the ego-depletion-effect. This study examines this moderating mechanism in occupational settings where employees increasingly have to deal with the unpleasant state of emotional dissonance, which requires the exertion of volitional self-control. By integrating findings on implicit theories about willpower, arguments brought up by the strength model of self-control, and notions from the spillover literature, we propose that believing in a nonlimited resource theory of willpower buffers the effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work and diminishes the spillover of ego-depletion from the work- to the home-domain. In a diary study covering 10 working days (N = 71), we examine a moderated mediation model in which ego-depletion at work mediates the relation between emotional dissonance and ego-depletion at home and analyse whether implicit theories about willpower moderate both paths (a and b) of the proposed mediation model. Our results provide support for the mediation hypothesis and show that endorsing a nonlimited resource theory buffers the effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work, thereby disrupting the indirect effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at home. Subsequently, we discuss implications of holding a nonlimited resource theory

Is Job Control a Double-Edged Sword?:A Cross-Lagged Panel Study on the Interplay of Quantitative Workload, Emotional Dissonance, and Job Control on Emotional Exhaustion

Previous meta-analytic findings have provided ambiguous evidence on job control as a buffering moderator of the adverse impact of job demands on psychological well-being. To disentangle these mixed findings, we examine the moderating effect of job control on the adverse effects of quantitative workload and emotional dissonance as distinct work-related demands on emotional exhaustion over time. Drawing on the job demands-control model, the limited strength model of self-control, and the matching principle we propose that job control can facilitate coping with work-related demands but at the same time may also require employees' self-control. Consequently, we argue that job control buffers the adverse effects of quantitative workload while it reinforces the adverse effects of emotional dissonance, which also necessitates self-control. We examine the proposed relations among employees from an energy supplying company (N = 139) in a cross-lagged panel study with a six-month time lag. Our results demonstrate a mix of causal and reciprocal effects of job characteristics on emotional exhaustion over time. Furthermore, as suggested, our data provides evidence for contrasting moderating effects of job control. That is, job control buffers the adverse effects of quantitative workload while it reinforces the adverse effects of emotional dissonance on emotional exhaustion

Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Role of Daily Presenteeism as an Adaptive Response to Perform at Work Despite Somatic Complaints for Employee Effectiveness

Our study seeks to contribute to scholarly understanding of the antecedents and consequences of the crucial, but so far overlooked within-person daily fluctuations in presenteeism. Drawing on theoretical frameworks of presenteeism, which conceptualize presenteeism as an adaptive behavior to deliver work performance despite limitations due to ill-health, we develop a within-person model of daily presenteeism and examine somatic complaints and work-goal progress as crucial joint determinants of daily fluctuations in presenteeism. We further integrate the aforementioned theoretical frameworks with ego-depletion theory to argue that presenteeism requires self-regulation to suppress cognitions, emotions, and behavioral responses associated with ill-health and instead focus on completing one’s work tasks. Accordingly, we predict that presenteeism depletes employees’ regulatory resources and impairs employees’ next-day work engagement and task performance. The results of a daily-diary study across 15 workdays with N = 995 daily observations nested in N = 126 employees show that daily work-goal progress attenuates the daily relation between somatic complaints and presenteeism, thereby also reducing the indirect effect of somatic complaints on employees’ next-day work engagement and task performance through presenteeism and ego depletion. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of shifting presenteeism research from the macro- to the micro-level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved

Stop and go, where is my flow? How and when daily aversive morning commutes are negatively related to employees’ motivational states and behavior at work

Despite convincing evidence about the general negative consequences of commuting for individuals and societies, our understanding of how aversive commutes are linked to employees’ effectiveness at work is limited. Drawing on theories of self-regulation and by extension a conservation of resources perspective, we develop a framework that explains how an aversive morning commute—a resource-depleting experience characterized by interruptions of automated travel behaviors—impairs employees’ immersion in uninterrupted work (i.e., flow), which in turn reduces employee effectiveness (i.e., work engagement, subjective performance, and OCB-I). We further delineate theoretical arguments for daily self-control demands as a boundary condition that amplifies this relation and propose the satisfaction of employees’ basic needs as protective factors. Two diary studies across 10 workdays each (Study 1: 53 employees, 411 day-level data points; Study 2: 91 employees, 719 day-level data points) support most of our hypotheses. Study 1 demonstrates that daily aversive morning commutes negatively affect employees’ daily work engagement through lower levels of flow experiences, but only on days with high impulse control demands. In addition, we find initial support that employees’ general autonomy and competence needs satisfaction attenuate this interaction. Study 2 rules out alternative mechanisms (negative affect and tension), demonstrates ego depletion as an additional mediator of the relation between aversive morning commutes and work effectiveness, and replicates the hypothesized three-way interaction for daily competence need satisfaction. We critically discuss the findings and reflect on corporate interventions, which may allow people to more easily flow to and at work

Autonomous or controlled self-regulation, that is the question: A self-determination perspective on the impact of commuting on employees’ domain-specific functioning

The few studies that have considered psychological processes during the commute have drawn an ambiguous picture, with some emphasizing the negative and others the positive consequences of commuting. Drawing on self-determination theory, we develop a framework that expands on the costs and benefits of commuting for employees’ subsequent domain-related functioning at work and home. Specifically, we propose employees’ basic needs satisfaction and processes of autonomous and controlled self-regulation as mechanisms that explain how psychological commute characteristics spill over to domain-related functioning through experienced subjective vitality. In doing so, we introduce a taxonomy of psychological commute characteristics and highlight the importance of separating these underlying subjective characteristics from objective aspects of the commuting environment. Our research encourages scholars to conduct within- and between-person studies to examine how the objective commute environment and associated psychological commute characteristics affect employees’ self-regulation

The role of regulatory, affective, and motivational resources in the adverse spillover of sleep in the home domain to employee effectiveness in the work domain

How does sleep affect employee effectiveness and what can employees do to remain effective on days with a lack of sleep? Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, our research expands on the cognitive (regulatory resources), affective (positive affect), and motivational (subjective vitality) mechanisms that link sleep and employee effectiveness. Furthermore, considering the crucial role of individuals’ beliefs in the spillover of sleep to work, we examine implicit theories about willpower – a mindset about the resource-draining nature of self-regulation – as a moderator of the positive relationship between sleep duration and employee effectiveness through regulatory resources availability. Two daily diary studies with a combined sample of N total = 214 employees (N total = 1317 workdays) demonstrate the predominant role of cognitive- and affective resources in the day-specific relations between sleep at home to engagement, in-role, and extra-role performance at work. Moreover, the spillover of sleep to employee effectiveness via cognitive resources is stronger for individuals holding a limited as compared with a non-limited resource theory. This research not only expands our theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms that link sleep to employee effectiveness but also offers practical implications by highlighting the protective role of holding a non-limited resource theory on days with a lack of sleep

I can do good even when my supervisor is bad: Abusive supervision and employee socially responsible behaviour

Existing research has convincingly demonstrated the deleterious impact of abusive supervision within the boundaries of the organization. However, we ask, can the harmful consequences of abusive supervision extend beyond organizational boundaries, and in particular, impact social good creation? To answer this crucial question, the present study investigates whether, how, and when abusive supervision affects employees' socially responsible behaviour (SRB). We build on ego depletion theory, and its theoretical extension, the integrative self-control theory, to develop and test a multi-level model that advances our understanding of the psychological mechanisms through, and boundary conditions under which abusive supervision affects employee SRB. Findings from a weekly diary study across 12 weeks support: (1) the role of ego depletion as a core psychological process that underlies the negative impact of weekly abusive supervision on employees' SRB and (2) the role of both trait abusive supervision and weekly impulse control demands as critical boundary conditions that determine whether weekly abusive supervision impacts SRB. These findings have important implications for the abusive supervision and social responsibility literatures, advancing our understanding of what organizations can do to alleviate the detrimental consequences of abusive supervision for social good creation

Psychological detachment: A moderator in the relationship of self-control demands and job strain

In the present article, we investigate psychological detachment as a moderator of the positive relationship of self-control demands (SCDs) and indicators of psychological strain. Based on the propositions that (a) SCDs are a source of work stress, which draws on and depletes limited regulatory resources and (b) psychological detachment facilitates the recovery of that resource, we expected that psychological detachment attenuates the positive relationships between SCDs and psychological strain (ego depletion, need for recovery, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization). We tested our prediction in two different studies with hierarchical moderated regression analyses. Results of the first study (N = 445) provided strong support for our prediction that psychological detachment buffers the adverse impact of SCDs on strain. In the second study (N = 426), we replicated our initial findings and tested the theoretical assertion that psychological detachment is more effective in buffering those stressors that deplete limited regulatory resources (SCDs) in contrast to stressors (job ambiguity), which are considered to cause strain through other mechanisms. Contrastive comparisons of the differential interaction patterns of psychological detachment with stressors that induce self-control efforts and job ambiguity supported our prediction that psychological detachment is more effective in attenuating the adverse effects of SCDs on psychological strain