Barbara Degenhardt

Influences of Personal, Social, and Environmental Factors on Workday Use Frequency of the Nearby Outdoor Recreation Areas by Working People

Contact with nature positively impacts ones wellbeing and overall health. This study examined the relevance of 16 personal, social, and living environment factors for workday use frequency of nearby outdoor recreation areas (NORAs) by 262 gainfully employed Swiss citizens. Hierarchical regression revealed that emotion work, sedentary work, low energy level, area knowledge, dog ownership, and temporal distance are significant predictors of workday NORA use frequency. The results suggest that social and personal conditions are more important predictors of the use frequency of NORAs than living environment factors and that the type and amount of work predicts nearby outdoor recreation behavior.

Exploring everyday self-regulation in nearby nature: determinants, patterns, and a framework of nearby outdoor recreation behavior.

The understanding of determinants and underlying mechanisms of everyday nearby outdoor recreation behavior (NORB) remains insufficient for use in urban planning. We explored the nearby recreational decisions of walkers, cyclists, and joggers in problem-focused interviews (N = 18). The identified influences include various demands of work and private life, strains, and action circumstances. Loads and strains showed several compensatory associations with NORB. These findings were synthesized into a NORB framework that offers empirically grounded hypotheses for future research. The proposed framework may help to integrate findings from different research fields while providing a more comprehensive understanding of NORB.

Boundary Management as a Crucial Success Factor for Flexible-Mobile Work, Demonstrated in the Case of Home Office

The compatibility of work life and family life is a key factor in today’s modern work arrangements, particularly with regard to the increase of transition to flexible working hours and places. The herein presented research study considers the question, whether the boundary-types proposed by the boundary-theory [cf. Ashforth et al. Acad Manag Rev 25(3):472–491, 2000; Nippert-Eng, Home and work: negotiating boundaries through everyday life. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1996]. can be ascertained within flexible-mobile working, notably upon working in home office. Furthermore which difficulties the distinct boundary-types have with these new work styles and which boundary-tactics are promising in regard to those difficulties. Based on a mixed method approach consisting of an online survey (N = 395) and subsequent semi standardised interviews (N = 9) the boundary-types segmentor and integrator could be confirmed. In addition an intermediate mix type was found and empirically proven. Moreover, there is evidence that this newly described mix type has the most difficulties with his boundary-management within flexible-mobile work styles. Based on these findings the article concludes in guidance suitable for each boundary-type in favour of working in home office.