How strategies of selective optimization with compensation and role clarity prevent future increases in affective strain when demands on self-control increase: Results from two longitudinal studies.

Abstract

In modern working environments effective strategies for regulating goal-directed behavior and allocating and investing limited resources (e.g., selection, optimization, and compensation [SOC] strategies) should enable employees to cope up with job demands that require volitional self-regulation, thereby preventing strain over time. However, theoretical insights suggest that the beneficial impact of SOC strategies on psychological health depends on the degree to which employees experience clarity in their job role. To understand how employees stabilize their psychological health when demands increase over time, I examine interaction effects of changes in self-control demands (SCDs), SOC strategies and role clarity at an earlier point in Time on changes in affective strain in two longitudinal samples from different occupational and organizational settings (international private bank: N = 389; heterogenous sample: N = 313, 2 year lag). In line with recent conceptualizations of chronic forms of distress, affective strain involved emotional exhaustion, depressive symptoms, and negative affect. In support of my predictions, structural equation modeling revealed significant three-way interactions of changes in SCDs, SOC strategies and role clarity on changes in affective strain in both samples. In particular, the positive relationships between changes of SCDs and changes in affective strain were jointly buffered by SOC strategies and role clarity. The present findings offer implications for stabilizing well-being when demands increase over long time periods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).