Dana Unger

Workplace conflict and employee well-being The moderating role of detachment from work during off-job time

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to address the relation between task and relationship conflicts at work and employee well-being. It seeks to examine psychological detachment from work during off-job time as a moderator in the relation between conflicts and well-being. Design/methodology/approach – In a field study, 291 white-collar employees completed survey measures of task conflicts, relationship conflicts, psychological detachment from work during off-job time, and well-being. Control variables included workload and job control. Findings – Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that employees experiencing high levels of task conflicts and high levels of relationship conflicts report poorer well-being. As predicted, psychological detachment from work mitigated the negative relation between relationship conflicts and well-being. Contrary to expectations, psychological detachment failed to moderate the relation between task conflicts and well-being. Practical implications – The study suggests that employees should be encouraged to disengage mentally from work during leisure time. Originality/value – This study links research on workplace conflicts with research on recovery processes. It tests the moderator effect of psychological detachment from work on the association between workplace conflicts and well-being.

Expanding crossover research: The crossover of job-related self-efficacy within couples

This article reports a study that examined the crossover of job-related self-efficacy within working couples, its underlying mechanisms, and its work-related consequences. We proposed that the job-related self-efficacy of one partner (the ‘actor’) can be transmitted to the other partner (the ‘partner’). By building on self-efficacy research (Bandura, 1997), we hypothesized vicarious experience and verbal persuasion to be the mediators underlying this crossover process. We expected that the crossover of job-related self-efficacy would in turn result in the partner’s altered engagement at work. Using a sample of 102 professionals with an academic degree and their working partners, we conducted multilevel analyses using the actor–partner interdependence model. Our analyses offered support for our hypotheses. The actor’s job-related self-efficacy related positively to the partner’s job-related self-efficacy. This relation was mediated by the partner’s perceived vicarious experience and verbal persuasion. Additionally, the actor’s job-related self-efficacy indirectly related to the partner’s work engagement through the partner’s job-related self-efficacy.

The longer your work hours, the worse your relationship? The role of selective optimization with compensation in the associations of working time with relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure in dual-career couples

This two-wave panel study investigates the associations between working time, selective optimization with compensation in private life and relationship outcomes (i.e. relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure) in dual-career couples. We propose that one partner’s selective optimization with compensation in private life either mediates or moderates the association of this partner’s working time and relationship outcomes (i.e. relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure). Moreover, we postulate the crossover (i.e. transmission) of relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure within the couple. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an online study with a time lag of six months, in which 285 dual-career couples took part. We found evidence for selective optimization with compensation in private life as a mediator: working time spent by partners in dual-career couples was associated with selective optimization with compensation in their private life that, in turn, predicted relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure. Results did not support the assumption that one partner’s selective optimization with compensation in private life moderates the association between working time and relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure. Relationship satisfaction, but not self-disclosure, crossed over within the couples. The results challenge the assumption that longer work hours have negative consequences for romantic relationships.

Daily work events and state work engagement: The mediating role of affect

Abstract According to Affective Events Theory, the emotional elicitation process is initiated by the appraisal of affective events happening to employees. Moreover, the theory states that these elicited affective experiences influence attitude and behaviour in the workplace. In the present study this theoretical frame is applied to explain the interplay of variables influencing state work engagement. We analyse the mediating role of affect between work events’ appraisals and daily work engagement, using a diary study. One hundred and seventeen workers answered a daily questionnaire for at least 10 days generating a total of 1,203 registers. Multilevel analysis proved that daily events’ appraisal is positively related to state work engagement, and that this relationship is partially mediated by positive and negative affect. Moreover, the effect of positive affect was bigger than the one of negative affect. The explored relations provide new theoretical elements for models that explain which variables influence state work engagement.

The crossover of self-esteem: A longitudinal perspective

This longitudinal study examined the crossover of performance self-esteem within working couples. We focused on the long-term crossover process as well as its work-related consequences. We hypothesized that one partner’s (the actor’s) performance self-esteem relates to changes in the other partner’s (the partner’s) performance self-esteem over time, especially if the partner has a low level of baseline performance self-esteem. In a final step, we expected that the partner’s performance self-esteem at Time 2 in turn predicts the partner’s work engagement. Using a longitudinal study (time lag: 6 months) among 294 dual-earner couples, we tested our hypotheses with multilevel analyses applying the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. The actor’s performance self-esteem at Time 1 did not directly relate to the partner’s performance self-esteem at Time 2. However, as expected, we found a significant moderation of the partner’s baseline performance self-esteem in the crossover process, indicating that especially individuals with a rather low baseline performance self-esteem are susceptible to performance self-esteem crossover. Finally, the partner’s performance self-esteem was related to the partner’s work engagement at Time 2.

When do employees cross boundaries? Individual and contextual determinants of career mobility

ABSTRACT This study investigates the joint effects of individual characteristics and the labour market on career mobility. We propose that level of education, openness to experience, and a favourable labour market relate positively to employees crossing organizational, industrial, and occupational boundaries. Management programme alumni (N = 503) provided information through an online survey about their career histories, their level of education, and their openness to experience. Additionally, we used the unemployment rate as an indicator for yearly changes in the labour market. The results of our cross-classified multilevel analysis indicate that both individual characteristics and the labour market are determinants of career mobility. Level of education had a positive effect on organizational and industrial boundary crossing, and changes in the labour market related to organizational boundary crossing. Against our assumptions, openness to experience had no effect on career mobility, and none of the predictors were related to occupational boundary crossing. Our results demonstrate the importance of investigating career mobility from a boundary perspective combined with a focus on both individual and contextual characteristics. The dominance of education compared to personality and the difficulty of explaining occupational mobility open new research avenues and yield practical implications for employees, career counsellors, and organizations.

Close Relationships and Career Goals: How Significant Others Facilitate Career Goal Attainment

Career goals are an important aspect of career management, yet few studies investigate the processes involved in career goal attainment. Our study addresses the question if the most significant other person in one’s social environment can facilitate career goal attainment. Drawing on transactive goal dynamics theory (Fitzsimons, Finkel, & vanDellen, 2015), we assume that if the most significant other shares one’s career goal more resources (e.g., time) are available for goal pursuit. We further assume that the amount of shared resources relates positively to goal attainment and that goal coordination moderates this relationship. We conducted a three-wave online study with German politicians (N = 83) who had the career goal to be elected as Member of Parliament, and collected objective data about the candidates’ goal attainment (i.e., election success). Our analyses revealed no significant main effect of shared goals on goal attainment, but we found a significant indirect effect through shared resources. G...