Switching Gears: A Self-Regulatory Approach and Measure of Nonwork Role Re-Engagement Following After-Hours Work Intrusions.

As employees' personal lives are increasingly splintered by work demands, the boundary between work and nonwork domains is becoming ever more blurred. Grounded within a self-regulatory approach and the executive control function of inhibitory control, we operationalize and examine nonwork role re-engagement (NWRR)-the extent to which individuals can redirect attentional resources back to nonwork tasks following work-related intrusions. In phases 1 and 2, we develop and refine a psychometrically sound unidimensional measure for NWRR aligned with the self-regulatory processes of self-control and interference control underlying inhibitory control. In phase 3, we confirm the factor structure with a new sample. In phase 4 we validate the measure using the samples from phases 2 and 3 to provide evidence of criterion-related, convergent, and discriminant validity. NWRR was related to important well-being and work-related outcomes above and beyond existing self-regulatory and boundary management constructs. We offer theoretical and practical implications and an agenda to guide future research, as attentional agility becomes increasingly relevant in a home life replete with interruptions from work.

Extending the Boundaries of Illegitimate Tasks: The Role of Resources.

We replicate several studies that have shown illegitimate tasks to be related to strain above and beyond job demands, but extend previous work by addressing (i) whether they are when accounting for job demands and resources and (ii) whether resources mitigate strain relationships. We separately examine unreasonable and unnecessary task subdimensions. Using hierarchical regression analyses, results show that unreasonable tasks account for additional variance in anxiety (9.9%) and depressive symptoms (7.3%) beyond both main and multiplicative effects of job demands and resources of control, and support from supervisors and coworkers, in 214 early-career employees. In addition, unreasonable tasks, control, and supervisor support interact, such that task unreasonableness is less strongly tied to depressive symptoms for those perceiving high supervisor support; and high levels of control and supervisory support resources buffer links between unreasonable tasks and both outcomes. Unexpectedly, task unreasonableness is unrelated to anxiety for those perceiving low control and supervisor support, suggesting a possible habituation effect under undesirable workplace conditions. No interactive effects are found for unnecessary tasks or for coworker support. Our findings offer new understanding of the construct domain space and dimensionality of illegitimate tasks, and address several important practical and theoretical implications surrounding the role of resources.

Effective coping with supervisor conflict depends on control: Implications for work strains.

This study examined the interactive effects of interpersonal conflict at work, coping strategy, and perceived control specific to the conflict on employee work strain using multisource and time-lagged data across two samples. In Sample 1, multisource data was collected from 438 employees as well as data from participant-identified secondary sources (e.g., significant others, best friends). In Sample 2, time-lagged data from 100 full-time employees was collected in a constructive replication. Overall, findings suggested that the success of coping efforts as indicated by lower strains hinges on the combination of the severity of the stressor, perceived control over the stressor, and coping strategy used (problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping). Results from the current study provide insights for why previous efforts to document the moderating effects of coping have been inconsistent, especially with regards to emotion-focused coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Extending knowledge of illegitimate tasks: Student satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion.

Illegitimate tasks represent assignments that individuals feels they "should not have to do" because they are not appropriate given their role. The primary aim of this study was to broaden existing knowledge on illegitimate tasks beyond workplace contexts by exploring whether this stressor was also negatively related to psychological well-being in higher education students. This study examined illegitimate tasks in relation to student satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion in a college student setting through the demand-control-support framework. Reports from 473 college students indicated that illegitimate tasks may be important in student populations, as they were linked to student satisfaction and both psychological strain markers. In addition, perceptions of control over how to complete illegitimate tasks did not moderate relationships between illegitimate tasks and these outcomes, but perceptions of instructor support did. Specifically, instructor support buffered the negative effects of illegitimate tasks on anxiety and emotional exhaustion, such that the relationship between perceived task illegitimacy and both outcomes was less pronounced for students perceiving higher levels of support. However, an unexpected pattern emerged for the moderating effect of instructor support such that satisfaction deteriorated with high support, which underscores the need to further explore the function of social support in relation to illegitimate tasks.

Cortisol reactivity and emotional memory after psychosocial stress in oral contraceptive users.

Oral contraceptive (OC) users typically show a blunted or no cortisol response to psychosocial stress. Although most OC regimens include both an inactive (dummy) and active pill phase, studies have not systematically investigated cortisol responses during these pill phases. Further, high levels of cortisol following a stressor diminish retrieval of emotional material, but the effects of stress on memory among OC users are poorly understood. We examined the effects of a psychosocial stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test, vs. a control condition on cortisol responsivity and emotional memory retrieval in women tested either during their active (n = 18) or inactive pill phase (n = 21). In secondary analyses, we quantitatively compared OC users with normally cycling women and showed a significant lack of cortisol response during both active and inactive pill phase. Emotional recall did not differ between active and inactive pill phases. Stress differentially diminished recall of negative words compared with positive or neutral words, but cortisol levels were unrelated to memory performance. These findings indicate that OC users have distinct cortisol and memory responses to stress that are similar between the active and inactive pill phases. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Illegitimate Tasks as an Impediment to Job Satisfaction and Intrinsic Motivation: Moderated Mediation Effects of Gender and Effort-Reward Imbalance.

The current work examines a contemporary workplace stressor that has only recently been introduced into the literature: illegitimate tasks. Illegitimate tasks are work tasks that violate identity role norms about what can reasonably be expected from an employee in a given position. Although illegitimate tasks have been linked to employee well-being in past work, we know little about the potential explanatory mechanisms linking illegitimate tasks to work-relevant negative psychological states. Using a sample of 213 US-based employees of mixed occupations and a cross-sectional design, the present study examines job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation as outcomes of illegitimate tasks. Additionally, we examine perception of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) as a potential mediating mechanism through which illegitimate tasks relate to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, highlighting a possible pathway by which these relationships are functioning. Finally, we explore gender as a socially constructed variable that could contribute to variation in responses to illegitimate tasks and moderate the mediated link between illegitimate tasks and outcomes. Results indicated that illegitimate tasks were significantly related to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation both directly and indirectly through perceptions of ERI in the predicted directions. Moreover, a moderated-mediation effect was found such that male workers reacted more than female workers to illegitimate tasks through the mechanism of perceived ERI.

Menstrual cycle effects on cortisol responsivity and emotional retrieval following a psychosocial stressor.

This article is part of a Special Issue "Estradiol and cognition". Laboratory-induced stress produces elevations in cortisol and deficits in memory, especially when stress is induced immediately before retrieval of emotionally valent stimuli. Sex and sex steroids appear to influence these stress-induced outcomes, though no study has directly compared the effects of laboratory-induced stress on cortisol and emotional retrieval across the menstrual cycle. We examined the effect of psychosocial stress on cortisol responsivity and emotional retrieval in women tested during either the follicular phase (low estradiol and progesterone) or the luteal phase (higher estradiol and progesterone). Forty women (50% White; age 18-40 years) participated in the study; 20 completed the task during the luteal phase and 20 during the follicular phase. Psychosocial stress was induced with the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). On the day before the TSST, participants learned two lists of word pairs to 100% criterion. The next day, participants recalled one list after the control condition and the other after the TSST. Women in the follicular phase, but not the luteal phase, demonstrated a significant cortisol response to the TSST. There was a stress-induced decrease in emotional retrieval following the TSST, but this effect was not modified by menstrual phase. However, regression and correlational analyses showed that individual differences in stress-induced cortisol levels were associated with impaired emotional retrieval in the follicular phase only. The present findings indicate that cortisol responsivity and the impairing effects of cortisol on emotional memory are lower when levels of estradiol and progesterone are high compared to when levels are low.

Safety climate, hardiness, and musculoskeletal complaints: a mediated moderation model.

This study explores the mechanisms linking the psychosocial characteristics of the workplace with employees' work-related musculoskeletal complaints. Poor safety climate perceptions represent a stressor that may elicit frustration, and subsequently, increase employees' reports of musculoskeletal discomforts. Results from an employee sample supported that when employees' perceived safety was considered a priority, they experienced less frustration and reported fewer work-related upper body musculoskeletal symptoms. Psychological hardiness, a personality trait that is indicative of individuals' resilience and success in managing stressful circumstances, moderated these relationships. Interestingly, employees with high hardiness were more affected by poor safety climate.

Understanding the link between psychosocial work stressors and work-related musculoskeletal complaints.

It is well established that psychosocial work stressors relate to employees' work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD) symptoms. Using a model investigating psychological strain as a mediator between work stressors and WRMSD complaints, this study demonstrated that high levels role conflict, low job control, and low safety-specific leadership are associated with increased employee strain. Strain, in turn, was related to higher levels of WRMSD symptoms of the wrist/hand, shoulders, and lower back. Partial mediation of some relationships was also found, suggesting that additional meditational mechanisms for the relationships between stressors and musculoskeletal symptoms are plausible. This work supports the notion that psychosocial stressors in the work environment have important links to employee health, especially WRMSDs.

Relationships of role stressors with organizational citizenship behavior: a meta-analysis.

Several quantitative reviews have documented the negative relationships that role stressors have with task performance. Surprisingly, much less attention has been directed at the impact of role stressors on other aspects of job performance, such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The goal of this study was to therefore estimate the overall relationships of role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, conflict, and overload) with OCB. A meta-analysis of 42 existing studies indicated that role ambiguity and role conflict were negatively related to OCB and that these relationships were moderated by the target of OCB, type of organization, OCB rating source, and publication status. As expected, role conflict had a stronger negative relationship with OCB than it did with task performance. Finally, we found support for a path model in which job satisfaction mediated relationships of role stressors with OCB and for a positive direct relationship between role overload and OCB.

Hormonal reactivity to MRI scanning in adolescents.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a procedure that is now widely used to study emotional and cognitive processes in children and adolescents. However, the context within which brain imaging data are collected is a social context that may induce anxiety and stress. Several hormones have been shown to be responsive to environmental stressors. These stress responses may impact ability to successfully complete the procedure or collect imaging data. To investigate these issues, we measured salivary cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone in 160 adolescents during both a simulation (practice) and actual MRI. Hormones were all responsive to the MRI scan, indicating that an MRI scan itself can induce a stress response, with some hormones predicting the likelihood that an adolescent could successfully complete the scan with adequate data. The simulation scan did not hinder hormonal responses to the actual MRI. These data suggest that researchers should consider the effects of heightened hormonal reactivity to the scanning environment; adolescent's reactions to brain imaging may contribute to image data loss and may potentially influence outcome measures.