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J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb;24(1):150-162

Section of Personality and Assessment, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.

In recent years, both mindfulness and character strengths have started to garner interest in industrial and organizational psychology. The growing research interest in their effects on employee well-being and performance, individually, has strong practical implications for organizations. Given the interconnection of mindfulness and character strengths, the present study examined the effectiveness of training that combined the two practices regarding well-being and work-related outcomes, and it tested the potential mediators of the effects at work. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb;24(1):108-126

School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia.

This meta-analytic review responds to promises in the research literature and public domain about the benefits of workplace mindfulness training. It synthesizes randomized controlled trial evidence from workplace-delivered training for changes in mindfulness, stress, mental health, well-being, and work performance outcomes. Going beyond extant reviews, this article explores the influence of variability in workforce and intervention characteristics for reducing perceived stress. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb;24(1):1-3

Department of Psychology.

The set of studies in this issue focus on applied interventions in occupational health psychology (OHP), that is, interventions that are intended to treat employee health and well-being problems or prevent these problems from occurring in the first place. An issue regarding many past evaluations of the effectiveness of these treatments was the relatively weak research methods, especially in regard to obtaining comparable groups to study so that internal validity is enhanced. Many of the studies presented here used the classically recommended approach of random assignment to alleviate this potential problem. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Dec 27. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Department of Management and Leadership.

Work-family conflict affects employee performance and well-being. However, despite the underlying focus of work-family research on family health and well-being, we have limited knowledge about the impact of role-based stressors, such as work-family conflict, on child health. In this study, we propose and test the stressor-self-regulatory resources-crossover framework. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University.

The present study aimed to advance insight in the role of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in the recovery process, by focusing on the strenuousness of LTPA. It was proposed that-compared with less strenuous LTPA-more strenuous LTPA would show stronger positive relationships with recovery through higher levels of mental disengagement from stressors resulting from more strenuous LTPA. This hypothesis was examined in two studies, in which participants' positive and negative affective states were included as indicators of recovery. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Oliver Weigelt, Institut für Psychologie, FernUniversität in Hagen.

Although previous research has established that employee silence can weaken organizational performance and development, less is known about potential detrimental effects of silence on individual employees, who may believe that they have plausible reasons for remaining silent. We propose negative effects of silence on employee well-being, focusing on relationships of four differentially motivated forms of silence (i.e. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Dec 17. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim.

This study examined positive and negative work reflection during leisure time from a person-centered perspective using latent profile analysis. First, we examined whether quantitatively and qualitatively different work reflection profiles exist. Second, we investigated whether persons with different work reflection profiles differ in energetic well-being (i. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Nov 29. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Department of Psychology, Portland State University.

Healthy employee sleep is important for occupational safety, but the mechanisms that explain the relationships among sleep and safety-related behaviors remain unknown. We draw from Crain, Brossoit, and Fisher's (in press) work, nonwork, and sleep (WNS) framework and Barnes' (2012) model of sleep and self-regulation in organizations to investigate the influence of construction workers' self-reported sleep quantity (i.e. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Nov 29. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Division of Psychology and Mental Health.

This article aims to (a) explore the impact of witnessing workplace bullying on emotional exhaustion, work-related anxiety, and work-related depression and (b) determine whether the resources of trait optimism, coworker support, and supportive supervisory style buffer the effects of witnessed bullying. In a two-wave study involving 194 employees, we found that witnessing bullying undermined employees' well-being (work-related depression and anxiety) 6 months later, but only if the employees were low in optimism (personal resource) and lacked supervisor support (contextual resource). Strong coworker support weakened the relationship between witnessing bullying and well-being (emotional exhaustion and work-related depression). Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Nov 1. Epub 2018 Nov 1.

Department of Psychology, University of South Florida.

The current study investigates differential relationships between challenge and hindrance stressors and metabolic risk factors using data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II). Guided by the challenge-hindrance stressor model and the allostatic load model, we test two theoretically driven paths: a direct physiological path and an indirect path via health behaviors (i.e. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 18. Epub 2018 Oct 18.

Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley.

Two complementary studies were conducted to compare emotional support and instrumental support in the workplace. Study 1 included meta-analyses with 142 independent samples containing 68,354 participants and tested the moderation effects of source of support (supervisor vs. coworker) and support scale type (received vs. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 18;24(1):139-149. Epub 2018 Oct 18.

Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University.

Organizations are turning toward behavioral interventions with the aim of improving employee well-being and job performance. Mindfulness training has been suggested as one type of intervention that can achieve these goals, but few active treatment randomized controlled trials have been conducted. We conducted a randomized controlled trial among employees of a midwestern marketing firm (n = 60) that compared the effects of 6-week mindfulness training program with that of a half-day mindfulness training seminar comparison program on employee well-being outcomes. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 4. Epub 2018 Oct 4.

Asia Pacific Centre for Work Health and Safety.

Work environment hypothesis, a predominant theoretical framework in workplace bullying literature, postulates that job characteristics may trigger workplace bullying. Yet, these characteristics are often assessed by employees based on their experience of the job. This study aims to assess how job characteristics, independently assessed via Occupational Information Network (O*NET), are related to perceived job characteristics reported by employees, which, in turn, are associated with self-reported workplace bullying. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 4. Epub 2018 Oct 4.

Center of Excellence for Positive Organizational Psychology.

Emotional intelligence (EI) contributes to good performance and well-being in jobs that involve frequent interpersonal contact. However, as EI is composed of self- and other-focused dimensions, it remains unclear which dimensions are responsible for better performance and well-being. We hypothesized that other-focused EI dimensions in particular relate to task performance, whereas self-focused EI dimensions relate to employees' subjective stress and physiological responses to emotional job demands. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 16;24(1):55-65. Epub 2018 Aug 16.

School of Business, University College of Southeast Norway.

Suffering from somatic symptoms can seriously hamper one's quality of life and ability to function, causing lost work productivity, sickness absence, and extensive medical utilization. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated promising results related to mild to moderate cases of somatic symptoms. The present study explored whether a worksite health promotion intervention was able to increase PA and cardiorespiratory fitness, and to reduce somatic symptoms and sickness absence. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Aug 16. Epub 2018 Aug 16.

Department of Psychology.

The two studies reported in this article tested the relationships among ostracism, attributions of ostracism, and the victims' outcomes. I examined the moderating effect of perceived harming intent on these mediational relationships. Study 1 used online survey design and was based on a group of 150 international students who studied in the United States. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jul 30. Epub 2018 Jul 30.

Department of Psychology.

Complaints regarding understaffing are common in the workplace, and research has begun to document some of the potential ill effects that can result from understaffing conditions. Despite evidence that understaffing is a relatively prevalent and consequential stressor, research has yet to explore how work groups cope with this stressor and the efficacy of their coping strategies in mitigating poor group performance and burnout. The present study examines these questions by exploring both potential mediating and moderating coping effects using a sample of 96 work groups from four technology organizations. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 19;24(1):92-107. Epub 2018 Jul 19.

School of Business and Economics.

The aim of this study is to identify the influence of social dimensions of the work environment and the employees' felt responsibility on the transfer of safety training. We tested a model in which responses and reactions from safety players such as coworkers, supervisors, and safety professionals are positively related to the transfer of training (TT), through the mediating effect of the employees' felt responsibility and the moderating influence of supervisor support and sanctions. A two-time data collection was implemented among blue-collar employees, all low qualified, from four city councils who attended a fundamental safety training program delivered by in-house safety trainers, all safety professionals ( = 203). Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jun 28. Epub 2018 Jun 28.

School of Labor and Employment Relations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Customer mistreatment is becoming an important topic for work stress researchers and practitioners given the rise of service industry. Taking stressor-emotion-control perspectives, the authors examine day-level relationships between call center workers' customer mistreatment experiences and their impaired recovery outcomes mediated by end-of-work negative affect. Furthermore, control concepts in the job and personal domains are tested as cross-level moderators. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 25;24(1):4-19. Epub 2018 Jun 25.

Department of Psychology.

Mental health problems are among the costliest issues facing organizations in the developed world. In response to the mounting burdens surrounding poor employee mental health, many organizations have introduced mental health promotion programs and resources (e.g. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jun 25. Epub 2018 Jun 25.

School of Psychology.

Commuting to work by car is a frequently occurring activity that poses a salient risk to worker safety. Although general stress perceptions have been linked to indicators of unsafe commuting in cross-sectional studies, little is known about whether and how day-to-day variability in stressor exposure and subjective and affective strain reactions covary with intraindividual variability in unsafe driving while commuting over time. A major contributor to this knowledge gap is the lack of a validated methodology to link subjective self-report variables to objective driving performance criteria in a naturalistic commuting environment. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jul;23(3):303-319

Smith School of Business, Queen's University.

The goal of this study was to examine the costs associated with witnessing the sexual harassment of a male colleague. More specifically, we investigate (a) whether observed male gender harassment is related to psychological and physical health, and negative and positive job-related behaviors and attitudes, and (b) the mediating roles of discrete negative emotions (anger, fear) and identity-based evaluations (collective self-esteem). We explore these questions in a sample of men and women employed in "blue collar" professions. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jun 11. Epub 2018 Jun 11.

Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University.

Experienced workplace incivility has consistently been linked to a host of negative outcomes, but as a low-intensity behavior, most working adults should be able to adapt and move on from these experiences of incivility over time. On the basis of repeated measures data from a heterogeneous sample of 625 respondents across three waves, with a 1-month lag between assessments, and framed within adaptation theory, we propose and find strong empirical evidence that although incivility is concurrently related to 5 indices related to both positive and negative employee well-being (i.e. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 28;24(1):180-197. Epub 2018 May 28.

Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University.

Although calls for intervention designs are numerous within the organizational literature and increasing efforts are being made to conduct rigorous randomized controlled trials, existing studies have rarely evaluated the long-term sustainability of workplace health intervention outcomes, or mechanisms of this process. This is especially the case with regard to objective and subjective sleep outcomes. We hypothesized that a work-family intervention would increase both self-reported and objective actigraphic measures of sleep quantity and sleep quality at 6 and 18 months post-baseline in a sample of information technology workers from a U. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 May 28. Epub 2018 May 28.

Department of Work, Organizational and Business Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz.

Within the workplace, time constraints that create deadline pressure may jeopardize employees' goal attainment. In an attempt to overcome this stressful situation, employees may increase their efforts. We examine two strategies that are assumed to be stress reactions (coping) under conditions of high time pressure: working faster and working longer. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 May 21. Epub 2018 May 21.

Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Potsdam.

Unfinished work tasks have been identified as a significant job-related stressor in recent occupational stress research. Extending this research, we examine how and when not finishing one's tasks by the end of the work week affects work-related rumination at the weekend. Drawing on control theory, we examined competence need satisfaction as a mediating mechanism that links unfinished tasks at the end of the work week to work-related rumination at the weekend. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 May 14. Epub 2018 May 14.

Department of Psychology.

This study examined predictors of alcohol use (i.e., drinking quantity and frequency) in a sample of correctional officers (COs). Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 14;23(4):457-470. Epub 2018 May 14.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa.

For employed mothers of infants, reconciliation of work demands and breastfeeding constitutes a significant challenge. The discontinuation of breastfeeding has the potential to result in negative outcomes for the mother (e.g. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 May 14. Epub 2018 May 14.

School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.

With the mounting evidence that employees' work experiences spill over into the family domain and cross over to family members, it is important to understand the underlying mechanism through which work experiences affect the family domain and what factors may alleviate the adverse impact of work stress. Expanding previous research that mainly focused on the affect-based mechanism (negative affect), the present research investigated a resource-based mechanism (psychological detachment from work) in the relationship linking two work stressors (high workload and workplace incivility) with social undermining toward the partner at home. We also explored the relative strength of the mediating effects of the two mechanisms. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 3;24(1):127-138. Epub 2018 May 3.

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London.

We investigated whether a mindfulness meditation program delivered via a smartphone application could improve psychological well-being, reduce job strain, and reduce ambulatory blood pressure during the workday. Participants were 238 healthy employees from two large United Kingdom companies that were randomized to a mindfulness meditation practice app or a wait-list control condition. The app offered 45 prerecorded 10- to 20-min guided audio meditations. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 26;24(1):66-91. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Department of Medicine, UConn Health.

Safety climate represents the meaningfulness of safety and how safety is valued in an organization. The contributions of safety climate to organizational safety have been well documented. There is a dearth of empirical research, however, on specific safety climate interventions and their effectiveness. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Apr 23. Epub 2018 Apr 23.

USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

This study examines the role of negative work rumination and recovery experiences in explaining the association between workplace incivility and employee insomnia symptoms. Drawing on the perseverative cognition model of stress and the effort-recovery model, we hypothesize a moderated mediation model in which workplace incivility is associated with insomnia symptoms via negative work rumination. This indirect effect is proposed to be conditional on employees' reported level of recovery experiences (i. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Apr 23. Epub 2018 Apr 23.

Sprott School of Business, Carleton University.

Although role overload has been shown to be prevalent and consequential, there has been little attempt to develop the associated theory. The fact that the consequences of role overload can be positive or negative implies that the relationship between role overload and perceived stress depends partly on the environment within which role overload is experienced (i.e. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Apr 23. Epub 2018 Apr 23.

Department of Occupational Health Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin.

We proposed that effects of illegitimate tasks, which comprise unreasonable and unnecessary tasks, on self-esteem and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) are enhanced among employees who are highly sensitive to injustice. CWB was further proposed to be a moderating coping strategy, which restores justice and buffers the detrimental effects of illegitimate tasks on self-esteem. In this study, 241 employees participated in a diary study over five workdays and a follow-up questionnaire one week later. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 5;23(4):553-567. Epub 2018 Mar 5.

Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University.

Organizational justice perceptions are considered a predictor of health and well-being. To date, empirical evidence about whether organizational justice perceptions predict health or health predicts organizational justice perceptions is mixed. Furthermore, the processes underlying these relationships are largely unknown. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 11;23(4):537-552. Epub 2018 Jan 11.

Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.

This study examined the interactive effects of interpersonal conflict at work, coping strategy, and perceived control specific to the conflict on employee work strain using multisource and time-lagged data across two samples. In Sample 1, multisource data was collected from 438 employees as well as data from participant-identified secondary sources (e.g. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 4;24(1):20-35. Epub 2018 Jan 4.

School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University.

Addressing the stigma of mental illness and its effect in the workplace is a contemporary issue in occupational health. The role of leaders is a vital but relatively unexplored dimension of this phenomenon. This study examined the effectiveness and application of an online intervention to reduce depression-related stigma in organizational leaders. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2017 Dec 28. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we examined how the social context moderates employees' behavioral responses to workplace incivility. On the basis of data from 384 employees nested in 41 groups, we observed a 3-way, cross-level interaction between individually experienced incivility, group incivility differentiation, and group silence predicting supervisor-rated employee performance, citizenship, and counterproductive behaviors. Specifically, employees' own incivility experiences predicted lower performance and citizenship behavior and higher counterproductive behavior in groups where members received highly different incivility treatment and kept silent. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 28;23(4):508-519. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Ample studies have confirmed the benefits of intrapreneurship (i.e., employee behaviors that contribute to new venture creation and strategic renewal activities) for firm performance, but research on the personal costs and benefits of engaging in intrapreneurial activities for employees is lacking. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 28;23(4):520-536. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

Department of Education and Psychology.

In organizational psychology research, autonomy is generally seen as a job resource with a monotone positive relationship with desired occupational outcomes such as well-being. However, both Warr's vitamin model and person-environment (PE) fit theory suggest that negative outcomes may result from excesses of some job resources, including autonomy. Thus, the current studies used survey methodology to explore cross-sectional relationships between environmental autonomy, person-environment autonomy (mis)fit, and well-being. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 28;23(4):483-495. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

School of Psychology, Social Work, and Social Policy, Asia Pacific Centre for Work Health and Safety, University of South Australia.

Despite a surge in workplace mindfulness research, virtually nothing is known about how organizations can cultivate everyday mindfulness at work. Using the extended job demands-resources model, we explored daily psychological demands and job control as potential antecedents of daily mindfulness, and the moderating effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC, which relates to the value organizations place on psychological health at work). We also examined the relationship between mindfulness and learning to augment understanding of the benefits of everyday mindfulness at work. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 7;23(4):471-482. Epub 2017 Dec 7.

Department of Information and Operations Management, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University.

The use of mobile technology for work purposes during family time has been found to affect employees' work and family lives. Using a matched sample of 344 job incumbents and their spouses, we examined the role of mobile device (MD) use for work during family time in the job incumbent-spouse relationship and how this MD use crosses over to affect the spouse's work life. Integrating the work-home resources model with family systems theory, we found that as job incumbents engage in MD use for work during family time, work-to-family conflict increases, as does the combined experience of relationship tension between job incumbents and spouses. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 7;24(1):36-54. Epub 2017 Dec 7.

Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Although job stress models suggest that changing the work social environment to increase job resources improves psychological health, many intervention studies have weak designs and overlook influences of family caregiving demands. We tested the effects of an organizational intervention designed to increase supervisor social support for work and nonwork roles, and job control in a results-oriented work environment on the stress and psychological distress of health care employees who care for the elderly, while simultaneously considering their own family caregiving responsibilities. Using a group-randomized organizational field trial with an intent-to-treat design, 420 caregivers in 15 intervention extended-care nursing facilities were compared with 511 caregivers in 15 control facilities at 4 measurement times: preintervention and 6, 12, and 18 months. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jul 16;23(3):417-427. Epub 2017 Nov 16.

LMU Center for Leadership and People Management.

Workflow interruptions are one of the most commonly experienced stressors at work. This research expands existing literature on workflow interruptions in a diary field study. We apply a within-person approach and investigate detrimental effects of daily workflow interruptions on both daily satisfaction with performance and daily emotional exhaustion. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 5;23(4):584-601. Epub 2017 Oct 5.

Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology.

The purpose of the present study is to theorize and test the moderating effects of two variables-the way presenteeism is operationalized and the presence of a preexisting chronic health condition-on the relationships between presenteeism and its antecedents (i.e., physical health, mental health, work factors, social factors, and personal factors). Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 28;24(1):198-212. Epub 2017 Sep 28.

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet.

Mental disorders contribute to high rates of sickness absence (SA) and impaired work functioning. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of 3 interventions targeting SA of workers. Participants (n = 352; 78. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2019 Feb 4;24(1):163-179. Epub 2017 Sep 4.

Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.

The return on investment of employer wellness programs has been heavily debated in recent years, yet existing research has failed to adequately assess the psychological factors that motivate program participation and how participation relates to organizationally relevant employee attitudes and behaviors. Using data over a 3-year period, we found beliefs about the value of employee wellness programs and perceived organizational support (POS) for wellness to be linked to wellness program participation through the mediation of intention to participate in the wellness program. Those with greater wellness participation were found to have higher performance ratings, higher job satisfaction, higher intention to stay, and lower turnover. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 31;23(4):568-583. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim.

Incivility by coworkers and customers can have detrimental consequences for employees' affective well-being at work. However, little is known about whether incivility also impairs employees' affect at home and how long these negative effects may last. In this diary study, we examine whether incivility by coworkers and customers is related to next-morning negative affect via negative affect at the end of the workday and at bedtime, and investigate different modes of social sharing (i. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Oct 31;23(4):496-507. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia.

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC; climate for psychological health) is an organizational antecedent to work conditions articulated in the job demands-resources model. We responded to calls for broader consideration of organizational climate in terms of both climate level and strength. We tested PSC level and strength as main and interactive predictors of work conditions, psychological health, and engagement. Read More

J Occup Health Psychol 2018 Jul 24;23(3):361-372. Epub 2017 Aug 24.

Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

We performed a daily diary study to examine the mediating role of autonomy need satisfaction and competence need satisfaction in the relationships between job characteristics (i.e., job resources, challenge and hindrance demands) and strain and performance. Read More