engleski

Studying work-related well-being on a day-to-day basis: An expanded JD-R theory approach

The thesis encompasses four daily diary empirical studies focused on the investigation of work-related well-being in everyday life. Work-related well-being is conceptualized within the job demands-resources theory, the self-determination theory and the challenge-hindrance stressor framework as the degree to which employees (a) feel good at work during different working days, and (b) feel engaged in their daily work activities. The four studies provided novel insights into the role of work in everyday life, and the interplay between work motivation, job demands and resources, and work-related well-being. In the overall, the findings revealed that motivational experiences and work-related well-being vary on a daily basis, depending on proximal, daily circumstances (e.g., daily job demands, job resources, and activities) as well as enduring trait-level characteristics (i.e. work status). The results completely supported the proposed hypothesized research model: Employees feel happy and engaged in their work when they perceive it as meaningful, valuable, and interesting (i.e. self-concordant), even in the face of highly demanding work activities. In this way, the thesis refined the JD-R theory by showing that the quality of employees’ work motivation—as a proximal psychological mechanism that influences daily work-related well-being—can be integrated within the JD-R theory as a transient and strong employee personal resource. A central finding across all studies of the thesis is that these demanding work activities can be categorized into challenge and hindrance demands, concrete work characteristics or activities (e.g., administrative activities are typically bothersome, and conflicts at work are usually hindering). However, employees can deal with these challenge and hindrance demands in different ways, depending on the availability of job resources and their motivation for involvement in those activities. These findings are important because they can account for inconsistencies in associations between job demands and work-related well-being found in previous studies: Challenge demands have the potential to foster work-related well-being if an employee also has high job resources available and high self-concordant work motivation. Hindrance demands undermine work-related well-being through lowering employees’ self-concordant work motivation, but these negative effects can be buffered by high job resources. If implemented in practice, these findings can contribute to a more optimal workplace environment by using either top-down or bottom-up interventions for fostering work-related well-being.

Work-related well-being; JD-R theory; Happiness; Work engagament; Self-concrdance; Challenge and hindrance demandshallenge

nije evidentirano