Emotional Exhaustion and Engagement in Higher Education Students during a Crisis, Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Experience in Italian Universities

Italian university students face an uncertain future characterised by a competitive neoliberal academic environment with high demands and a weak labour market that often cannot hire those who are best qualified. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated students' uncertainty and negatively affected their well-being. The purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of academic life during the pandemic and to examine the relationship between study load, reduced academic performance, internet addiction, academic self-efficacy, and engagement and emotional exhaustion. A sample of university students (N = 10,298) from 11 Italian universities completed a self-report questionnaire about their academic and personal lives between May and June 2021. We performed two multiple linear regressions and one ANOVA to highlight gender differences. Results indicate that female students reported lower levels of engagement and academic self-efficacy, and higher levels of exhaustion and study demands compared to male students, while older students generally appear to exhibit higher levels of well-being. Study load, reduced academic performance, and internet addiction showed a negative association with engagement, particularly the first two, and a positive association with exhaustion, while self-efficacy was positively associated with engagement and negatively associated with exhaustion. The results suggest the need to introduce additional forms of support, such as psychological support, internet addiction awareness courses or counseling services.

"Don't Stop the Music," Please: The Relationship between Music Use at Work, Satisfaction, and Performance.

Although there are several studies in the literature that have examined how different types of music affect performance or other organisational outcomes, knowledge about how music affects individuals in the workplace is still limited, especially in terms of perceived music use. This study aims to examine the effects of three different uses of music-namely, emotional, cognitive, and background music-on individual perceptions of job satisfaction and performance. A sample of 244 workers from different backgrounds was included in the study. We tested a full structural equation model. The results show that (1) emotional use has a positive relationship to performance, both directly and indirectly through mediating job satisfaction; (2) cognitive use has no significant effect on satisfaction and performance (even indirectly); and (3) background use has a negative relationship to job satisfaction and no relationship to performance. This work suggests that listening to music during work activities could be a positive organisational practice. Future studies could further investigate the role of music listening as a resource, taking into account other personal and contextual characteristics.

Resilience and Intercultural Interactions of Italian Erasmus Students: The Relation with Cultural Intelligence

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is examined in the literature;nevertheless, a few studies have combined situational and personal aspects to enhance the comprehension of this construct, and none have considered resilience. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the role of international Erasmus students' resilience, the length of their experience, and the intercultural interactions of Italian Erasmus students in their relationship with CQ. Data were collected from 791 outgoing Italian Erasmus students by using a self-report questionnaire. The findings suggested the existence of a significant relationship between resilience and all dimensions of CQ, showing, with the exception of the behavioral dimension, large betas. Forming friendships with international students was positively and moderately related to motivational and metacognitive CQ. Establishing relationships with locals was only positively and weakly related to cognitive CQ. The time of sojourn was only positively and weakly associated with the metacognitive CQ. Developments in international academic mobility policies are discussed.

The Show Must Go On: A Snapshot of Italian Academic Working Life during Mandatory Work from Home through the Results of a National Survey

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide have provided continuity to research and teaching through mandatory work from home. Taking into account the specificities of the Italian academic environment and using the Job Demand-Resource-Recovery model, the present study provides, through an online survey, for the first time a description of the experiences of a large sample of academics (N = 2365) and technical and administrative staff (N = 4086) working in Italian universities. The study analyzes the main differences between genders, roles or work areas, in terms of some job demands, recovery experiences, and outcomes, all important dimensions to achieve goals 3, 4, and 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The results support the reflections on gender equality measures in universities and provide a general framework useful for further in-depth analysis and development of measures in order to improve well-being (SDG 3), quality of education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5).

Return to Work during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Study on the Role of Job Demands, Job Resources, and Personal Resources upon the Administrative Staff of Italian Public Universities.

BACKGROUND: Compared to healthcare workers and teleworkers, occupational wellbeing of employees who continued or suddenly returned to work during the COVID-19 pandemic have received less attention thus far. Using the Job Demand-Resource model as a framework, the present study aimed at evaluating the role of job demands and job and personal resources in affecting emotional exhaustion among university administrative staff. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected through an online questionnaire completed by 364 administrative employees that continued working in presence (WP) and 1578 that continued working blended (WB), namely, partly remotely and partly in presence. RESULTS: Among job demands, quantitative job demand overloads and perceived risk of being infected were positively associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion. Among job resources, colleague support was significantly associated with lower emotional exhaustion for both WB and WP, whereas supervisor support and fatigue management were salient only for WB. Among personal resources, personal contribution in managing COVID-19-related risk at work emerged as a protective factor for emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSION: Insights for the development of targeted preventive measure for a more psychologically safe and productive return to work can be derived from these results.

Might insecurity and use of ICT enhance internet addiction and exhaust people? A study in two European countries during emergency remote working.

Facing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we have witnessed a strong recourse to generalised lockdowns and to the deployment of remote working. These emergency measures have also thrown employers and employees into uncertainty regarding the present and future existence of their job. The present study aimed to examine the role of job insecurity and job demands in non-working hours through technologies on emotional exhaustion mediated by Internet addiction. A total of 999 remote workers, 501 of whom live in France and 498 in Italy, completed a self-report questionnaire during the first lockdown. Results suggest that both job insecurity and the requests to use technology for work purposes during non-work time exacerbate emotional exhaustion through the mediation of Internet Addiction. Limitations, future perspectives, and implications for management are discussed.

Work-family conflict during the Covid-19 pandemic: teleworking of administrative and technical staff in healthcare. An Italian study.

BACKGROUND: Remote working (more appropriately, mandatory work from home) during the Covid-19 healthcare emergency has increased significantly. Amidst many critical issues, work-family conflict (WFC) remains a central topic, due to the hardships in separating different life domains, the pervasiveness of technology, and decreased opportunities for recovery, all considering new, emerging job demands. Although many studies have involved healthcare workers, less attention has been paid to technical-administrative staff (TA); moreover, previous studies about the impact of remote working on WFC have provided mixed results. OBJECTIVES: The study aims at examining the relationships between WFC and cognitive demands, off-work hours technology assisted job demands (off-TAJD) and recovery, in the TA of a hospital in northwest Italy. METHODS: A sample of 211 individuals (response rate of 58%), in line with the population, filled in an online self-report questionnaire in the second half of April 2020. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis showed a positive relationship between WFC and perceived ICT stress, off-TAJD and cognitive demands, and a negative relationship with recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm the role of cognitive demands, technology overload and invasiveness, as potential predictors of WFC. The results also indicate the mitigating role of recovery, even in the face of a prolonged and forced experience of remote work. The study emphasises the need for transparent policies, based on trust, autonomy and right to disconnect, and the centrality of training, especially for supervisors, on topics such as evaluation of results, proper recovery management and correct use of technology.

Workaholism and Technostress During the COVID-19 Emergency: The Crucial Role of the Leaders on Remote Working.

Although remote working can involve positive outcomes both for employees and organizations, in the case of the sudden and forced remote working situation that came into place during the COVID-19 crisis there have also been reports of negative aspects, one of which is technostress. In this context of crisis, leadership is crucial in sustainably managing and supporting employees, especially employees with workaholic tendencies who are more prone to developing negative work and health outcomes. However, while research on the role of the positive aspects of leadership during crises does exist, the negative aspects of leadership during the COVID-19 crisis have not yet been studied. The present study aimed to explore the role of authoritarian leadership in a sample of 339 administrative university employees who worked either completely from home or from home and the workplace. The study examined the moderating effect of a manager on this relationship and the connections between workaholism and technostress through conditional process analysis. Results pointed out that high authoritarian leadership had an enhancing effect, whereas low authoritarian leadership had a protective effect on the relationship between workaholism and technostress, only in the group of complete remote workers. Thus, authoritarian leadership should be avoided and training leaders to be aware of its effect appears to be essential. Limitations, future directions for the study, and practical implications are also discussed.

Far Away, So Close? The Role of Destructive Leadership in the Job Demands–Resources and Recovery Model in Emergency Telework

During the Covid-19 pandemic, people started teleworking intensively, which has led to some benefits in terms of economic continuity, but also some complaints. International teams of scholars have pointed out the new work-related challenges, underlining leaders’role in successfully managing them. This study aimed at investigating the role of destructive leadership in the job demands–resources and recovery model during the Covid-19 pandemic. In detail, this study intended to assess (1) whether destructive leadership is positively associated with off-work-hours technology-assisted job demand (off-TAJD) and cognitive demands, as well as whether it decreases autonomy, (2) whether two demands—off-TAJD and cognitive demands—and two resources—social support and autonomy—are respectively negatively and positively related to recovery, and (3) whether recovery mediates the relationship between demands, resources, and exhaustion. A total of 716 French remote workers (61% were women) took part in this study. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. A multi-group structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses. The findings confirmed a significant association between destructive leadership, the two job demands, and autonomy;furthermore, all three variables mediated the relationship between destructive leadership and recovery. The findings showed the key role played by recovery as a mediator between, on one hand, off-TAJD, cognitive demands, autonomy, and social support, and, on the other hand, exhaustion. This study highlighted the role of destructive leadership, job resources, job demands, and recovery as determinants of exhaustion, illustrating their relationships in a sample of remote workers. Practical implications are discussed.