Job Demands-Resources Research Articles

Sustainability and software development projects: leadership, core self-evaluation and empowerment as critical success factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to integrate job demands–resources theory with core self-evaluation theory to examine how and when sustainable project leadership stimulates sustainable project performance. Psychological empowerment is used as a mechanism between sustainable project leadership and sustainable project performance, whereas core self-evaluation acts as a moderator between sustainable project leadership and psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a time-lagged two-phase approach to collecting data from 257 software engineers working in medium-sized and large companies in the Polish financial sector. Findings This study reveals the direct and indirect (through psychological empowerment) effects of sustainable project leadership on sustainable project performance. It also confirms that the “sustainable project leadership–psychological empowerment” relationship strengthens with increasing level of project team members’ core self-evaluation. Originality/value This article explores a unique research framework. It significantly enriches the literature on sustainable project management, increasing the understanding of effective leadership practices that address the needs of software engineering teams to support sustainable project performance.

Three-way interaction effect of hindrance research stressors, inclusive mentoring style, and academic resilience on research creativity among doctoral students from China

With the increasingly intense academic competition, the stressors faced by doctoral students are gradually escalating. Based on the Job Demands-Resources Model, this study proposed a moderated moderation to explore how hindrance research stressors affect doctoral students’ research creativity. Explicitly, the present study investigates whether the relationship between hindrance research stressors and research creativity is contingent on inclusive mentoring style and academic resilience. By analyzing the survey data from 538 valid questionnaire responses of doctoral students in China, this study has revealed that hindrance research stressors negatively relate to doctoral students’ research creativity, and inclusive mentoring style from academic supervisors can mitigate the negative impact of hindrance research stressors on the research creativity of doctoral students. Furthermore, academic resilience strengthens the moderating effect of inclusive mentoring style. Specifically, it buffers the negative impact of hindrance research stressors on research creativity among doctoral students who receive high inclusive mentoring, but not among those with low levels of inclusive mentoring. These findings emphasize that effective strategies to enhance the research creativity of doctoral students who encounter hindrance stressors may require the joint consideration of contextual and personal resources.

Impact of psychological empowerment on job satisfaction among preschool teachers: mediating role of professional identity

The centrality of job satisfaction in fostering the stability and progression of the teaching cadre and in underpinning the effective operation of educational institutions is paramount. Drawing from motivation theory and the Job Demands-Resources model, this research delves into the influence of psychological empowerment on the job satisfaction of 533 preschool educators in China, employing the Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire, the Occupational Identity Questionnaire, and the Job Satisfaction Scale. The inquiry probes the intermediary function of occupational identity in the nexus between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction within the cohort of preschool teachers. The findings underscore that psychological empowerment substantially foretells heightened job satisfaction in preschool educators, and concurrently, occupational identity serves as a partial mediator in the association between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Augmenting levels of psychological empowerment and occupational identity among preschool teachers is a strategic avenue for fortifying their holistic contentment in their professional roles, thereby contributing indispensably to the fortification of a robust teaching workforce in kindergarten establishments.

Building Resilience Among College Students: A Cross-Cultural Investigation on the Importance of Quality Crisis Communication and Social Support

Building on job demands-resources (JD-R model) and the social support theory, this study investigates how perceived quality of crisis communication and social support influence perceived uncertainties, emotional exhaustion, and resilience among college students in Kenya and the United States during the COVID-19 crisis. Data were collected using a survey (N= 394). The results indicate that higher perceived quality of crisis communication is associated with lower perceived uncertainties about the COVID-19 crisis. Both peer and advisor support are found to reduce students' perceived uncertainties. Notably, Kenyan students reported receiving more peer support compared to American students, while American students reported higher levels of advisor support. Additionally, perceived uncertainties mediated the relationship between advisor support and emotional exhaustion. Contrary to expectations, organizational intransigence did not moderate the relationship between social support and perceived uncertainties. Finally, a positive association was observed between perceived quality of crisis communication and resilience among students. These findings suggest the importance of effective crisis communication and social support in fostering resilience among students, with implications for both policy and practice across different cultural contexts.

Testing the Effects of Workplace Variables on the Job Burnout Among Prison Officers in India: An Application of the Job Demands–Resources Model

The current study used the job demands–resources model and survey data from prison officers in India in order to examine how workplace variables are associated with three job burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of work accomplishment. Job demands make the job more difficult and are generally linked to negative outcomes, while job resources make the job less difficult and are generally linked to positive outcomes. The job demands for the current study were role overload, routinization, and fear of being victimized at work, and the job resources were training views, instrumental communication, and job autonomy. Based on ordinary least squares regression results of surveys from 168 officers from a prison in the Haryana State of India, this study found that role overload was associated with higher levels of all three burnout dimensions, while routinization was only associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion. Curiously, fear of victimization was associated with lower levels of depersonalization and reduced sense of work accomplishment. Instrumental communication was associated with lower levels of all three burnout dimensions, while training views and job autonomy had no significant effects on any burnout dimension.

A Historical Review of the Prevalence of Job Stress Theories.

Job stress theories have been developed and refined to better understand employee wellbeing. Now that the field is maturing, it is appropriate to review the theoretical trends and developments for future research and practical guidance. The current paper provides a historical review, with both objective (i.e., counts of published theories) and subjective evaluation of job stress theory. In Study 1, two trained raters coded theories used in job stress journals. The job demand-control (-support; JDCS) model was initially well-represented, but has been superseded more recently by theories that focus on multiple resources (e.g., the job demand-resource - JDR - model). Among non-job stress theories, motivation and affective theories have been well-represented within job stress research. Study 2 expanded the results of Study 1 through review of two international applied psychology journals with additional coding categories. Specifically, we identified empirical support for theories and researcher characteristics (i.e., national and professional affiliation). The JDCS model had the least full support according to a vote counting method, and resource models (e.g., JDR) the most. Germany and the Netherlands were the most represented locations, with the United States having the most international collaborations. Psychology and management were the most represented affiliations.

Sustainability champions: A proactive perspective on the inter-organizational job design dynamics of sustainability implementation

Implementing sustainability is a complex and challenging process that requires the collaboration and commitment of multiple stakeholders within supply chains. Existing research has largely overlooked the role of individual employees who can act as change agents and proactively initiate and facilitate sustainability initiatives. In this paper, we propose a proactive job design perspective to understand how these sustainability champions can balance the demands and resources related to sustainability in and across organizations. We suggest that they can use a combination of self- and partner-focused sustainability regulation strategies to influence the sustainability resources of their supply chain partners and create inter-organizational Job Demands-Resources dynamics that can enhance or hinder sustainability implementation. We develop a set of propositions that can guide future research on this topic and offer practical implications for organizations that want to foster employee proactivity and sustainability in their supply chains.

Predicting Attrition among Software Professionals: Antecedents and Consequences of Burnout and Engagement

In this study of burnout and engagement, we address three major themes. First, we offer a review of prior studies of burnout among IT professionals and link these studies to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. Informed by the JD-R model, we identify three factors that are organizational job resources, and posit that these (a) increase engagement, and (b) decrease burnout. Second, we extend the JD-R by considering software professionals’ intention to stay as a consequence of these two affective states, burnout and engagement. Third, we focus on the importance of factors for intention to stay, and actual retention behavior. We use a unique dataset of over 13,000 respondents at one global IT organization, enriched with employment status 90 days after the initial survey. Leveraging partial least squares structural equation modeling and machine learning, we find that the data mostly support our theoretical model, with some variation across different subgroups of respondents. An importance-performance map analysis suggests that managers may wish to focus on interventions regarding burnout as a predictor of intention to leave. The Machine Learning model suggests that engagement and opportunities to learn are the top two most important factors that explain whether software professionals leave an organization.

Effects of emotional demands on work outcomes: A diary study among Malaysian counsellors

IntroductionThis study examined the effects of emotional demands on psychological health among counsellors in Malaysia. Drawing from the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, the research tested the effects of counsellors’ daily emotional demands on their turnover intention, mainly via emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. ObjectivesA within-individual design was used to examine the effects of counsellors’ emotional demands on their turnover intention, especially via emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. MethodsThe study was conducted among counsellors (n=47) over a period of four days in two consecutive weeks. The diary survey was collected for two days (Monday and Friday) each week for two consecutive weeks, measuring individuals’ self-reports of emotional demands, week-level emotional exhaustion, depressive symptoms and turnover intention (n=188 data points). To test all hypotheses, data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). ResultsCounsellors’ daily emotional demands were found have a direct effect on their levels of emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. Emotional exhaustion, but not depressive symptoms, was found to mediate the association of daily emotional demands with turnover intention. ConclusionOverall, the study revealed that the daily level of emotional exhaustion, but not of depressive symptoms, was positively related to counsellors’ turnover intention. Emotional exhaustion was found to mediate the relationship between counsellors’ emotional demands and their turnover intention. Counsellors with a high level of emotional demands as well as emotional exhaustion tended to have a high level of turnover intention.

Thwarted by fear of failure, reignited by psychological resilience: Entrepreneurs’ responses to a health crisis (COVID-19) and passion for developing

Crises always have an effect on entrepreneurship and the recent COVID-19 pandemic amplified the impact. Research has provided ample evidence on influences of the COVID-19 pandemic as a socioeconomic crisis for entrepreneurs and their ventures. However, considered a highly infectious disease, COVID-19 is also a personal health crisis that has posed a health threat to entrepreneurs. This research aims to develop and test a model of how and when entrepreneurs' psychological responses to COVID-19 can affect passion for developing based on the job demands-resources theory. Using a time-lag design, results reveal that entrepreneurs' COVID-19 representations can thwart the components of passion for developing through arousing fear of failure. Further, entrepreneurs’ psychological resilience impact changes in these negative, indirect effects. These findings provide important implications for the literature on the linkage between entrepreneurship and crisis and the manifestation process of entrepreneurial passion from the demands-resources process perspective.

Trait authenticity as an “enzyme” for personal resources and work engagement: A study among teachers within the framework of the job demands-resources model

IntroductionTrait authenticity has been defined as a dispositional individual difference, and it refers to people's experience of living in accordance with their true Self. Despite research conducted in working contexts has found that trait authenticity is related to people's work engagement, it is not clear if this association may be mediated by other variables. ObjectiveFraming trait authenticity within the job demands-resources model, we hypothesized that trait authenticity allows the release of human full potential in terms of personal resources that, in turn, promote work engagement, especially in highly challenging work settings, such as educational ones. MethodWe administered a self-report questionnaire composed of several measurement scales to 446 teachers working in kindergartens, primary schools, and middle schools. Results and conclusionsA moderated mediation analysis revealed that trait authenticity can promote teachers’ emergence of personal resources, which in turn enhances their work engagement. The study highlights that the role of trait authenticity and personal resources on work engagement acquires a particular salience when teachers face high (vs. low) challenge job demands (i.e., workload), that is when this reservoir of potential is needed the most.

Self-Leadership, Performance, and Life-Satisfaction: The Mediation Role of Flow at Work in a Three-Wave Study

Based on the self-determination model of flow and the Job Demands-Resources theory, the present study aims to analyze whether flow at work mediates the relation between self-leadership and job performance, and the relation between self-leadership and life satisfaction over time. The design of the study is longitudinal and is conducted in three waves. Data were analyzed using structural equation models on an initial sample of 316 employees. The results supported the proposed model. We identified an association between self-leadership at T1 and flow at T2 and between flow at T2 and performance and life satisfaction at T3. The results also indicated that flow at work fully mediates the relationships between self-leadership, job performance, and life satisfaction over time (T1 to T2 to T3). Overall, the present research emphasizes the importance of promoting general well-being in the workplace and guides how organizations can effectively implement interventions to support employees in achieving optimal performance and life satisfaction.

Do individual differences in perceived vulnerability to disease shape employees' work engagement?

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant impact on employees' work outcomes worldwide. However, it remains unclear whether some employees fared worse than others when facing work-related health threats and what role individual differences in vulnerability to disease played in shaping their work experiences. Integrating the evolutionary psychology perspective of the behavioral immune system with Job Demands-Resources Theory, we argue that a fundamental factor in how employees dealt with these threats was the extent to which they perceived themselves as vulnerable to infectious diseases. Employees with higher susceptibility to infectious diseases were predicted to experience heightened workplace safety concerns and engage less with their work. In addition, a health-oriented leadership style was expected to decrease employees' safety concerns and increase their work engagement, especially for the more vulnerable employees. To test hypotheses, we conducted a three-wave field survey and two vignette-based experiments on working adults in the United Kingdom at different stages of the pandemic. Results largely supported our predictions, revealing that employees who felt more vulnerable to infectious diseases were more concerned about their workplace safety, inhibiting their work engagement. We discuss these findings' theoretical and practical implications for promoting a safe and healthy post-pandemic workplace, especially for vulnerable employees.

Investigating women’s work experience in hospitality with the job demands-resources theory

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the work experience of women in hospitality with the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory. By focusing on job resources, job demands (emotional and physical), work engagement, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention, this study examines (1) female workers’ perceptions of these variables; (2) how race, age and job positions affect perceptions and (3) structural relationships among these variables.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected 412 responses from American female hospitality workers via an online survey. Descriptive statistics and independent T-tests were conducted using SPSS to analyze professional experiences and differences based on individual characteristics. Path analysis was conducted using Amos 28 to assess the structural relationships among variables.FindingsFemale hospitality workers generally feel engaged, experience low emotional exhaustion and have low turnover intention. Younger or front-line women reported higher emotional exhaustion, lower engagement and greater likelihood to quit. Unexpectedly, emotional resources do not significantly affect work engagement, but physical resources increase it.Practical implicationsThe study provides directions to establish specific well-being and organizational support initiatives to retain female hospitality workers.Originality/valueThis study offers fresh insights into the JD-R theory by examining the experiences of American female hospitality employees using a non-comparative lens. Although existing literature highlights women’s unfavorable positions relative to male counterparts, this study reveals rather positive perspectives. Additionally, it presents a dual psychological process of how job resources and demands affect women’s work experience and the varying impacts of job demands on work engagement.

Leading with care: how health-promoting leadership drives innovation in the Middle East

PurposeLeveraging the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, this study proposes and validates a mediation model depicting the impact of health-promoting leadership (HPL) on innovation performance (IP), with the relationship partially mediated by two health-related factors: psychological well-being (PWB) and positive conflict (PC).Design/methodology/approachEmploying a structured questionnaire developed from validated scales sourced from the existing literature, the study collected data from a sample of 310 employees across various organizations within the service sector of the United Arab Emirates. The dimensionality, reliability, and validity of scales were assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The study’s seven hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS and mediation analysis using the Hayes process model in SPSS.FindingsSupport was found for all seven hypotheses, demonstrating that HPL exerts both a direct and an indirect effect on IP, with PWB and PC serving as partial mediators.Research limitations/implicationsDistinct from the traditional leadership literature, which often views an employee’s psychological health as a personal matter, this study highlights the organizational role in promoting psychological well-being. It also provides significant theoretical contributions to the underexplored area of conflict management within the context of innovation.Practical implicationsBy promoting employees' PWB, HPL can optimize human capital within organizations. Additionally, leaders can leverage the potential of PC to foster an environment conducive to innovation, resulting in enhanced organizational performance.Originality/valueThe findings enrich the leadership and IP literature by identifying inter-relationships between the three health related antecedents of IP.

Staff burnout in intellectual disability services and resistance to change. Implications for leadership support.

This article aims to analyse the relationship between staff burnout and resistance to change as well as the implications for leadership. The Job Demands Resource Model, the Social Exchange Theory, and the Model of Socially Induced Burnout were used to analyse the relationship of burnout with resistance to change. Leadership support is essential in reducing the influence of job demands on staff and on overcoming burnout so that resistance to change is prevented. This lies on the development of a leadership approach based on the factors that influence burnouted staff against change.

Leveraging social supports to cope with sales complexities and facilitate value-based selling in the cross-functional sales team contexts: JD-R perspective

In today's dynamic industrial market, adoption of a value-based selling (VBS) has emerged as a crucial approach, which forces companies to establish cross-functional sales teams. Yet how sales task and team complexities, as challenging/hindrance job demands, require team social supports, as job resources, to buffer against them in implementing VBS, remains an under-researched topic. Based on job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we investigate how sales task and sales team complexities moderate the link between social supports and VBS. Findings reveal that, as challenge job demands, demand ambiguity and task non-routineness positively moderate the instrumental/emotional support–VBS link and the instrumental support–VBS link, respectively. Whereas, as hindrance job demands, team instability negatively moderates the instrumental/emotional support-VBS link, and role ambiguity negatively moderates the instrumental support-VBS link. Additionally, team heterogeneity positively moderates the instrumental support-VBS link while negatively moderates the emotional support-VBS link. The study considers the roles of social supports (job resources) in shaping team VBS behavior under different sales complexities (job demands), not only contributing to the VBS literature by extending the research context to B2B cross-functional sales teams, also providing a insights on how to implement VBS and enhance performance via social supports in various sales situational complexities.

Customer-Oriented Behavior in Full-Service Restaurants: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Emotional Intelligence, Work Engagement, and Customer-Oriented Attitude

ABSTRACT Using the job demands-resources model, this research explores the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on customer-oriented behavior (COB) among frontline restaurant employees, with a focus on the mediating role of work engagement (WE) in the EI-COB relationship. The study also examines the moderating effects of customer-oriented attitude (COA) between EI and WE and on the mediated relationship. Data from 228 frontline restaurant employees were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro models 4 and 7. The results reveal a positive impact of EI on COB, with WE as a mediator. Moreover, COA strengthens the positive relationships between EI and WE, as well as the indirect effects of EI on COB through WE. This study simultaneously investigates both attitudinal and behavioral aspects of customer orientation, providing valuable theoretical and practical implications for restaurant employees, and laying the foundation for future research in this area.

Staying connected beyond the clock: a talent management perspective of after-hours work connectivity and proactive behaviours in the digital age

PurposeWorking arrangements’ hybridity has become paramount, particularly after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. A remote working environment has indubitable advantages (e.g. the ability to work from anywhere and at any time). However, such flexibility comes at the cost of being virtually always connected. This duality poses challenges for talent management (TM) in determining who can thrive under these specific conditions and how. This study explores how employees respond to this extended connectivity – namely, work connectivity behaviour after-hours (WCBA) – and its influence on proactive talent behaviour by constructing and testing a theoretical model that differentiates employees’ reactions to this condition.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected data from 400 mainland Chinese employees using online and offline methods. Owing to the potentially varied effects of working in digital environments on employees, a dual mediation regression model was employed to test the hypotheses.FindingsRemote and hybrid work and, specifically, the increased connectivity experienced by employees can be a “double-edged sword” in influencing their proactive behaviour (PB). While employees experience increased organisation-based self-esteem, which positively correlates with more intense PB, this prolonged exposure may also cause emotional exhaustion (EE), which has a negative correlation with PB. Jointly considering both mediation effects revealed that WCBA’s total effect on PB remained negative.Originality/valueThis study enriches the debate regarding the development of TM practices specifically designed for remote work. It recommends paying greater attention to how employees react to increased connectivity experienced in remote and hybrid working environments. Increased self-esteem or passive EE are possible elements for identifying employees’ talent potential. The separation between work and after-work is becoming blurred in the digital age, which reduces employees’ motivation and ability to exploit their inner talents. Therefore, organisations must find alternatives to preserve their talent pools. This study enriches theoretical research on WCBA, promoting an in-depth application of the theory of job-demand resources in the digital age.

Imbalance between Employees and the Organisational Context: A Catalyst for Workplace Bullying Behaviours in Both Targets and Perpetrators.

Research on workplace bullying from the perpetrators' perspective is limited, leading to few interventions tailored to them. This gap stems from insufficient understanding of how organisational conditions and individual dispositions trigger or amplify perpetrator behaviour. To develop effective interventions in preventing bullying, perceived organisational factors were examined. This study, guided by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the three-way model of workplace bullying (WB), aims to explore the effects of perceived (im)balances in the task or employee focus, social atmosphere (positive or negative), and hierarchical structure (high or low) in organisations on the incidence of WB, both in terms of perpetrator and target experiences. The research involved 1044 employees from multiple Spanish organisations and sectors: 51.7% in services, 24.6% in education, 14.5% in wholesale and retail trade, and 9.2% in manufacturing. The average age of participants was 35.43 years (SD = 10.9), with a female majority of 61.3%. Using a cross-sectional study design, the experiences of being a target and perpetrator were quantitatively assessed through validated WB target and perpetrator scales. Additionally, the study qualitatively examined employees' perceptions of their organisational context through free descriptions, using adjectives to depict their views. Correspondence analysis was employed to test the hypotheses, and the results affirmed them. The study found that perceived imbalances in organisational focus, social atmosphere, and hierarchy correlate with higher WB target and perpetrator reports, whereas balanced atmospheres correlate with no WB. This research underscores the significance of balanced organisational contexts in mitigating WB. It highlights a gap in the current literature regarding the broader organisational factors that influence bullying and advocates for a more in-depth understanding of these dynamics. Furthermore, it contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering a comprehensive and harmonised approach to preventing WB, transcending isolated interventions.