Fear of COVID-19, workplace phobia, workplace deviance and perceived organizational support: A moderated mediation model

This paper aims to test a moderated-mediation model examining therelationships between Fear of COVID-19, workplace phobia, work deviance behaviourand perceived organizational support among hotel employees. An online questionnaire was administered to collect data, to which 481 responded. Data was collected from full-time frontline employees working in the Maldivian hospitality industry. The moderated-mediation model explained 44% of the variance in workplace deviance behaviourscan be predicted bythe fear of COVID-19, perceived organisational support and workplace phobia. The findingsshowthat perceived organizational support reduces the negative impact of COVID-19 fear on workplace phobia and deviance. Results suggest that to reduce the negative effect of the pandemic, organisations should adopt support measures across different managerial levels at different scales rather than providing one-size-fits-all solutions.

Depression and burnout among Chinese nurses during COVID-19 pandemic: a mediation and moderation analysis model among frontline nurses and nonfrontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses' workload increased dramatically, and nurses faced the risk of infection and multiple ethical dilemmas. In such a situation, nurse burnout was elevated, which tended to exacerbate depression in nurses. Although previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between burnout and depression among nurses, the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Furthermore, environmental factors are also essential to a person's psychological health. Therefore, this study intended to investigate the potential mechanisms of depression caused by nurse burnout and whether burnout among frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated its effect on depression in nurses as an environmental factor.

METHODS

A total of 4517 nurses were enrolled in this study. A moderated mediation model was established to investigate the relationship between burnout and positive coping styles, interpersonal relationships, and depression utilizing the SPSS PROCESS 3.3 macro. The direct effect of burnout on depression was also investigated with the moderated mediation model.

RESULTS

The indirect effects of positive coping styles (β = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.04) and interpersonal relationships (β = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.13) were revealed. Being a frontline nurse caring for COVID-19 patients moderated the direct effect of burnout on depression (β = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.16).

CONCLUSION

This study offers strong evidence for the mediating role of positive coping styles and interpersonal relationships in the relationship between nurse burnout and depression, in addition to illustrating the need for more psychological support for frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients.

Mindfulness among lebanese university students and its indirect effect between mental health and wellbeing

BACKGROUND

University students are a high-risk population for developing mental health issues. Mindfulness, the non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, has an effective role in numerous psychological contexts among students. However, no previous studies have investigated the association between mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing among Lebanese university students. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the mediating effect of mindfulness in the association between mental health and wellbeing in this population.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study enrolled 363 Lebanese university students recruited through convenience sampling (July-September 2021). The Wellbeing Index Scale, Lebanese Anxiety Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire and Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory were used to assess subjective well-being, anxiety, depression and mindfulness respectively.

RESULTS

Our findings showed that higher mindfulness (Beta = 0.18; p < 0.001) was significantly correlated with a higher wellbeing, whereas more depression (Beta=-0.36; p < 0.001) was significantly associated with a lower wellbeing. The results of the indirect effect analysis showed that mindfulness mediated the association between anxiety and wellbeing and between depression and wellbeing. Higher anxiety/depression were significantly associated with lower mindfulness and a lower wellbeing (direct effect). Moreover, higher mindfulness was significantly associated with a higher wellbeing.

CONCLUSION

Mindfulness is associated with improved wellbeing and plays an indirect role between mental health issues and wellbeing. Our results suggest that mindfulness presents an adaptive approach and coping method associated with improved students' wellbeing.

Perceived organizational politics, organizational disidentification and counterproductive work behaviour: moderating role of external crisis threats to work

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to unpack the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational politics and their counterproductive work behaviour, by postulating a mediating role of organizational disidentification and a moderating role of perceived external crisis threats to work.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical assessment of the hypotheses relies on survey data collected among employees who work in a large banking organization.

Findings

Perceptions that organizational decision-making is marked by self-serving behaviour increase the probability that employees seek to cause harm to their employer, because they feel embarrassed by their organizational membership. This mediating role of organizational disidentification is especially prominent when they ruminate about the negative impact of external crises on their work.

Practical implications

This study details an important danger for employees who feel upset with dysfunctional politics: They psychologically distance themselves from their employer, which then prompts them to formulate counterproductive responses that likely make it more difficult to take on the problem in a credible manner. This detrimental dynamic is particularly risky if an external crisis negatively interferes with their work functioning.

Originality/value

This study adds to prior research by detailing an unexplored but relevant mechanism (organizational disidentification) and moderator (external crisis threats) by which perceived organizational politics translates into enhanced counterproductive work behaviour.

Students are at risk? Elucidating the impact of health risks of COVID-19 on emotional exhaustion and academic performance: role of mindfulness and online interaction quality

Although previous online learning studies have looked at how student outcomes are influenced in different settings, this study is unique in that it looks at the role of COVID-19 as a particular stressor. This study discussed how students' perceptions of health risks of COVID-19 (PHRC) influenced their academic performance through emotional exhaustion. This study also looked at how mindfulness and online interaction quality (OIQ) affected PHRC's direct effects on exhaustion, as well as PHRC's indirect effects on academic performance via exhaustion. The data for the current study were collected from 336 students in three waves who were studying online during COVID-19. The results through structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that PHRC influenced academic performance. The results further revealed that mindfulness and OIQ attenuated the direct effects of PHRC on emotional exhaustion as well as indirect effects on academic performance through emotional exhaustion. This study provides some novel implications for practice and research.

Perceived socially responsible HRM, employee organizational identification, and job performance: the moderating effect of perceived organizational response to a global crisis

In an uncertain economy and a globalized world, socially responsible human resource management (HRM) is pivotal to the long-term growth of organizations. This research employed social exchange theory and social identity theory to analyze the correlations between employees' perceptions of socially responsible HRM, organizational identification, and job performance. This research also explored the moderating effect of employees' perceptions of their organization's response to a global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between organizational identification and job performance. Analyzing the survey data from 367 respondents using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 3.2 software, this study found that HRM that is perceived to be socially responsible positively influences organizational identification and job performance. Moreover, the study found that organizational identification serves as a mediator between socially responsible HRM and work performance. It also revealed that perceived organizational response to a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic positively influences employees' job performance and negatively moderates the nexus between organizational identification and job performance. This study clarified the role of socially responsible HRM and organizational reactions to a crisis in promoting employee job performance.

Investigating employees' deviant work behavior in the hotel industry during COVID-19: Empirical evidence from an emerging country

Employees in the hotel industry are among the most vulnerable groups that have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anchored on the general strain theory, transactional theory of stress and coping, and theory of justice, this study investigates the mechanism through which hotel employees' perceived job insecurity affects their deviant work behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey method was used to collect three-wave sample data from 988 hotel employees in popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis reveals a positive relationship between perceived job insecurity and deviant work behavior, and this relationship is mediated by psychological distress. Furthermore, abusive supervision positively moderates the association between psychological distress-deviant work behavior and the indirect influence of perceived job insecurity on deviant work behavior through psychological distress. These findings are useful for hotel managers seeking to manage and develop employees in a global health crisis such as COVID-19.

Self-compassion, Mindfulness, Stress, and Self-esteem Among Vietnamese University Students: Psychological Well-being and Positive Emotion as Mediators

Objectives

Theory and prior research suggest that improving self-esteem is a promising way to improve students’ academic performance and mental health. This study empirically examines the mediating effect of psychological well-being and positive emotion in the relationships between self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem.

Methods

An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed. Quantitative data collected through a two-wave survey from 654 Vietnamese students were analyzed to test the hypotheses using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0. Data from 19 in-depth interviews were used to explain the quantitative findings and explore students’ experiences in practicing mindfulness and self-compassion.

Results

Findings revealed that psychological well-being and positive emotion fully mediated the relationships between self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem.

Conclusions

Results of this study highlight the importance of psychological well-being and positive emotion in the self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem relationship, as well as explain a possible process by which factors help university students achieve and sustain a sense of high self-esteem. Ultimately, this study has identified several potential targets for intervention strategies in mental health, such as mindfulness and self-compassion among university students.

The psychological concept of social sustainability in the workplace from the perspective of sustainable goals: A systematic review

Unlike environmental sustainability, social sustainability in the workplace is a relatively new concept that is still searching for its own definition and explanation. Therefore, in this paper, we systematically reviewed and critically evaluated recent research on this topic. In doing so, we identified important constructs that help us better define and understand the phenomenon of social sustainability in the workplace. We focused on articles from 2016 to 2022 with content related to three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely health and wellbeing (SDG-3), gender equality (SDG-5), and decent work (SDG-8). Given the harrowing events of the past 2 years, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global impact of the war in Ukraine, we also wanted to learn whether other categories, such as security (SDG-11) and peace (SDG-16), are embedded in the concept of social sustainability at work. The articles we studied were found through EBSCOhost, specifically in the Academic Search Complete, Business Source Premier, APA PsycInfo, SocINDEX with Full Text, and GreenFILE databases. We selected 67 articles and organized them according to the four levels of research and practice in work and organizational psychology. In reviewing the literature, we identified several constructs that can be classified at four levels of interest in work and organizational psychology. At the level focused on the job/work, we identified two main topics: (i) sustainable job/work characteristics and (ii) sustainable job (re)design. At the people-focused level, we identified the following topics: (i) pro-sustainable self-system, (ii) pro-sustainable job attitudes and motivation, (iii) sustainability work environment perceptions and other mediating mechanisms, and (iv) sustainable job behavior. The organization-focused level includes (i) organizations as human systems and (ii) pro-sustainable organizational policies and practices. The last (society-focused) level is defined by two main topics: (i) understanding society as a human system and (ii) pro-social mechanisms. In the discussion, we categorized specific constructs identified within the described focus levels into the theoretical model describing the psychological concept of social sustainability in the workplace from the perspective of sustainable goals.

The Role of Mindfulness in Mitigating the Detrimental Effects of Harsh Parenting among Chinese Adolescents: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model in a Three-Wave Study

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of depressive symptoms and the moderating role of mindfulness in the association between harsh parenting and adolescent suicidal ideation in the Chinese cultural context. Using a three-wave (i.e., three months apart) data collection among 371 Chinese adolescents, this study found that depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between harsh parenting and adolescent suicidal ideation. Moreover, adolescent mindfulness mitigated the effects of harsh parenting on suicidal ideation, as well as the indirect effect of harsh parenting on suicidal ideation via depressive symptoms. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Could mindfulness diminish mental health disorders? The serial mediating role of self-compassion and psychological well-being

The COVID-19 pandemic clearly has various detrimental psychological effects on people's mental health, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness in overcoming such repercussions. This is in line with the growing number of studies that have been conducted to assess the effects of mindfulness in diverse settings. However, the role of mindfulness in reducing mental health issues among university students has received little attention. Therefore, the current work seeks to investigate how mindfulness could reduce the anxiety, depression, and stress of university students and how self-compassion and psychological well-being could mediate the links between mindfulness and these mental health disorders. To that end, an explanatory sequential mixed-method design was adopted. Quantitative data collected, through a two-wave survey, from 560 Vietnamese students having an average age of 18.7 years were used to test the hypotheses. To measure the six variables in the research models, we opted for the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-26), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21-7 items for each subscale), and World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5). Additionally, qualitative data from 19 in-depth interviews were utilized to explain the quantitative findings and explore students' experiences in practicing mindfulness and self-compassion to decrease stress, depression, and anxiety. The results elucidated that self-compassion and psychological well-being serially mediated the relationships between mindfulness (as a predictor) and anxiety, stress, and depression (as outcome variables). The findings demonstrated the key role of mindfulness in increasing students' self-compassion and psychological well-being as well as reducing anxiety, depression, and stress. This research holds substantial contributions by providing universities and psychotherapists with recommendations to deal with negative psychological consequences caused by COVID-19.