Julie Ménard

Authenticity and well‐being in the workplace: a mediation model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between authenticity at work and well‐being. First, the relationship between authenticity at work and hedonic and eudemonic well‐being indexes is assessed. Second, the mediating role of meaning of work in the relationship between authenticity at work and subjective well‐being at work is investigated.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 360 managers from public organizations completed self‐reported questionnaires. Multiple hierarchical regressions were used to assess the hypotheses.Findings – Cognitive and behavioral components of authenticity at work explained a significant proportion of variance in each hedonic and eudemonic well‐being indexes. Authenticity is positively associated with well‐being at work. Moreover, meaning of work is a partial mediator of the relationship between authenticity and subjective well‐being at work.Practical implications – The results suggest that meaning of work is a mechanism in the relationship between authe...

Academics' experiences of a respite from work: effects of self-critical perfectionism and perseverative cognition on postrespite well-being.

This longitudinal study examined relations between personality and cognitive vulnerabilities and the outcomes of a respite from work. A sample of 77 academic employees responded to week-level measures of affective well-being before, during, and on 2 occasions after an Easter respite. When academics were classified as being either high or low in a self-critical form of perfectionism (doubts about actions), a divergent pattern of respite to postrespite effects was revealed. Specifically, during the respite, the 2 groups of academics experienced similar levels of well-being. However, during postrespite working weeks, the more perfectionistic academics reported significantly higher levels of fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and anxiety. The greater deterioration in well-being experienced by perfectionist academics when first returning to work was mediated by their tendency for perseverative cognition (i.e., worry and rumination) about work during the respite itself. These findings support the view that the self-critical perfectionist vulnerability is activated by direct exposure to achievement-related stressors and manifested through perseverative modes of thinking.