Predictors of adherence in Austrian employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: results of an online survey.

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a significant challenge to health care systems throughout the world. The introduction of measures to reduce the incidence of infection had a significant impact on the workplace. Overall, companies played a key and adaptive role in coping with the pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional data from an online-survey of 1,183 employees conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2021 in Austria were used in the analyses. The influence of health beliefs (e.g., perceived severity), modifying factors (e.g., age) and time-dependent factors (e.g., corona fatigue) on individual adherence were evaluated. The conception of the questionnaire was based on the health belief model. Results: The majority of respondents were female (58.3%), worked in companies with more than 250 employees (56.6%) and had been to an academic secondary school or had a university degree (58.3%). Overall, employees were adherent to most of the measures at their company (>80%), except for wearing FFP-2 masks when they were travelling in a car with coworkers (59.3, 95%CI 51.3-66.7%). Overall adherence was associated with high ratings for the meaningfulness of testing (OR: 2.06 95%CI: 1.00-4.22; p = 0.049), the extent to which social norms govern behavior (OR: 6.61 95%CI: 4.66-9.36; p < 0.001), lower perceived difficulties associated with the adoption of health-promoting measures (OR: 0.37 95%CI: 0.16-0.82; p = 0.015) and lower corona fatigue (OR: 0.23 95%CI: 0.10-0.52; p < 0.001). Adherence to four single measures was influenced by different predictors. The most important predictors (important for the adherence to three out of four single measures) were social norms and corona fatigue. Conclusion: The importance attached to testing and social norms, as well as lower perceived barriers to health-promoting measures and low levels of corona fatigue all increase overall adherence to Covid-19 protective measures in companies. Strategies to improve adherence should be adapted depending on the aim (to raise overall adherence or adherence to individual measures) and on the group of persons that is being targeted.

Customization options in consumer health information materials on type-2 diabetes mellitus-an analysis of modifiable features in different types of media.

Introduction: The understanding of health-related information is essential for making informed decisions. However, providing health information in an understandable format for everyone is challenging due to differences in consumers' health status, disease knowledge, skills, and preferences. Tailoring health information to individual needs can improve comprehension and increase health literacy. Objective: The aim of our research was to analyze the extent to which consumers can customize consumer health information materials (CHIMs) for type-2 diabetes mellitus through various media types. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search for various CHIMs across various media types, such as websites, apps, videos, and printed or printable forms. A representative sample of CHIMs was obtained for analysis through blocked randomization across the various media types. We conducted a quantitative content analysis to determine the frequency of user-centered customization options. Cross-comparisons were made to identify trends and variations in modifiable features among the media. Results: In our representative sample of 114 CHIMs, we identified a total of 24 modifiable features, which we grouped into five main categories: (i) language, (ii) text, (iii) audiovisual, (iv) presentation, and (v) medical content. Videos offered the most customization opportunities (95%), while 47% of websites and 26% of apps did not allow users to tailor health information. None of the printed or printable materials provided the option to customize the information. Overall, 65% of analyzed CHIMs did not allow users to tailor health information according to their needs. Conclusion: Our results show that CHIMs for type-2 diabetes mellitus could be significantly improved by providing more customization options for users. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness and usability of these options to enhance the development and appropriate provision of modifiable features in health information.

Negative cognitive-affective involvement as a mechanism linking job demands to occupational well-being: The moderating role of maladaptive thinking patterns.

Negative cognitions and emotions about work during off-job time (e.g., worry about work tasks) can hinder the necessary recovery from work and lead to impaired occupational well-being. To better understand when this negative cognitive-affective involvement arises, we considered simultaneous and interactive effects of external and individual factors. Specifically, we investigated whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, cognitive demands, emotional demands) and maladaptive thinking patterns are independently and jointly related to negative cognitive-affective involvement and whether this is in turn associated with impaired occupational well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion, cynicism). Using a diary study, we collected daily data from 109 employees twice a day over two working weeks (N = 667 day-level observations). Multilevel analyses showed that negative cognitive-affective involvement mediates the relationship between job demands (i.e., cognitive demands, emotional demands) and the two occupational well-being indicators. The relationship between cognitive and emotional demands, respectively, and negative cognitive-affective involvement is moderated by work-related maladaptive thinking patterns, with stronger relationships for employees reporting more frequent maladaptive thinking patterns. Moreover, work-related maladaptive thinking patterns moderate the indirect effects of job demands on occupational well-being via negative cognitive-affective involvement. Overall, we expanded the research on negative cognitive-affective involvement by providing a more comprehensive picture of its antecedents and outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Work Intensification and Its Effects on Mental Health: The Role of Workplace Curiosity.

Work intensification is a psychosocial risk that has been increasing in recent decades and may have been accentuated after the COVID-19 pandemic. Its effects on health are negative, but they can be moderated by contextual and personal factors. The aim of this study was twofold: to analyze the effect of work intensification on workers' stress, anxiety, and depression and to explore the role of workplace curiosity in these relationships. The study design was cross-sectional, and a total of 766 Spanish workers (58.9% female) with different occupations completed the survey. The results showed that work intensification was associated with the symptomatology of stress, anxiety, and depression, with a medium effect size. Women workers showed higher work intensification, but its association with mental health was equally strong for both genders. Workers with higher levels of the workplace curiosity dimension "stress tolerance" showed less impaired mental health in the presence of work intensification. However, workers with higher levels of the workplace curiosity dimension "deprivation sensitivity" showed more symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression when faced with high work intensification. The results were discussed in terms of their contributions to the field of study of work intensification, the future research they could inspire, and the prevention and intervention measures they could motivate.

Spanish Adaptation of the Intensified Job Demands Scale (IDS).

BACKGROUND: The Intensification of Job Demands Scale (IDS) is a multidimensional instrument designed to capture the phenomenon of work intensification that characterizes modern Western societies. However, in Spain the instrument has not been validated to assess this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the IDS adaptation with a heterogeneous sample of Spanish workers. METHOD: The sample consisted of 722 Spanish workers (57.8% female, 42.2% male) who completed a survey between January and April 2022. RESULTS: A five-factor correlated model, as in the original IDS, had an optimal fit with 15 items, and displayed invariance across gender, level of education, and organizational tenure. Reliability coefficients were all satisfactory, and scale adaptation showed evidence of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish adaptation of the IDS is a valid, reliable measure for analyzing the phenomenon of work intensification and intensified job demands in Spain.

Check the box! How to deal with automation bias in AI-based personnel selection.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) as decision support for personnel preselection, e.g., in the form of a dashboard, promises a more effective and fairer selection process. However, AI-based decision support systems might prompt decision makers to thoughtlessly accept the system's recommendation. As this so-called automation bias contradicts ethical and legal requirements of human oversight for the use of AI-based recommendations in personnel preselection, the present study investigates strategies to reduce automation bias and increase decision quality. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, we assume that instructing decision makers about the possibility of system errors and their responsibility for the decision, as well as providing an appropriate level of data aggregation should encourage decision makers to process information systematically instead of heuristically. We conducted a 3 (general information, information about system errors, information about responsibility) x 2 (low vs. high aggregated data) experiment to investigate which strategy can reduce automation bias and enhance decision quality. We found that less automation bias in terms of higher scores on verification intensity indicators correlated with higher objective decision quality, i.e., more suitable applicants selected. Decision makers who received information about system errors scored higher on verification intensity indicators and rated subjective decision quality higher, but decision makers who were informed about their responsibility, unexpectedly, did not. Regarding aggregation level of data, decision makers of the highly aggregated data group spent less time on the level of the dashboard where highly aggregated data were presented. Our results show that it is important to inform decision makers who interact with AI-based decision-support systems about potential system errors and provide them with less aggregated data to reduce automation bias and enhance decision quality.

Time pressure, work-related spousal support seeking, and relationship satisfaction: Spillover and crossover effects among dual-earner couples.

The present study examined how time pressure at work is transmitted to the home domain and how it affects individuals' (spillover) as well as their partners' relationship satisfaction (crossover). We examined the role of work-related spousal support seeking and proposed that it serves as a mediator of the spillover as well as the crossover process. We further explored whether the proposed spillover-crossover process is gender-contingent. Using a sample of 308 dual-earner couples, we found support for a positive link between time pressure at work and spousal support seeking. As hypothesised, spousal support seeking served also as a crossover mechanism. However, distinct spillover and crossover processes were found for men and women. These findings not only point to a new spillover and crossover mechanism but also highlight gender-specific patterns in the role of support seeking. As this coping strategy is feasible when job stressors are high, it should be considered a part of stress management trainings and organizational practices.

A field experiment on the effects of weekly planning behaviour on work engagement, unfinished tasks, rumination, and cognitive flexibility.

This study concerns research on self-regulation. It examines the effects of planning behaviour, a comprehensive self-regulatory strategy of goal setting, planning work steps, and developing alternative plans. Combining different strategies, rather than testing them in isolation, would strengthen their effects and make them more appropriate for complex work tasks. Drawing on self-regulation theory, we propose that planning behaviour positively affects work engagement, unfinished tasks, rumination, and cognitive flexibility. Considering cognitive flexibility as an outcome provides insight into the cognitive benefits of planning behaviour. We examine person-level cognitive demands of flexible work and predictability as moderator variables to better understand the role of contextual variables in the use of self-regulatory strategies at work. We conducted a field experiment (N = 208 individuals; 947 weekly entries) in which we manipulated employees' weekly planning behaviour in their daily work lives. We found negative effects on unfinished tasks and weekly rumination, and positive effects on weekly cognitive flexibility. No significant moderating effects were found. Our study suggests that a brief planning manipulation at the beginning of the week may have multiple benefits and may be an important tool for improving cognitive flexibility. Future research should examine the role of time and mediating variables.

A two-wave study on the effects of cognitive demands of flexible work on cognitive flexibility, work engagement and fatigue.

Cognitive demands of flexible work are the specific cognitive demands of planning of working times, planning of working places, structuring of work tasks and coordinating with others that arise from flexible work organisation. Although these demands have become increasingly widespread, their consequences are not well understood. We propose that cognitive demands of flexible work are challenge stressors that can benefit employees, by adding to their cognitive flexibility and work engagement, but also impair employees by causing fatigue. Hypotheses were tested using a two-wave study design in a sample that recently switched to a more flexible work organisation (N = 279). Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. We found that planning of working times and planning of working places were related to increases in cognitive flexibility, and coordinating with others was related to increases in work engagement. No significant relations with fatigue were found. Thus, the results suggest that cognitive demands of flexible work helped employees to personally develop and feel motivated at work. However, effects on work engagement were rather small. Future research should control potential confounding variables more thoroughly and examine effects on short-term strain outcomes.

Development and validation of the Work-Home Integration Questionnaire (WHIQ).

The boundaries between work and private life are gradually blurring. More and more employees are involved in work during leisure time through cognitions, emotions or behaviours, in both negative and positive ways. This so-called work-home integration (WHI) can, on the one hand, hampers the necessary recovery from work and result in strain but, on the other hand, also restores resources and result in beneficial outcomes. In order to enhance our understanding of WHI and capture all its different forms, we suggest a new conceptualisation and measure of WHI. We therefore developed and validated the Work-Home Integration Questionnaire (WHIQ) in English, German and Slovene simultaneously using two cross-sectional studies (Study 1: N = 848; Study 2: N = 555) and a two-wave longitudinal study with a time lag of 1 month (Study 3: N = 379). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-factor structure with (1) negative cognitive-affective involvement, (2) positive cognitive-affective involvement and (3) behavioural involvement. Moreover, the WHIQ showed measurement invariance across the three languages and the results provide evidence for convergent, discriminant and incremental validity. Overall, the WHIQ is a reliable, valid and short measure to assess the extent to which employees are involved in work during leisure time.

Development and validation of a scale to measure team communication behaviors.

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work was increased all over the globe. As a consequence, workers had to adapt their communication behaviors to smoothly coordinate work in their flexible teams (i.e., when team members divide work between the office and their homes). Drawing on relational coordination theory, we constructed and validated a scale to capture the most relevant team communication behaviors. Methods: We employed interviews and focus groups to construct the scale, refined the scale based on three samples with employees working flexibly and finally validated the scale with 130 teams from diverse organizations. Results: Our scale comprises three dimensions: focused communication, knowledge sharing and spontaneous communication. All three dimensions showed convergent validity with team planning and discriminant validity with time-spatial flexibility. Also, predictive validity with collective efficacy and team viability was achieved for focused communication and knowledge sharing. Spontaneous communication only predicted collective efficacy, but not team viability. Discussion: We conclude that the TCS is a reliable and valid measure for assessing team communication and contribute by focusing on behaviors.

Conflict at Work Impairs Physiological Recovery during Sleep: A Daily Diary Study.

Sleep plays an essential role in maintaining employees' health and well-being. However, stressors, such as conflict at work, may interfere with employees' sleep. Drawing on previous literature on the relationship between conflict at work and sleep outcomes, we proposed a negative relationship between daily conflict at work and physiological changes during early sleep, particularly nocturnal heart rate variability (HRV). Furthermore, building on the perseverative cognition hypothesis, we proposed that daily work-related rumination mediates the relationship between conflict at work and nocturnal HRV. Ninety-three healthcare employees participated in a daily diary study for five workdays, resulting in 419 observations. Multilevel analysis revealed a significant relationship between daily conflict at work and nocturnal HRV, specifically high-frequency (HF) power. Daily conflict at work was found to predict rumination; however, rumination did not significantly predict nocturnal HRV. Our results suggest that daily conflict at work increases rumination during the off-job time and may directly alter nocturnal HRV, specifically parasympathetic function in early sleep.

Development and Initial Validation of a Scale to Measure Cognitive Demands of Flexible Work.

With globalization, digitalization, and the spread of information and communication technologies, rules regulating work have been softened or completely abolished. Consequently, employees face additional cognitive demands to plan, structure, and coordinate their work. To capture these demands of contemporary work, we constructed and initially validated the Cognitive Demands of Flexible Work (CODE) scale. The scale comprises four subscales (i.e., structuring of work tasks, planning of working times, planning of working places, and coordinating with others). We initially validated the scale in three independent studies (overall N = 1,129) in German and English. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the four-factor structure, as well as scalar invariance, of the different language versions. Moreover, the subscales showed convergent and divergent validity with related constructs such as requirements for problem solving or autonomy. The criterion validity for emotional exhaustion, engagement, positive work rumination, negative work rumination, and problem-solving pondering suggested that cognitive demands of flexible work can be construed as challenge demands. However, relationships with emotional exhaustion were not significant. Overall, the CODE scale was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure cognitive demands of flexible work.

From Shock to Shift-A Qualitative Analysis of Accounts in Mid-Career About Changes in the Career Path.

Career shocks are the norm, not the exception. Yet, much of research and counseling on career-development holds unrealistic assumptions of a makeable career. Little is understood about the role of shocks on the career path and how the interplay of individual reactions to shocks shapes careers. The purpose of this study is to provide understanding of responses to different attributes of career shocks and career shocks as antecedents to career and job change. A qualitative approach was chosen and data were obtained from 25 semi-structured interviews with a sample of mid-career individuals who had experienced shocks in their work lives. The analysis was 2-fold and aimed at unearthing of individual responses to shocks and the question of the role of shocks on changes in the career path. Firstly, the analysis of career shocks revealed a pattern of distinct agentic responses in relation to shocks of different attributes. Secondly, from the analysis of shock attributes and corresponding responses over time career changer profiles emerged which differ in regard to career change behavior and magnitude of changes in the career (e.g., major career changes into another field). A process model which depicts how post-shock careers are shaped distinctively in relation to different shock attributes and corresponding responses is presented. This study underlines the importance of understanding the unplannable in career development and shows a variety of options for individuals to develop their careers despite shocks. Limitation stems from the investigation of a sample limited to mid-career individuals. The findings provide a new conceptual lens to theorize and conduct research on career shocks and career changes and facilitate the development of coping strategies for career shocks. The originality lies in the investigation of the momentum of career shocks on career paths with detail to different attributes of career shocks and how they impact the career path.

Activity-based flexible offices: effects on work-related outcomes in a longitudinal study.

A recent popular trend in office re-design is the activity-based flexible office (A-FO). Initially, assumptions about the effects of A-FOs were drawn from research into open-plan offices where lack of privacy, concentration opportunities, and an increase in distractions are identified as main downsides. These aspects have not been explored sufficiently in the context of A-FOs. Using a longitudinal within-subjects design with three measurement times, we focussed on analysing the change in distraction after moving to an A-FO, how distraction-affected important work-related outcomes, and what factors moderated these relationships. Results showed that moving to the A-FO had negative effects on distraction, work engagement, job satisfaction, and fatigue. The negative effects of distraction were more pronounced in situations of increased time pressure and unpredictability. The obtained results highlight the harmful effects of the interaction of work stressors for employees' motivation and well-being. Practitioner summary: The results of our research provide important insight into how moving to an activity-based flexible office impacts the employees. Besides having quiet zones for concentrated work to avoid distractions managers and leaders should also focus on taking care of work stressors to avoid fatigue and loss of motivation.

Intensified job demands and job performance: does SOC strategy use make a difference?

We examined intensified job demands (IJDs) and selecting-optimizing-compensating (SOC) strategies as predictors of job performance (task performance, organizational citizenship behavior). We also investigated SOC strategy use as a moderator in the linkages between IJDs and performance. We sampled three disparate occupational groups (N=4,582). We found that certain dimensions of IJDs showed significant associations with the indicators of job performance but there were also scale-based variations in these linkages, depending on the type of performance and on the sub-scale of IJDs. Specifically, some dimensions of IJDs (e.g., work intensification) related to poorer task performance whereas some other dimensions (e.g., intensified job-related learning demands) related to higher organizational citizenship behaviour. However, SOC strategy use benefitted both types of job performance. Relationships also differed between occupational groups as none of the moderator effects were consistent across the sub-samples.

Indirect (implicit) and direct (explicit) self-esteem measures are virtually unrelated: A meta-analysis of the initial preference task.

BACKGROUND: The initial preference task (IPT) is an implicit measure that has featured prominently in the literature and enjoys high popularity because it offers to provide an unobtrusive and objective assessment of self-esteem that is easy to administer. However, its use for self-esteem assessment may be limited because of weak associations with direct personality measures. Moreover, moderator effects of sample- and study-related variables need investigation to determine the value of IPT-based assessments of self-esteem. METHODS: Conventional and grey-literature database searches, as well as screening of reference lists of obtained articles, yielded a total of 105 independent healthy adult samples (N = 17,777) originating from 60 studies. Summary effect estimates and subgroup analyses for potential effect moderators (e.g., administration order, algorithm, rating type) were calculated by means of meta-analytic random- and mixed-effects models. Moreover, we accounted for potential influences of publication year, publication status (published vs. not), and participant sex in a weighted stepwise hierarchical multiple meta-regression. We tested for dissemination bias through six methods. RESULTS: There was no noteworthy correlation between IPT-based implicit and explicit self-esteem (r = .102), indicating conceptual independence of these two constructs. Effects were stronger when the B-algorithm was used for calculation of IPT-scores and the IPT was administered only once, whilst all other moderators did not show significant influences. Regression analyses revealed a somewhat stronger (albeit non-significant) effect for men. Moreover, there was no evidence for dissemination bias or a decline effect, although effects from published studies were numerically somewhat stronger than unpublished effects. DISCUSSION: We show that there is no noteworthy association between IPT-based implicit and explicit self-esteem, which is broadly consistent with dual-process models of implicit and explicit evaluations on the one hand, but also casts doubt on the suitability of the IPT for the assessment of implicit self-esteem on the other hand.

Thriving on challenge stressors? Exploring time pressure and learning demands as antecedents of thriving at work.

In the conceptualization of thriving at work, it is emphasized that employees' learning and vitality are two equally important components of thriving and that thriving is facilitated by contextual features and available resources. In this study, we examined the effects of two challenge stressors (time pressure and learning demands) on thriving at work. Based on the literature on challenge and hindrance stressors, we proposed that challenge stressors positively affect learning and negatively affect vitality. To uncover underlying mechanisms, we measured challenge appraisal and hindrance appraisal of work situations in a diary study. A sample of 124 knowledge workers responded to three daily surveys (before the lunch break, during the afternoon, and at the end of the workday) for a period of five workdays. Results indicate that the indirect effects of learning demands and time pressure on learning are mediated by challenge appraisal, whereas indirect effects of learning demands on vitality are mediated by hindrance appraisal. Overall, our study shows that challenge stressors have a positive total effect on learning but no total effect on vitality. These differential relationships call for a finer distinction between the two components of thriving at work in future research.

Does job complexity mitigate the negative effect of emotion-rule dissonance on employee burnout?

In interactions with clients or patients, human service workers are at risk of experiencing discrepancies between felt and organizationally mandated emotions (i.e. emotion-rule dissonance). Given the documented detrimental effects of such discrepancies on employee strain, the present study investigated whether job complexity mitigates the relation between emotion-rule dissonance and employee burnout using data from a two-wave panel study of eldercare workers (N = 583, 16-month time lag). Structural equation modelling revealed that emotion-rule dissonance at Time 1 preceded emotional exhaustion and depersonalization at Time 2. Beyond that, employees whose work offered job complexity were found to suffer less from emotional exhaustion and depersonalization when encountering discrepancies between felt and stipulated emotions compared to employees who conducted noncomplex work. Thus, designing complex tasks appears to be a crucial starting point for alleviating employee burnout in jobs that provoke emotion-rule dissonance.

Too much job control? Two studies on curvilinear relations between job control and eldercare workers' well-being.

BACKGROUND: Longer life expectancy and changes in family patterns in Western societies have increased the need for professional caregivers to the elderly. A detailed understanding of job resources, especially of job control, may help preserve eldercare workers' work-related well-being. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to determine optimal levels of job control for eldercare workers' work-related well-being. DESIGN: Cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) data were used to assess the linear and non-linear relations between job control and eldercare workers' work-related well-being. As indicators of well-being, irritation was examined cross-sectionally, whereas burnout and engagement were used in the longitudinal study. In both studies, demographic variables and time pressure were included as controls. In Study 2, results were additionally controlled for baseline levels of the outcome variables. PARTICIPANTS: Study participants were recruited from the nursing staff of 10 publicly financed nursing homes for the elderly (Study 1) and from 18 privately and 20 publicly financed nursing homes for the elderly (Study 2). In both studies, eldercare workers (i.e., registered nurses, orderlies, and nursing assistants) were invited to answer paper-pencil questionnaires. In Study 1, 606 persons followed this invitation (response rate: 65%). In Study 2, 591 persons provided data on both measurement points (response rate: 35% of Time 1 participants). The samples of both studies were predominantly female and between 20 and 65 years of age. METHODS: Hierarchical multiple regressions with linear and quadratic terms were conducted. RESULTS: Curvilinear effects of job control were found in both studies. In Study 1, low as well as high levels of job control were associated with higher levels of irritation compared to medium levels of job control. The longitudinal data from Study 2 supported these results. Eldercare workers with higher and lower levels of job control reported a higher tendency to depersonalize care recipients and a lower tendency to feel dedicated to, absorbed by and vigorous at work than those with medium levels of job control. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of job control are not necessarily advantageous for work-related well-being of eldercare workers.