The influence of workday experience on smartphones uses in commuting from work to home

Abstract

Employees spend on average one third of their day at work, with the majority of them commuting to work on a daily basis. However, empirical evidence on how work-related attitudes (e.g., work engagement), as well as after work state (e.g., recovery from work) result in risky behaviors while commuting (e.g., smartphone use) and how they connect with road transport safety is still scarce. In this study, we hypothesized that daily work experience, i.e., recovery, work engagement, and exhaustion, can affect the use of smartphones while commuting from work. Hundred forty-six employees completed a diary twice a day for up to five consecutive workdays (n = 572 situational observations). Multilevel analyses revealed that work engagement mediated the relationships between specific recovery dimensions (e.g., psychological detachment and relaxation) and smartphone use for different purposes, i.e., texting, talking on the phone, and use of social media. High levels of recovery and work engagement lead to more frequent use of smartphones while commuting from work. On days employees felt more exhausted they reported engaging less frequently in risky driving/commuting behaviors. Results provide a starting point for research on the effect of workday experience on road transport safety. Additionally, the study proposes practical implications for the prevention of distracted commuting and other risky behaviors.