Abstract
Extant research suggests that workplace ostracism has a detrimental impact on the outcomes of employees. However, very little is known about the impact of workplace ostracism on sleep quality. Therefore, this study aimed to address this gap in the literature. By employing the extended stressor-detachment model, we investigated the mediating role of psychological detachment and the moderating role of coping humor. We used a self-report questionnaire and a time-lagged research design to assess employees’ workplace ostracism, coping humor, psychological detachment, and sleep quality. A total of 403 valid questionnaires were obtained from participants in full-time employment in China. As predicted, the results showed that workplace ostracism is negatively associated with psychological detachment, which in turn, impairs sleep quality. We further found that high levels of coping humor buffer the negative effect of workplace ostracism on psychological detachment and sleep quality. In addition, the moderation effect of coping humor on the relationship between workplace ostracism and sleep quality is mediated by psychological detachment. Finally, based upon the results, we discuss the theoretical implications, provide practical proposals for managers and policymakers, and make suggestions for the direction of further research.
Highlights
Recovering from stress is essential in upholding individual health and well-being (Geurts and Sonnentag, 2006)
We have proposed that coping humor can buffer the effects of workplace ostracism on psychological detachment and sleep quality, and that psychological detachment mediates the relation between workplace ostracism and sleep quality
Given that we proposed that coping humor buffers the effects of workplace ostracism on sleep quality and psychological detachment, β13, β23, and β34 must be significant, and β33 should be smaller than β13 in this study
Summary
Recovering from stress is essential in upholding individual health and well-being (Geurts and Sonnentag, 2006). Research has shown that individuals experiencing incomplete recovery are vulnerable to serious health threats, such as hypertension (Hocking Schuler and O’Brien, 1997) and even cardiovascular death (Kivimäki et al, 2006). In a large survey of 35,327 individuals who were mainly in employment, from 10 different countries, 24% reported experiencing poor sleep. 26% of 10,079 Chinese participants have reported suffering from sleep impairment (Soldatos et al, 2005). In another survey conducted in the United States, 26% of a total of 1,000 employees who were working 30 h or more per week reported that they were not sleeping well (Swanson et al, 2011). Low sleep quality often gives rise to serious negative outcomes, including workplace accidents and death (Hublin et al, 2007; Uehli et al, 2014), coronary heart disease (Liu and Tanaka, 2002), mental disorders (Breslau et al, 1996), absence from work due to illness (Niedhammer et al, 2009), low workplace
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