The dark side of experiencing job autonomy: Unethical behavior

Are algorithmically controlled gig workers deeply burned out? An empirical study on employee work engagement

BACKGROUND

With the emergence of the gig economy as a new economic form, the influence of algorithmic technology control on gig workers' perceptions and engagement has become a topic of academic concern. This study explores the emotional impact of perceived algorithmic control on gig workers and how it affects their work engagement.

METHODS

This study takes gig workers as the research object to build a structural equation model. Based on the background of gig economy and the Job Demands-Resources model, this paper constructs a mechanism model of the influence of perceived algorithmic control on the work engagement of gig workers. The research data in this paper are collected by questionnaire, and the research hypothesis is tested by the SEM structural model.

RESULTS

The gig workers in this study believed that perceived algorithmic control positively affects employee work engagement. In addition, burnout was positively correlated with employee work engagement. Burnout played a partial mediating role in the relationship between perceived algorithmic control and employee work engagement. And flow experience played a moderating role through the indirect effect of burnout on employees' work engagement.

CONCLUSION

Perceived algorithmic control causes burnout among gig workers, but strong algorithmic technology support provides them with rich work resources that can help them meet their work needs. That is, the gig workers may still demonstrate a high level of work engagement even if they experience burnout symptoms.

Freedom or bondage? The double-edged sword effect of work connectivity behavior after-hours on employee occupational mental health

Purpose

This study aims to explore the double-edged sword effect of work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA) on employees’ occupational mental health. Drawing on job demand-resource theory, the authors examined the double mediating mechanism of work autonomy and work-family conflict on the relationship of WCBA, work engagement and work burnout. At the same time, the authors examined the moderating role of responsiveness from superiors, hoping to clarify how WCBA brings employees positive experiences (engagement) or negative experiences (burnout).

Design/methodology/approach

Under the mediating mechanism of work autonomy and work-family conflict, the authors built a dual-path model and moderated mediation model to examine the effect of WCBA on work engagement and burnout. Two-stage paired data were collected from various industries in China by distributing questionnaires to employees. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equation model and the bootstrap test method.

Findings

The results showed that WCBA positively affects work engagement and burnout. Work autonomy plays a mediating role both in the relationship between WCBA and work engagement and in the relationship between WCBA and work burnout. In addition, work-family conflict plays a mediating role both in the relationship between WCBA and work burnout and in the relationship between WCBA and work engagement. Responsiveness from superiors not only moderated the relationship between WCBA and work autonomy and between WCBA and work-family conflict but also moderated the mediating effects of work autonomy and work-family conflict.

Originality/value

This study examined the double-edged sword effect of WCBA on employees’ occupational mental health, the dual mediation of work autonomy and work-family conflict and the moderating effect of responsiveness from superiors. This study can enrich the understanding of the effects of WCBA as well as the influential factors and boundary conditions related to employees’ occupational mental health. Organizations (represented by superiors) and individuals were integrated into one model, providing a new perspective for studying WCBA. The research will help managers and individuals gain a comprehensive understanding of WCBA, and how to enhance its positive effects and circumvent its negative effects.

Leading change and innovation in Ghana’s banking sector: the mediating role of work autonomy

Purpose

In recent times, employers are routinely advertising for position candidates with the capability to work with little or no supervision at all. This is probably because, as businesses strive to globalize operations, supervision has become both complex and expensive. While the general interest in employees with considerable levels of work autonomy may be a strategic one, particularly for banks, it is important to determine the impact of work autonomy on other critical success factors such as employee commitment to change management, innovativeness and quality supervisor-subordinate relationship. This study aims to examine the relationship between these variables by exploring the mediation effect of work autonomy on the relationship between employee innovativeness, quality of supervisor-subordination collaboration and employee commitment to change management in the banking sector of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used quantitative empirical strategies involving the distribution of questionnaires to a randomly selected sample of 400 employees of selected banks in Ghana. Data, so collected, were analysed using the PLS-SEM Software.

Findings

Results of the study revealed significant relationships between the quality of supervisor-subordinate collaboration, innovativeness and commitment to change. The findings further established work autonomy as an explanatory variable between the three employee behaviours – innovativeness, quality of supervisor-subordinate connection and commitment to change.

Originality/value

The novelty of this study lies in the interplay of quality employee relations, innovative employee behaviour and commitment to change processes as refereed by work autonomy to promote effective change management activities in Ghanaian banks. The outcome of the study led to the development of a theoretical model for organizational change management.

Relationship between Risk Perception of COVID-19 and Job Withdrawal among Chinese Nurses: The Effect of Work-Family Conflict and Job Autonomy

Aim

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of work–family conflict and the moderating role of job autonomy on the association between risk perception of COVID‐19 and job withdrawal among Chinese nurses during the initial disease outbreak.

Background

Nurses' job withdrawal can not only reduce the quality and efficiency of care but also give rise to turnover during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Thus, it is essential to clarify how and when the risk perception of COVID‐19 influences the job withdrawal behaviours of nurses and to provide guidelines for reducing nurses' job withdrawal.

Methods

A two‐wave study was conducted among 287 Chinese nurses from 11 COVID‐19‐designated hospitals during the initial outbreak of the disease from March through April 2020. Data on the risk perception of COVID‐19, job autonomy and work–family conflict were collected at time 1, and 1 month later, job withdrawal data were collected at time 2. Model 4 and Model 14 from SPSS macro PROCESS were used to test the mediating effect of work–family conflict and the moderating effect of job autonomy, respectively.

Results

Work–family conflict mediated 60.54% of the relationship between risk perception of COVID‐19 and job withdrawal. Job autonomy positively moderated the relation between work–family conflict and job withdrawal (β = 0.12, P < 0.01).

Conclusion

Risk perception of COVID‐19 influenced nurses' job withdrawal through work–family conflict. Job autonomy exaggerated the association between work–family conflict and job withdrawal.

Implications for Nursing Management

Managers should provide more supportive resources to help nurses cope with the risk of COVID‐19 to decrease work–family conflict and job withdrawal, and they should strengthen supervision over the work processes of nurses.

How the configurations of job autonomy, work–family interference, and demographics boost job satisfaction: an empirical study using fsQCA

In the gig economy era, job characteristics that affect employees’ job satisfaction have undergone significant changes. However, this has not been studied adequately in the context of Asia. This study applies the job demand–resource model to understand the effect of job autonomy and work–family interference on the job satisfaction of full-time and part-time employees in China, while considering the role of demographics. A total of 415 respondents were analyzed through fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. The results show that the employees’ demographics have a corrective effect on the impact of job characteristics and job satisfaction. This study also identifies six causal conditions for the high job satisfaction of full-time employees and three causal conditions for part-time employees. Our research finds that full-time employees need high job autonomy, while part-time employees need low work–family interference. The results provide guidelines for managers to redesign jobs in the era of the gig economy.

P-Curve analysis of autonomous and controlling motivation priming effects supports their evidential value

Extant literature consistently demonstrates the level of self-determination individuals experience or demonstrate during an activity can be primed. However, considering most of this literature comes from a period wherein p-hacking was prevalent (pre-2015), it may be that these effects reflect false positives. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether published literature showing autonomous and controlling motivation priming effects contain evidential value or not. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant priming research, while set rules determined which effects from each study would be used in p-curve analysis. Two p-curves including 33 effects each were constructed. P-curve analyses, even after excluding surprising effects (e.g., effects large in magnitude), demonstrated that literature showing autonomous and controlling motivation priming effects contained evidential value. The present findings support prior literature suggesting the effects of autonomous and controlling motivation primes exist at the population level. They also reduce (but do not eliminate) concerns from broader psychology that p-hacking may underlie reported effects.

Physiotherapist' job performance, impression management and organizational citizenship behaviors: An analysis of hierarchical linear modeling

Studies on physiotherapists are generally focused on clinical professionalism, with very few examining job performance from a management standpoint. To address this gap, this study sought to investigate the relationship between impression management and organizational citizenship behavior and job performance. This study targeted medical institutions offering rehabilitation and physiotherapy services and conducted a questionnaire survey based on scales developed by domestic and foreign scholars. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed and 523 valid ones collected. The data was tested and verified using regression analysis and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). In the survey, the Impression Management Scale, Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale, and Job Performance Scale indicated that at the individual level, the impression management of physiotherapists is significantly related to their organizational citizenship behaviors and job performance. The organizational citizenship behaviors were also found to have a mediating effect between impression management and job performance. At the group level, impression management had a conditioning effect on organizational citizenship behaviors and job performance. In terms of statistical methods, group-level variables act as moderators, which affects the power of individual-level explanatory variables on outcome variables, i.e., the influence of the slope. The job behaviors of physiotherapists entail direct service and their performance is closely related to organizational development. Impression management gives people certain purposes and behaviors while organizational citizenship behaviors are a type of non-self-seeking, selfless dedication behaviors. Therefore, the motivation of physiotherapists who demonstrate organizational citizenship behaviors should be further explored.

“Too much of a good thing?”: exploring the dark side of empowering leadership by linking it with unethical pro-organizational behavior

Purpose

Grounded in social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between empowering leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), as mediated by duty orientation (including duty to members, duty to mission and duty to codes). Further, this study proposes that perceived leader expediency moderates indirectly between empowering leadership and UPB.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper tests this social exchange model across a survey study using time-lagged data collections from 215 employees of a service company in China.

Findings

The results show that duty orientation mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and UPB. In addition, perceived leader expediency moderates the indirect relationship between empowering leadership and UPB through duty orientation (i.e. duty to members and duty to missions).

Originality/value

This research aids in understanding the impact of empowering leadership on follower outcomes by investigating the dark side of empowering leadership and examining the relationships between empowering leadership, duty orientation and UPB. The present study also challenges the notion that the phrase “the greater the empowerment, the better the outcomes” suggests that organizations should offer a conditional approach to the empowerment of followers by their leaders.

Polluted Morality: Air Pollution Predicts Criminal Activity and Unethical Behavior

Air pollution is a serious problem that affects billions of people globally. Although the environmental and health costs of air pollution are well known, the present research investigates its ethical costs. We propose that air pollution can increase criminal and unethical behavior by increasing anxiety. Analyses of a 9-year panel of 9,360 U.S. cities found that air pollution predicted six major categories of crime; these analyses accounted for a comprehensive set of control variables (e.g., city and year fixed effects, population, law enforcement) and survived various robustness checks (e.g., balanced panel, nonparametric bootstrapped standard errors). Three subsequent experiments involving American and Indian participants established the causal effect of psychologically experiencing a polluted (vs. clean) environment on unethical behavior. Consistent with our theoretical perspective, results revealed that anxiety mediated this effect. Air pollution not only corrupts people’s health, but also can contaminate their morality.