LECT 9 Flashcards
(7 cards)
How do flexible work arrangements affect employee health?
Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) (e.g., flextime, flexplace) allow control over when and where to work.
According to Shifrin & Michel (2021):
FWA is positively related to physical health.
Negatively related to absenteeism and somatic symptoms.
No significant relationship with exercise.
Flextime (vs. general flexibility) is especially linked to fewer somatic symptoms.
Conclusion: FWA tends to support employee health, but the type of flexibility matters.
What is telepressure? Which effect does telepressure / work-related smartphone use have on employee health and well-being?
Telepressure (Barber & Santuzzi, 2015):
→ A preoccupation with and urge to quickly respond to ICT messages (emails, texts).
Effects on health and well-being:
Increased burnout, especially physical and cognitive.
Poorer sleep quality, higher absenteeism, and reduced psychological detachment.
Workplace norms (e.g., fast response expectations) intensify telepressure.
Smartphone use studies (Van Laethem et al., 2018):
High telepressure → work-related smartphone use during work reduces work engagement.
Smartphone use after hours harms psychological detachment, regardless of telepressure level.
What are boundary management tactics? How are they related to age?
Boundary Management Tactics (BMTs) (Scheibe et al., 2024):
Physical space: Separate workspace.
Digital space: Separate devices for work/private life.
Temporal: Scheduling clear start/stop times.
Communication (private/work): Managing interactions to avoid cross-role interruptions.
Age differences:
Older employees use more BMTs, especially:
Communication tactics (with both private and work contacts).
Physical space management.
Possibly due to better self-regulation or more experience with managing boundaries.
How can boundary management be changed to improve mental health?
Intervention Study (Althammer et al., 2024):
A 6-week self-regulation intervention increased:
Boundary management
Positive emotions
→ Resulted in reduced emotional exhaustion and better work-life balance satisfaction.
Mechanisms: Based on the Positive-Activity Model (PAM) and self-regulation strategies (e.g., SMART goals, MCII, mindfulness).
Effective for people with depressive symptoms, who may benefit more due to a larger room for improvement.
Conclusion: Structured interventions that promote self-reflection, routine, and emotional regulation enhance boundary management and protect mental health.
A team leader approaches you because their staff shows increasing problems with detachment from work. The team’s tasks rely heavily on technology-mediated communication and every team member is equipped with a company-issued smartphone. What should the team leader try to do to improve psychological detachment according to the results by van Laethem et al. (2018)?
A. Try to reduce the levels of work-related smartphone use after work amongst the team.
B. Try to reduce the levels of work-related smartphone use during work amongst the team.
C. Try to reduce the level of perceived telepressure amongst the team.
C
Q: According to the results by Barber & Santuzzi (2014), perceived telepressure is associated with two different types of burnout (assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure). On which type of burnout did the authors find NO significant effect of telepressure?
A. Emotional burnout
B. Physical burnout
C. Cognitive burnout
A. Emotional burnout
Q: In Lecture 9 we discussed findings from a meta-analysis that investigated the association between flexible work arrangements (FWA) and health outcomes. The authors investigated whether certain types of flexible work arrangements (Flextime, Flexplace, and General FWA) had stronger effects on overall somatic symptoms than others. Which statement is correct regarding the results?
A. Flextime has a stronger negative association with somatic symptoms compared to general FWA
B. Flexplace has a stronger negative association with somatic symptoms compared to general flextime
C. There was no difference in the strength of the association to somatic symptoms between the types of FWA
A. Flextime has a stronger negative association with somatic symptoms compared to general FWA
