Beyond Work: The Role of "Family-Friendly" Practices in the Subjective Well-Being of Teleworkers and On-Site Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telework emerged as a pivotal strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus. However, telework's feasibility was contingent on job roles. This gave rise to two distinct groups: teleworkers and on-site workers. However, the impacts of social support and well-being extended to both groups. This study investigated the link between organisational and supervisory family support and subjective well-being, examining work engagement as a mediator. Conducted in Portugal, this cross-sectional study surveyed 515 individuals via web-based questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple-group analysis. The findings revealed a positive correlation between perceived organisational family support (POFS) and work engagement for both groups. Additionally, perceived supervisory family support (PSFS) positively correlated with work engagement for telecommuters but not on-site workers. Furthermore, work engagement was positively associated with subjective well-being for both groups. Moreover, work engagement mediated the relationship between POFS and subjective well-being. This study enriches the literature by analysing POFS, PSFS, work engagement, and subjective well-being dynamics among teleworkers and on-site employees.

Boundary violations and university teachers' well-being during mandatory telework: Recovery's role and gender differences.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the role of psychological detachment from work in the relationship of boundary violations and flourishing, as well as gender differences among university teachers during mandatory telework. We developed and tested a moderate mediation model where psychological detachment was the explanatory mechanism of the relationship between boundary violations with flourishing and using gender as the moderating variable. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 921 Brazilian university teachers (mean age 44 years, 681 women and 240 men) during mandatory telework. Multigroup analysis and moderate mediation were performed using Mplus 7.2. RESULTS: Psychological detachment mediated the relationship between boundary violations (in both directions) and flourishing and work-to-family violations were more harmful to women' recovery instead family-to-work violations were more harmful to men' recovery, among university teachers during mandatory telework. CONCLUSION: By focusing on boundary violations in the context of mandatory telework, the study sheds light on the impact of blurred boundaries between work and personal life. This contributes both literature on work-life balance and literature recovery. Moreover, it helps to understand a crisis setting of remote work. Further, the study's findings regarding gender differences highlight how men and women may experience and cope with boundary violations differently during mandatory telework, supporting future specific interventions across genders.

Work-family boundary management profiles and well-being at work: A study with militaries on a humanitarian aid mission.

This study aims to contribute to an analysis of the well-being of military personnel who are deployed on humanitarian aid missions, taking their work-family (personal life) boundary management into consideration by analyzing the relationship between their preferences and enacted boundaries and military personnel' well-being. Specifically, this study analyzed the boundary fit approach, positing that it is the adjustment between individuals' preferences and enacted boundaries that influences their well-being. Using a sample of 327 military personnel, boundary management profiles were performed, considering the fit between their segmentation preferences and enactment. Furthermore, the relationship between these profiles and the military personnel' well-being was established. The results indicated that misfit profiles were found where the soldiers enacted less segmentation than desired or, on the contrary, more integration than desired, and a profile with a fit between the work-family segmentation they desired and enacted. The military personnel in the fit profile had significantly higher levels of well-being (i.e.,less exhaustion and more work engagement) than those in the misfit profile, who enacted less segmentation than desired. The findings have implications for the design of boundary management literature and future military missions.

Humane orientation, work-family conflict, and positive spillover across cultures.

Although cross-national work-family research has made great strides in recent decades, knowledge accumulation on the impact of culture on the work-family interface has been hampered by a limited geographical and cultural scope that has excluded countries where cultural expectations regarding work, family, and support may differ. We advance this literature by investigating work-family relationships in a broad range of cultures, including understudied regions of the world (i.e., Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia). We focus on humane orientation (HO), an overlooked cultural dimension that is however central to the study of social support and higher in those regions. We explore its moderating effect on relationships between work and family social support, work-family conflict, and work-family positive spillover. Building on the congruence and compensation perspectives of fit theory, we test alternative hypotheses on a sample of 10,307 participants from 30 countries/territories. We find HO has mostly a compensatory role in the relationships between workplace support and work-to-family conflict. Specifically, supervisor and coworker supports were most strongly and negatively related to conflict in cultures in which support is most needed (i.e., lower HO cultures). Regarding positive spillover, HO has mostly an amplifying role. Coworker (but not supervisor) support was most strongly and positively related to work-to-family positive spillover in higher HO cultures, where providing social support at work is consistent with the societal practice of providing support to one another. Likewise, instrumental (but not emotional) family support was most strongly and positively related to family-to-work positive spillover in higher HO cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional Intelligence and Teachers' Work Engagement: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Perceived Stress.

A growing number of studies have tested the relationship between personal resources (e.g. emotional intelligence) and indicators of occupational well-being, including work engagement. However, few have examined health-related factors moderating or mediating the pathway from emotional intelligence to work engagement. A better knowledge of this area would contribute substantially to the design of effective intervention strategies. The present study's main goal was to test the mediating and moderating role of perceived stress in the association between emotional intelligence and work engagement. The participants comprised 1166 Spanish teaching professionals (744 of whom were female and 537 worked as secondary teachers; Mage = 44.28 years). The results showed that perceived stress partially mediated the link between emotional intelligence and work engagement. Moreover, the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and work engagement was strengthened among individuals who scored high in perceived stress. The results suggest that multifaceted interventions targeting stress management and emotional intelligence development may facilitate engagement in emotionally demanding occupations such as teaching.

Family supportive supervisor behavior and work-family boundary control in teleworkers during a lockdown: Portugal and Pakistan comparison.

The imposition of telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the need for individuals to readjust their work-non-work boundaries. In this crisis situation, individuals' needs to manage these boundaries may have been influenced by contextual factors, such as family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and macro-structural aspects, such as the country to which the teleworkers belong. This study tests the mediating effect of boundary control on the relationship between FSSB and satisfaction with life and examines the moderating effect of the country (Pakistan vs. Portugal) in the relationship between FSSB and boundary control. With a sample of 108 Portuguese and 118 Pakistani individuals, the results were analyzed using Process tool. FSSB was found to be important for teleworkers to control their boundaries and for their satisfaction with life and this control was also seen to contribute to higher levels of life satisfaction. Differences between the two countries were observed: boundary control mediates the relationship between FSSB and satisfaction with life for Pakistani teleworkers and these workers are more dependent on FSSB to exercise boundary control than Portuguese teleworkers. This study highlights the importance of considering contextual factors when implementing telework. Practical implications are discussed.

The work-family interface and the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.

In an unprecedented fashion, COVID-19 has impacted the work-family interface since March 2020. As one of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences, remote work became widely adopted. Furthermore, it is expected that other pandemics will occur in the future. Hence, this context represents a chance to gain deeper insight into telecommuters' work and family spheres. Following PRISMA guidelines, the present narrative review aims to synthesise the COVID-19 impact on the work-family interface. Out of 121 screened references, 32 articles that measure at least one of the following variables-work-family conflict (25), work-family enrichment (3), work-family balance (8), and boundary management (21) were included. A thematic analysis using NVIVO12 was conducted, from which eight topics emerged: "paid workload, unpaid workload, and gender"; "well-being and gender"; "job resources, job demands, and gender"; "couples and gender"; "parenting and gender"; "occurrence of work-family enrichment with work-family conflict and gender"; "enforced blurred boundaries, its management, and gender"; "boundary management impact on work-family conflict, work-family enrichment, and work-family balance." Overall, studies point out that COVID-19 had a complex effect on both work-family conflict and work-family balance, making it difficult to state whether these variables were mitigated or augmented. Findings demonstrated that COVID-19 produced little changes in work-family enrichment. As for the COVID-19 impact on work-family boundary management, individuals had to create new tactics to manage them due to the absence of boundaries between both systems. Besides, due to traditional gendered roles, the COVID-19 health crisis seems to have brought additional hurdles to couples and women. Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021278254], identifier [CRD42021278254].

Commitment and Wellbeing: The Relationship Dilemma in a Two-Wave Study.

There has been little consensus around the sequential relationship between organizational affective commitment and workers' wellbeing. In line with the Conservation of Resources Theory, results of this two-wave study with a contact center employee sample (N = 483) showed that organizational affective commitment decreases work ill-being (i.e., burnout) and increases work wellbeing (i.e., work-engagement). Furthermore, in keeping with the loss spiral assumption of this theory, the mediating role of burnout in the affective commitment-health relationship was supported in this study. However, in accordance with the Job Demand-Resources, work engagement was found not to prevent effects on health. The findings have implications for the organizational affective commitment theory, as well as for organizational occupational health policies and interventions.

Is Stress in Contact Centers Inevitable?

It is broadly acknowledged that contact center employees are subject to high levels of stress. In this profession, there is a distinction between back-office and front-office employees. In addition, employees may perform duties in various companies with different characteristics (i.e., human resources practices, job characteristics, social support, work-personal life relationship, among others). Thus, this study focuses on the analysis of the contact centers' (CC) psychosocial work environment and employees' levels of stress and well-being, seeking to understand whether they change due to the specific nature of the duties they perform and the characteristics of the company. This study involved 1440 participants from 15 companies. The results indicate that front-office and back-office duties influence the perception of some job characteristics and their environment and, consequently, the stress and well-being of these employees. Furthermore, the exhaustion and general well-being of employees are seemingly independent of the duties performed and common to all companies. However, the job characteristics, psychosocial environment and employees' levels of cynicism, work engagement and general stress were found to change according to the company in which they worked, thus highlighting the need for action in the psychosocial environment of these work duties.

Positive Psychology in Context of Peacekeeping Militaries: A Mediation Model of Work-Family Enrichment.

Based on the work-family enrichment theory, this study analyzes the contribution of work-family and family-work enrichment to explain the military's well-being during a peacekeeping mission. The data used were collected in a sample of 306 Brazilian soldiers, who were married and/or had children, during the phase named "employment of troops" (i.e., when peacekeepers had been in the Haitian territory and, as a result, away from their families, for between three to five months). Data analysis was performed using the Structural Equations Model. It was observed that the military's perception of their spouses' support for their participation during the mission had a positive relationship with both family-to-work enrichment and work-to-family enrichment, and the work-to-family enrichment mediated the relationship between the perception of the spouses' support and the military's health perception and general satisfaction with life. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed and limitations and suggestions for future research were presented.

Influence of the Work-Family Relationship on Perceived Health 5-Years Later: The Moderating Role of Job Insecurity.

Previous studies on the work-family relationship have analyzed the influence of work-family conflict and work-family enrichment on an individuals' lives, namely on their well-being and health. Besides, attempts have been made to analyze the influence of other aspects of the labor context on this relationship, such as job insecurity. However, few have analyzed this relationship and interaction from a longitudinal perspective. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to analyze the moderating role of job insecurity in the work-family relationship and the perceived health of 373 workers of a Portuguese bank, across time. The results showed a negative influence of work-family conflict on perceived health 5 years after. Also, job insecurity was found to offset the relationship between work-family enrichment and perceived health, acting as a buffer. This research allows for a better understanding of how job insecurity, a characteristic of modern-day employment, can impact workers' quality of life. This paper also refers to some practical implications, in addition to the limitations of the study, and presents suggestions for future research in this context.

A Person-Centered Approach to the Job Demands-Control Model: A Multifunctioning Test of Addictive and Buffer Hypotheses to Explain Burnout.

This study used a cross-sectional design and a person-centered approach in order to test the addictive and interactive strain hypotheses of Job Demands-Control Model to explain burnout. A large sample (n = 6357) of Portuguese workers (nurses, bank employees, retail traders, and contact center agents) was used. Through latent profile analysis (LPA), first latent profiles of demands and control were identified and then it was examined how these profiles differed in workplace well-being (engagement and burnout) through an ANCOVA. The four hypothesized profiles (i.e., "high-strain", "low-Strain", "passive", and "active") and one more profile denominated "moderate active", emerged from LPA analysis. The hypotheses were supported in both addictive effects and interactive effects (buffer hypothesis), suggesting that the difficulty in finding consistent support for the buffer hypothesis might be related to the use of variable-centered approaches. Moreover, this reinforces that, in organizational practice, job control is a crucial characteristic to face job demands, as job control will buffer job demands' harmful effects on workplace well-being.

Enhancing Engagement through Job Resources: The Moderating Role of Affective Commitment.

Research has shown that affective commitment, one of three components of organizational commitment defined by Meyer and Allen (1991), can act as a moderator in relationships between job stressors and worker´s psychological tension. However, due to the scarcity of studies that investigate the moderating effect of this commitment component on relationships between positive variables, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of affective commitment in the relationship between autonomy, peer support, supervisory support and perceived organizational support (POS), as job resources, on engagement. In this sense, we analyzed the data provided by a sample of Portuguese employees (N = 554), from an organization belonging to the consultancy sector. Firstly, we aimed to examine the direct effects of those job resources on engagement, and, then, examine the impact of affective commitment as a moderator on these relationships. The results partially support the hypotheses formulated. Indeed, there was a positive relationship between the job resources studied - work autonomy, peer support, supervisory support and POS - and engagement. Furthermore, according to our hypothesis, the interaction established between affective commitment and autonomy, significantly exacerbates the positive effect of this job resource on workers well-being, that is, on their engagement (b = .08, p < .05). However, contrary to our hypothesis, the affective commitment does not moderate the relationship between the other job resources and engagement. This study contributes to a deepest knowledge about the potentialities of affective commitment, reinforcing the importance of consider it as a contextual resource.

Emotional intelligence and health students' well-being: A two-wave study with students of medicine, physiotherapy and nursing.

This study aims to analyze the role of emotional intelligence as a predictor of health students' well-being (i.e., burnout and life satisfaction) over time. A longitudinal, 1 year lagged study was conducted at 2 points in time with a sample of 303 Spanish students of Medicine, Physiotherapy and Nursing. The results indicated that others' emotion appraisals and use of emotion had a positive direct effect on satisfaction with life, and self-emotion appraisals had a positive indirect effect on burnout. This research represents a contribution within the framework of health students' well-being concerns, providing significant practical implications for future consideration by health education institutions for graduate doctors, physiotherapists and nurses, who will present higher levels of emotional intelligence and, consequently, greater well-being and better quality care for future patients.

Work-to-Family Enrichment and Conflict Profiles: Job Characteristics and Employees' Well-Being.

This article aims to analyze work-to-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment (WFE) profiles related to job characteristics and well-being at work and general well-being. A cross-sectional survey data of 1885 employees was analyzed. The Latent Profile Analysis revealed that the five-profile solution exhibited strong statistical significance (p > .001). ANCOVAs were performed to analyze the relationship of the identified profiles with job characteristics and well-being. Employees in the Beneficial profile had the best perception of job characteristics (lowest demands and the highest control and support) and the highest well-being, and those in the Harmful profile had the lowest job characteristics perceptions and the lowest well-being. Through a comparison of the Moderate Active profile and the Moderate Harmful profile, WFE was found to buffer the effects of the WFC on well-being at work (burnout; engagement) and on general well-being (i.e., health perceptions). The promotion of WFE through higher job autonomy, job support, and fewer demands is a crucial aspect to consider. This study helps to consolidate the work-family balance typology and its effects on employees' well-being, and broadens this framework to consider job characteristics.

Psychometric properties of WLEIS as a measure of emotional intelligence in the Portuguese and Spanish medical students.

The psychometric properties of Wong and Law's (2002) Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) were analyzed. Participants were 954 medical students: 481 from the University of Extremadura (Spain) and 473 from the University of Lisbon (Portugal). Following Messicks' validation framework, we analyzed the scale's response process, internal structure and relationship with other variables (i.e., engagement). Descriptive statistics, scale reliability, item characteristics, and exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported the distribution of the sixteen items across four factors. Convergent validity analyzed through the ρvc (η) index showed that all the factors were in the 50% criterion. The factors shared, on average, 23% of the variance showing adequate discriminant validity. Furthermore, the correlations among EI dimensions and engagement were all positive and significant. Overall, the WLEIS demonstrated good psychometric properties. Thus, this study ensures that WLEIS is a valid instrument in Portugal and Spain to evaluate EI in medical students.

Work-Family Conflict and Employee Well-Being Over Time: The Loss Spiral Effect.

OBJECTIVE: The development of work-family conflict over time was analyzed using Conservation of Resources Theory. METHOD: The reciprocal effect between work-family conflict and employee well-being was tested with cross-lagged analyses on the basis of three waves. The sample comprised 713 employees of a Portuguese service organization. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling analyses, with sex, age, and parental demand controlled, indicated that the work-family conflict at T1 and T2 decreases the employee psychological well-being at T2 and T3, respectively. Furthermore, employee psychological well-being at T2 had a longitudinal cross-lagged effect on work-family at T3. We concluded that employee psychological well-being at T2 predicted work-family at T3, which was a subsequent outcome of work-family conflict on T1. CONCLUSIONS: This paper highlighted the importance of organizations to consider work-family conflict to ensure employees' well-being because they develop reciprocal relationship with a loss spiral effect.

Work to family enrichment and conflict profiles: job characteristics and employees' well being

This article aims to analyze work-to-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment (WFE) profiles related to job characteristics and well-being at work and general well-being. A cross-sectional survey data of 1885 employees was analyzed. The Latent Profile Analysis revealed that the five-profile solution exhibited strong statistical significance (p > .001). ANCOVAs were performed to analyze the relationship of the identified profiles with job characteristics and well-being. Employees in the Beneficial profile had the best perception of job characteristics (lowest demands and the highest control and support) and the highest well-being, and those in the Harmful profile had the lowest job characteristics perceptions and the lowest well-being. Through a comparison of the Moderate Active profile and the Moderate Harmful profile, WFE was found to buffer the effects of the WFC on well-being at work (burnout; engagement) and on general well-being (i.e., health perceptions). The promotion of WFE through higher job autonomy, job support, and fewer demands is a crucial aspect to consider. This study helps to consolidate the work-family balance typology and its effects on employees’ well-being, and broadens this framework to consider job characteristics (AU)

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