The effects of unanswered supervisor support on employees' well-being, performance, and relational outcomes.

While the consequences of not having access to supervisor support have been well established, little is known about the repercussions of actively asking a supervisor for social support but failing to receive it. Our research examines this phenomenon, termed unanswered support. Drawing from Self-Determination Theory, we expected that lower need satisfaction would mediate the negative relationship between unanswered support and its predicted outcomes (well-being, performance, and relational outcomes). We also expected that attributions for the lack of support would moderate these indirect effects. In Study 1, 280 employees in the United Kingdom took part in a quasi-experimental field study, where we examined the nature of the relationships between the variables. In Study 2, we recruited 267 undergraduate students at an Australian university and experimentally manipulated unanswered support during a work simulation to investigate its causal effects. Across both studies, unanswered support indirectly affected the outcomes through lower need satisfaction. There was minimal evidence for the hypothesized moderating role of attributions. Unanswered supervisor support appears to reduce employees' psychological need satisfaction, negatively impacting how they feel, behave, and connect with others. Our research highlights the importance of leaders answering requests for support, and the findings have implications for employees, supervisors, and organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Experimental evidence for the effects of job demands and job control on physical activity after work.

Building on self-regulation research and self-determination theory, the present research investigates the causal effects of job demands and job control on physical activity after work. In 2 experiments (total N = 251), participants completed a work simulation that was followed by a physical activity task (cycling on a bicycle ergometer). We simulated a call center, consisting of customer interactions and calculation tasks. In both experiments, job demands (high vs. low) were manipulated between-subjects in terms of customer unfriendliness and task difficulty. In Experiment 2, we also manipulated job control (high vs. low) in terms of decision latitude. As predicted, both experiments showed negative effects of job demands on physical activity, reflecting that time on the bicycle ergometer was lower for individuals in the high demands condition compared to the low demands condition. However, this effect was not mediated by self-regulatory capacities. Regarding job control, we found preliminary evidence for the expected indirect effect on physical activity through increased self-determination. In summary, our results provide causal evidence for the influence of job characteristics on physical activity and, thereby, advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the spill-over of work into leisure time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

When trust goes wrong: A social identity model of risk taking.

Risk taking is typically viewed through a lens of individual deficits (e.g., impulsivity) or normative influence (e.g., peer pressure). An unexplored possibility is that shared group membership, and the trust that flows from it, may play a role in reducing risk perceptions and promoting risky behavior. We propose and test a Social Identity Model of Risk Taking in eight studies (total N = 4,708) that use multiple methods including minimal group paradigms, correlational, longitudinal, and experimental designs to investigate the effect of shared social identity across diverse risk contexts. Studies 1 and 2 provided evidence for the basic premise of the model, showing that ingroup members were perceived as posing lower risk and inspired greater risk taking behavior than outgroup members. Study 3 found that social identification was a moderator, such that effect of shared group membership was strongest among high identifiers. Studies 4 and 5 among festival attendees showed correlational and longitudinal evidence for the model and further that risk-taking was mediated by trust, not disgust. Study 6 manipulated the mediator and found that untrustworthy faces were trusted more and perceived as less risky when they were ingroup compared with outgroup members. Studies 7 and 8 identified integrity as the subcomponent of trust that consistently promotes greater risk taking in the presence of ingroup members. The findings reveal that a potent source of risk discounting is the group memberships we share with others. Ironically, this means the people we trust the most may sometimes pose the greatest risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Relaxation during the evening and next-morning energy: The role of hassles, uplifts, and heart rate variability during work.

Being able to psychologically relax after work in the evening is important to the day-to-day recovery process and should enable employees to wake up feeling energized for the next workday. Drawing on affective events theory and allostatic load theory, we expected that employees will be able to psychologically relax when they get home from work if during work (a) they experienced less work-related goal-frustration events and more work-related goal-achievement events and (b) if they were adaptively regulating physiological stress arousal (as indexed by heart rate variability). As such, this research considers that work events, as well as a physiological indicator of parasympathetic regulation, can be important antecedents to off-the-job recovery. Over the course of 5 consecutive workdays, 72 employees completed daily surveys (on waking, at work, and in the evening) and wore an ambulatory electrocardiograph to measure their heart rate variability while at work that afternoon. Multilevel mediation analyses revealed support for our hypotheses at the within-person level, except for the role of goal-attainment events. The finding that goal-frustration events and heart rate variability both contribute to evening relaxation, and then indirectly to next-morning energy, provides initial insights on how both mind and body impact off-the-job recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Neurophysiological and behavioural markers of compassion.

The scientific study of compassion is burgeoning, however the putative neurophysiological markers of programs which actively train distress tolerance, such as Compassionate Mind Training (CMT), are less well known. Herein we offer an integrative, multi-method approach which investigated CMT at neural, physiological, self-report, and behavioural levels. Specifically, this study first assessed participants' neural responses when confronted with disappointments (e.g., rejection, failure) using two fundamental self-regulatory styles, self-criticism and self-reassurance. Second, participant's heart-rate variability (HRV) - a marker of parasympathetic nervous system response - was assessed during compassion training, pre- and post- a two-week self-directed engagement period. We identified neural networks associated with threat are reduced when practicing compassion, and heightened when being self-critical. In addition, cultivating compassion was associated with increased parasympathetic response as measured by an increase in HRV, versus the resting-state. Critically, cultivating compassion was able to shift a subset of clinically-at risk participants to one of increased parasympathetic response. Further, those who began the trial with lower resting HRV also engaged more in the intervention, possibly as they derived more benefits, both self-report and physiologically, from engagement in compassion.

Daily Use of Energy Management Strategies and Occupational Well-being: The Moderating Role of Job Demands.

We examine the relationships among employees' use of energy management strategies and two occupational well-being outcomes: job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Based on conservation of resources theory, it was hypothesized that employees with high job demands would benefit more from using energy management strategies (i.e., including prosocial, organizing, and meaning-related strategies), compared to employees with low job demands. We tested this proposition using a quantitative diary study. Fifty-four employees provided data twice daily across one work week (on average, 7 daily entries). Supporting the hypotheses, prosocial energy management was positively related to job satisfaction. Moreover, employees with high job demands were less emotionally exhausted when using prosocial strategies. Contrary to predictions, when using organizing strategies, employees with low job demands had higher job satisfaction and lower emotional exhaustion. Under high job demands, greater use of organizing strategies was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher emotional exhaustion. Finally, use of meaning-related strategies was associated with higher emotional exhaustion when job demands were low. With this research, we position energy management as part of a resource investment process aimed at maintaining and improving occupational well-being. Our findings show that this resource investment will be more or less effective depending on the type of strategy used and the existing drain on resources (i.e., job demands). This is the first study to examine momentary effects of distinct types of work-related energy management strategies on occupational well-being.

Reactions to changes in work control: Implications for self-determined and non-self-determined individuals.

We investigate the extent to which individuals' global motivation (self-determined and non-self-determined types) influences adjustment (anxiety, positive reappraisal) and engagement (intrinsic motivation, task performance) in reaction to changes to the level of work control available during a work simulation. Participants (N = 156) completed 2 trials of an inbox activity under conditions of low or high work control-with the ordering of these levels varied to create an increase, decrease, or no change in work control. In support of the hypotheses, results revealed that for more self-determined individuals, high work control led to the increased use of positive reappraisal. Follow-up moderated mediation analyses revealed that the increases in positive reappraisal observed for self-determined individuals in the conditions in which work control was high by Trial 2 consequently increased their intrinsic motivation toward the task. For more non-self-determined individuals, high work control (as well as changes in work control) led to elevated anxiety. Follow-up moderated mediation analyses revealed that the increases in anxiety observed for non-self-determined individuals in the high-to-high work control condition consequently reduced their task performance. It is concluded that adjustment to a demanding work task depends on a fit between individuals' global motivation and the work control available, which has consequences for engagement with demanding work. (PsycINFO Database Record

Turnover Intentions of Employees With Informal Eldercare Responsibilities: The Role of Core Self-Evaluations and Supervisor Support.

As longevity increases, so does the need for care of older relatives by working family members. This research examined the interactive effect of core self-evaluations and supervisor support on turnover intentions in two samples of employees with informal caregiving responsibilities. Data were obtained from 57 employees from Australia (Study 1) and 66 employees from the United States and India (Study 2). Results of Study 1 revealed a resource compensation effect, that is, an inverse relationship between core self-evaluations and turnover intentions when supervisor care support was low. Results of Study 2 extended these findings by demonstrating resource boosting effects. Specifically, there was an inverse relationship between core self-evaluations and subsequent turnover intentions for those with high supervisor work and care support. In addition, employees' satisfaction and emotional exhaustion from their work mediated the inverse relationship between core self-evaluations and subsequent turnover intentions when supervisor work support and care support were high. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of employee- and supervisor-focused intervention strategies in organizations to support informal caregivers.

Regulatory focus moderates the relationship between task control and physiological and psychological markers of stress: a work simulation study.

This experiment examined whether trait regulatory focus moderates the effects of task control on stress reactions during a demanding work simulation. Regulatory focus describes two ways in which individuals self-regulate toward desired goals: promotion and prevention. As highly promotion-focused individuals are oriented toward growth and challenge, it was expected that they would show better adaptation to demanding work under high task control. In contrast, as highly prevention-focused individuals are oriented toward safety and responsibility they were expected to show better adaptation under low task control. Participants (N=110) completed a measure of trait regulatory focus and then three trials of a demanding inbox activity under either low, neutral, or high task control. Heart rate variability (HRV), affective reactions (anxiety & task dissatisfaction), and task performance were measured at each trial. As predicted, highly promotion-focused individuals found high (compared to neutral) task control stress-buffering for performance. Moreover, highly prevention-focused individuals found high (compared to low) task control stress-exacerbating for dissatisfaction. In addition, highly prevention-focused individuals found low task control stress-buffering for dissatisfaction, performance, and HRV. However, these effects of low task control for highly prevention-focused individuals depended on their promotion focus.

Self-determination, control, and reactions to changes in workload: a work simulation.

The objective of this experimental study is to capture the dynamic temporal processes that occur in changing work settings and to test how work control and individuals' motivational predispositions interact to predict reactions to these changes. To this aim, we examine the moderating effects of global self-determined and non-self-determined motivation, at different levels of work control, on participants' adaptation and stress reactivity to changes in workload during four trials of an inbox activity. Workload was increased or decreased at Trial 3, and adaptation to this change was examined via fluctuations in anxiety, coping, motivation, and performance. In support of the hypotheses, results revealed that, for non-self-determined individuals, low work control was stress-buffering and high work control was stress-exacerbating when predicting anxiety and intrinsic motivation. In contrast, for self-determined individuals, high work control facilitated the adaptive use of planning coping in response to a change in workload. Overall, this pattern of results demonstrates that, while high work control was anxiety-provoking and demotivating for non-self-determined individuals, self-determined individuals used high work control to implement an adaptive antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategy (i.e., planning coping) to meet situational demands. Other interactive effects of global motivation emerged on anxiety, active coping, and task performance. These results and their practical implications are discussed.

General self-efficacy influences affective task reactions during a work simulation: the temporal effects of changes in workload at different levels of control.

This study investigated the effects of workload, control, and general self-efficacy on affective task reactions (i.e., demands-ability fit, active coping, and anxiety) during a work simulation. The main goals were (1) to determine the extent general self-efficacy moderates the effects of demand and control on affective task reactions and (2) to determine if this varies as a function of changes in workload. Participants (N=141) completed an inbox activity under conditions of low or high control and within low and high workload conditions. The order of trials varied so that workload increased or decreased. Results revealed individuals with high general self-efficacy reported better demands-abilities fit and active coping as well as less anxiety. Three interactive effects were found. First, it was found that high control increased demands-abilities fit from trial 1 to trial 2, but only when workload decreased. Second, it was found that low efficacious individuals active coping increased in trial 2, but only under high control. Third, it was found that high control helped high efficacious individuals manage anxiety when workload decreased. However, for individuals with low general self-efficacy, neither high nor low control alleviated anxiety (i.e., whether workload increased or decreased over time).