When does cognitive crafting matter more in enhancing employee thriving at work? The moderating role of skill variety and job autonomy.

The job crafting literature has not devoted much attention to the effects of specific forms of job crafting, particularly cognitive crafting. The present study builds on Conservation of Resources theory to explain how cognitive crafting might influence work meaningfulness for employees, and in turn, increase their experienced thriving at work. Moreover, we hypothesise that the impact of cognitive crafting on these outcomes is influenced by two motivational job characteristics: skill variety and job autonomy. To test our hypotheses, we collected three-wave survey data from 223 employees employed in a variety of occupations and industries in China. Results indicate that engaging in cognitive crafting enhances employees' work meaningfulness, resulting in thriving at work. Furthermore, skill variety and job autonomy are crucial moderators of these relationships. Specifically, when employees perceived low levels of skill variety or job autonomy, engaging in cognitive crafting was more likely to lead to enhanced work meaningfulness, which in turn resulted in higher levels of thriving at work. Implications for research, theory and practice are discussed.

They were uncivil, and now I am too: A dual process model exploring relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility.

Incivility from customers is a common occurrence for employees working in service-oriented organizations. Typically, such incivility engenders instigated mistreatment, both towards customers and colleagues. Not much is understood, however, about the mechanisms underlying the relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility. Answering recent calls from incivility scholars, the present research, drawing from Self-Regulatory Resource Theory and Stressor-Emotion models of workplace behaviour, explored cognitive (i.e., self-regulatory resource depletion) and affective (i.e., negative affect) pathways that would explain relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility towards others. Through two multi-wave studies with different time lags (N1  = 180, weekly lags; N2  = 192, within-week lags) and different operationalizations of the instigated incivility construct (i.e., broad [unidimensional] and narrow [multidimensional]), we find consistent support for the mediating effects of the affective pathway. While our first study finds that customer incivility is linked to broad instigated incivility through negative affect, our second study finds that customer incivility is linked to, more specifically, gossip, exclusionary behaviour, and hostility through negative affect. In both studies, however, no support was found for the mediating effects of the cognitive pathway. Implications for both research and practice are discussed, and future research directions are offered.

Change of heart, change of mind, or change of willpower? Explaining the dynamic relationship between experienced and perpetrated incivility change.

As organizational scholarship increasingly recognizes the dynamic nature of interpersonal stressors like workplace incivility, the present study investigates workplace incivility change and the mechanisms through which it affects employees. Whereas prior research demonstrates that employees who experience workplace incivility are likely to engage in similar behavior because of depleted self-control, the current investigation draws on Metcalfe and Mischel's (1999) dual-process model to examine additional affective and cognitive mechanisms underlying this dynamic process. We propose that interceding changes in negative affect and cognitive rumination also mediate the dynamic relationship between experienced and perpetrated incivility change. We test our predictions using latent change score modeling with data from 481 employees surveyed four times across 3 months. Results show that the relationship between experienced and perpetrated incivility change is driven by a change in negative affect and that the dynamic indirect effect via negative affect change is moderated by individual differences in psychological detachment. Implications for science and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Review of the Challenge-Hindrance Stress Model: Recent Advances, Expanded Paradigms, and Recommendations for Future Research.

Since its introduction approximately 20 years ago, the Challenge-Hindrance Stress Model (CHM) has been widely accepted both among academic and practitioner audiences. The model posits that workplace stressors can be grouped into two categories. Hindrance stressors will interfere with performance or goals, while challenge stressors contribute to performance opportunities. These two categories of stressors are theorized to exhibit differential relationships with strain, with hindrance stressors being more consistently linked to psychological, physical, or behavioral strain compared to challenge stressors. Despite the popularity of this model, recent evidence suggests that the proposed differential relationship hypothesis has not consistently held true for all types of strain. Thus, a reexamination or modification of this paradigm is clearly warranted. In the present review, we describe existing evidence surrounding the CHM and describe the rationale for a shifting paradigm. We outline recent advances in research using the CHM, such as novel moderators and mediators, the need to explicitly measure challenge and hindrance appraisal and differentiate between hindrance and threat appraisal, the dynamic nature of these appraisals over time, and the recognition that a single stressor could be appraised simultaneously as both a challenge and a hindrance. Finally, we provide recommendations and future research directions for scholars examining stress and stress management through a CHM lens, including recommendations related to study design, the measurement of stressors, the integration of CHM with other models of stress, and interventions for stress management.

Group-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Nurses and Nurse Aides Working in Long-Term Care Residential Settings.

Objectives: Nurses and nurse aides experience high rates of physical injury, assault, and abuse compared to other occupations. They also frequently have intersectional identities with other groups that experience higher rates of mental and physical health challenges and problems. In addition to belonging to these multiple vulnerable populations, nurses and nurse aides experience high levels of work stress and burnout. These variables are risk factors for injuries associated with lifting and transferring, as well as assault from residents. Given the focus on present moment awareness, commitment to values, and responding flexibly in difficult situations, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be an effective approach for this population. Design: Participants were randomly assigned to either the ACT group condition or a wait-list control condition. Participants completed baseline and one-month follow-up outcome measures. Setting/Location: The interventions were provided at participant work sites (nursing homes and assisted living facilities) that were located in multiple locations across Northern Ohio. Subjects: Seventy-one nurses and nurse aides participated in the study. Of these, 37 were randomly assigned to the ACT group intervention and 34 were assigned to the wait-list control group. Intervention: A two-session group-based ACT intervention. Each session was 2.5 hours long and spaced one-week apart. The intervention topics included acceptance, mindfulness, psychological flexibility, willingness to experience discomfort, present-moment focus, self-as-context, values identification, and values-congruent committed action. Outcome measures: Days missed due to injury, frequency of work-based injuries, musculoskeletal complaints, mental health symptoms, and overall satisfaction with the intervention. Results: Participants in the ACT group reported significantly fewer days missed due to injury and a significant reduction in mental health symptoms compared to the control group. Participants in the ACT group rated the intervention very favorably. Conclusion: A group-based ACT intervention can promote improvements in well-being for nurses and nurse aides working in long-term care settings. Further research in this area would benefit from conducting group-based ACT interventions at different organizational levels.

Emotion regulation in supervisory interactions and marital well-being: A spillover-crossover perspective.

When interacting with supervisors, employees often engage in emotion regulation (i.e., surface acting and deep acting), and the consequences may extend beyond work boundaries. Based on the spillover-crossover model and the strength model of self-control, we examined the relationship between employee emotion regulation during supervisory interactions and marital well-being (i.e., spouse's perceived marriage quality and satisfaction). Two survey studies using Chinese employee-spouse dyads showed that employees' surface acting was positively related to ego depletion. Surface acting was found to be negatively related to spouses' perceived marital well-being through the serial mediating roles of both ego depletion and social undermining behavior. Moreover, leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship quality moderated the association between surface acting and ego depletion such that the relationship was weaker for employees with a high-quality LMX relationship compared with those with a low-quality LMX relationship. These findings extend theory and research on emotion regulation to employee-leader interactions and contribute to future research and theory-building on emotion regulation, leadership, and work-family integration. Practical implications for leaders, organizations, and employees were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The relationship between physical work hazards and employee withdrawal: The moderating role of safety compliance.

We examined the relationship between physical work hazards and employee withdrawal among a sample of health care employees wherein safety compliance was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between physical work hazards and withdrawal. Health care workers (N = 162) completed an online questionnaire assessing physical work hazards, withdrawal, and indicators of workplace safety. Safety compliance moderated the relationship between patient aggression and withdrawal. Interaction plots revealed that for all significant moderations, the relationship between physical work hazards and withdrawal was weaker for those who reported high levels of compliance. Results shed initial light on the benefits of fostering safety compliance in health care contexts, which can contain exposure to physical work hazards.

All in the family: Work-family enrichment and crossover among farm couples.

This study expands upon the contextualization of the work-family interface by examining positive work-family experiences within the farming industry. Both individual and crossover effects were examined among a sample of 217 married farm couples. Results demonstrated multiple significant relationships between self-reported attitudes, work-family enrichment, and health outcomes. In addition, crossover effects reveal the importance of individual attitudes (husband work engagement and wife farm satisfaction) for spousal work-family enrichment and health outcomes. Furthermore, individual work-family enrichment was positively related to spousal psychological health and negatively related to spousal physical symptoms. Many of these findings remained significant after controlling for work-family conflict. Overall, our results suggest the potential beneficial impact of the integrated work-family dynamic associated with the farming profession for positive work-family experiences. Implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Employee adiposity and incivility: establishing a link and identifying demographic moderators and negative consequences.

The prevalence of increased adiposity among employees in the American workplace has resulted in significant economic costs to organizations. Unfortunately, relatively little research has examined the effects of excess adiposity on employees themselves. As a step toward remedying this, the current study examined a previously unknown link between adiposity and incivility, and how this might impact employee burnout and withdrawal. A student sample was used to initially establish a link between incivility and adiposity, and an applied sample of employees from across the United States was used to more fully test the relationships among incivility, adiposity, burnout, and withdrawal. Finally, the moderating effects of sex and race on these relationships were examined. Preliminary data from 341 student employees revealed that being overly adipose was related to greater reports of workplace incivility, with the effect strongest for those classified as obese. An interaction between sex and adiposity was also found, as well as a three-way interaction among sex, race, and adiposity. These relationships were replicated using a nationwide sample of 528 full-time employees. An interaction between race and adiposity was also found in this second sample. Finally, a model was tested in which incivility was shown to partially mediate the positive relationship between adiposity and the outcome of withdrawal, with both sex and race acting as moderators. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future directions are discussed.

Coworker incivility and incivility targets' work effort and counterproductive work behaviors: the moderating role of supervisor social support.

This study addresses the relationships between coworker incivility and both work effort and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). It was expected that employees who experienced high levels of incivility from their coworkers would report reductions in work effort and higher levels of CWBs. Also, based on the emotion-centered model of work behaviors (Spector & Fox, 2002), it was expected that negative emotions would mediate the relationships between coworker incivility and both work effort and CWBs. Finally, we examined supervisor social support as a moderator of relationships between negative emotions and both work effort and CWBs. Two hundred nine full-time university employees completed a two-wave survey over a two-month time period. Results supported the hypothesized mediated relationships. It was also found that supervisor social support moderated the relationship between negative emotions and work effort but not the relationship between negative emotions and CWBs. Study implications and limitations are discussed.

Relationships between work-home segmentation and psychological detachment from work: the role of communication technology use at home.

Employees can have difficulty mentally distancing themselves from work during off-job time due to increasing use of communication technologies (e.g., e-mail, cell phone, etc.). However, psychological detachment from work during nonwork time is important for employee recovery and health. This study examined several antecedents of psychological detachment: work-home segmentation preference, perceived segmentation norm, and the use of communication technology at home. Results indicate that segmentation preference and segmentation norm were positively associated with psychological detachment. Further, technology use at home partially mediated these relationships. Findings indicate that segmenting work and nonwork roles can help employees detach and recover from work demands. In addition, findings show that the segmentation norm within a work group is associated with employee experiences outside of work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

The differential effects of interpersonal conflict from customers and coworkers: trait anger as a moderator.

Interpersonal conflict (IC) at work is a frequently experienced type of workplace mistreatment that has been linked to a host of negative workplace outcomes. Previous research has shown that IC can have differential effects based on source, but this has not yet been investigated in terms of customer IC versus coworker IC. To remedy this oversight in the literature, we used a multimethod, multitime point design to compare IC from customers and coworkers experienced by 75 call center employees. Primarily, we investigated burnout, physical health symptoms, and task performance. Results indicated that customer IC was more strongly related to both personal and organizational outcomes. Additionally, trait anger was investigated as a moderator of these relationships, and the results indicated that people who are easy to anger may be more likely to experience negative effects as a result of customer IC. Implications of these findings, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.

The nursing incivility scale: development and validation of an occupation-specific measure.

This article describes the development of the Nursing Incivility Scale (NIS), which is designed to assess hospital nurses' experiences with incivility according to specific sources-physicians, coworkers, patients, and direct supervisors. The NIS was developed using focus groups with nurses at a hospital in the midwestern United States and validated during a second survey administered to 163 hospital nurses. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the NIS items grouped according to a priori scale construction. All subscales showed acceptable reliability and demonstrated acceptable convergent and discriminant validity with other variables. The results indicate that the NIS has good psychometric qualities and can be used by hospitals and health care administrators to assess the prevalence of incivility.

Barriers to physical activity in an on-site corporate fitness center.

Many corporations provide employees the option of participating in on-site fitness centers, but utilization rates are low. Perceived barriers to physical activity have been established as important correlates of physical activity, and recent research indicates that barriers may vary across settings. Work-site fitness centers may present unique barriers to participation, but there are currently no standardized measures that assess such barriers. Eighty-eight employees of a midwestern corporation completed a survey designed to identify and evaluate the extent to which barriers influence participation in an on-site corporate fitness center. Regression analyses revealed that external environmental barriers (e.g., inadequate exercise facilities) significantly accounted for not joining the fitness center, and for decreased duration of visits to the facility among members. Internal barriers (e.g., feeling embarrassed to exercise around coworkers) significantly accounted for frequency of fitness center visits among members. This corporate specific measure may lead to more effective interventions aimed to increase use of on-site corporate fitness centers.

Development of a global measure of job embeddedness and integration into a traditional model of voluntary turnover.

Recent research on job embeddedness has found that both on- and off-the-job forces can act to bind people to their jobs. The present study extended this line of research by examining how job embeddedness may be integrated into a traditional model of voluntary turnover. This study also developed and tested a global, reflective measure of job embeddedness that overcomes important limitations and serves as a companion to the original composite measure. Results of this longitudinal study found that job embeddedness predicted voluntary turnover beyond job attitudes and core variables from traditional models of turnover. Results also found that job embeddedness interacted with job satisfaction to predict voluntary turnover, suggesting that the job embeddedness construct extends beyond the unfolding model of turnover (T. R. Mitchell & T. W. Lee, 2001) it originated from.

The impact of situational constraints, role stressors, and commitment on employee altruism.

This study investigated relations between 3 work-related stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict, and organizational constraints) and altruistic behavior in the workplace. It was predicted that each stressor would be negatively related to altruism and that these relations would be moderated by affective commitment (AC). Data from 144 incumbent-supervisor dyads revealed that all 3 stressors were weakly and negatively related to altruism. Two of these relationships were moderated by AC, although not as predicted. Organizational constraints were positively related to altruism among those reporting high levels of AC but negatively related among those reporting low levels of AC. The pattern was exactly opposite for role conflict. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Incorporating a multilevel perspective into occupational stress research: theoretical, methodological, and practical implications.

In recent years, scholars in organizational behavior and public health have recognized the value of multilevel modeling. This article draws from both of these fields to illustrate the benefits of incorporating a multilevel perspective into the study of occupational stress. The authors identify key multilevel issues in occupational stress in terms of (a) individual-level analyses, (b) group-level analyses, and (c) cross-level analyses. They integrate the theoretical points with statistical models to help illustrate how one can test multilevel occupational stress propositions.

Development of four self-report measures of job stressors and strain: Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, Quantitative Workload Inventory, and Physical Symptoms Inventory.

Despite the widespread use of self-report measures of both job-related stressors and strains, relatively few carefully developed scales for which validity data exist are available. In this article, we discuss 3 job stressor scales (Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, and Quantitative Workload Inventory) and 1 job strain scale (Physical Symptoms Inventory). Using meta-analysis, we combined the results of 18 studies to provide estimates of relations between our scales and other variables. Data showed moderate convergent validity for the 3 job stressor scales, suggesting some objectively to these self-reports. Norms for each scale are provided.