The dark side of mobile work during non-work hours: moderated mediation model of presenteeism through conservation of resources lens

Owing to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the inevitability of telecommuting in the COVID-19 environment, the boundary between working and non-working hours has become blurred. mWork, that is, ICT-based off-hour work, which has increased through the pandemic, affects employees' work attitudes, such as presenteeism. Hence, we designed a study to investigate the antecedents and mechanisms of employee presenteeism from the perspective of the conservation of resources theory. We supported our hypothesis using a sample of 325 Korean office workers obtained through three rounds of time-delay surveys. The results show that presenteeism is higher among employees with high mWork. In addition, employees' mWork increases sleep deprivation and presenteeism, and the exchange ideology of employees reinforces the positive effect of sleep deprivation on presenteeism. Additionally, the higher the level of exchange ideology, the stronger the mediating effect of mWork on presenteeism through sleep deprivation. This study verified the conservation of resources theory by identifying the mechanism by which mWork affects an employee's life, which in turn affects their work, and provides practical implications for managing productivity loss due to presenteeism.

Investigating Factors Influencing Medical Practitioners' Resistance to and Adoption of Internet Hospitals in China: Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND

The swift shift toward internet hospitals has relied on the willingness of medical practitioners to embrace new systems and workflows. Low engagement or acceptance by medical practitioners leads to difficulties in patient access. However, few investigations have focused on barriers and facilitators of adoption of internet hospitals from the perspective of medical practitioners.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to identify both enabling and inhibiting predictors associated with resistance and behavioral intentions of medical practitioners to use internet hospitals by combining the conservation of resources theory with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and technostress framework.

METHODS

A mixed methods research design was conducted to qualitatively identify the factors that enable and inhibit resistance and behavioral intention to use internet hospitals, followed by a quantitative survey-based study that empirically tested the effects of the identified factors. The qualitative phase involved conducting in-depth interviews with 16 experts in China from June to August 2022. Thematic analysis was performed using the qualitative data analysis software NVivo version 10 (QSR International). On the basis of the findings and conceptual framework gained from the qualitative interviews, a cross-sectional, anonymous, web-based survey of 593 medical practitioners in 28 provincial administrative regions of China was conducted. The data collected were analyzed using the partial least squares method, with the assistance of SPSS 27.0 (IBM Corp) and Mplus 7.0 (Muthen and Muthen), to measure and validate the proposed model.

RESULTS

On the basis of qualitative results, this study identified 4 facilitators and inhibitors, namely performance expectancy, social influence, work overload, and role ambiguity. Of the 593 medical practitioners surveyed in the quantitative research, most were female (n=364, 61.4%), had a middle title (n=211, 35.6%) or primary title (n=212, 35.8%), and had an average use experience of 6 months every year. By conducting structural equation modeling, we found that performance expectancy (β=-.55; P<.001) and work overload (β=.16; P=.005) had the most significant impact on resistance to change. Resistance to change fully mediated the influence of performance expectancy and partially mediated the influences of social influence (variance accounted for [VAF]=43.3%; P=.002), work overload (VAF=37.2%; P=.03), and role ambiguity (VAF=12.2%; P<.001) on behavioral intentions to use internet hospitals. In addition, this study found that the sex, age, professional title, and use experience of medical practitioners significantly moderated the aforementioned influencing mechanisms.

CONCLUSIONS

This study investigated the factors that facilitate or hinder medical practitioners' resistance to change and their behavioral intentions to use internet hospitals. The findings suggest that policy makers avoid the resistance and further promote the adoption of internet hospitals by ensuring performance expectancy and social influence and eliminating work overload and role ambiguity.

Suffering doubly: Effect of cyberbullying on interpersonal deviance and dual mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and anger

Research on employee harassment, in the form of workplace bullying, has increased over the past decade. However, there is little research on the prevalence and impact of cyberbullying, a type of cyber-related violence in the workplace. Thus, it would be interesting to examine the impact of cyberbullying on interpersonal deviance through the serial mediating effect of emotional exhaustion and anger. Drawing from the conservation of the resource theory and the affective event theory, this proposed study clarifies the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and anger. The time lag approach was used to collect the data from the sample of 385 employees in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. By employing SPSS and PLS, bootstrapping was performed to conduct the mediation analysis. Findings indicated that workplace cyberbullying increased interpersonal deviance by enhancing emotional exhaustion and anger. The current research contributes to the literature by considering the behavioral outcomes of workplace cyberbullying with the practical implications for human resource practitioners.

Psychosocial safety climate and supportive leadership as vital enhancers of personal hope and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study aimed to investigate the effects of supportive leadership and psychosocial safety climate on personal hope and resilience among nurses during the pandemic. Conservation of resource theory was employed to explain the effects of psychosocial safety climate and supportive leadership on nurses' hope and resilience. A cross-sectional design was employed to collect data. Six-hundred and twenty-three nurses across 68 hospitals who were in direct contact with COVID-19 patients during the fifth wave of the pandemic in Iran were recruited. Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) and Structural Equation Modelling using Amos were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that both psychosocial safety climate and supportive leadership improved personal resilience through personal hope. Findings showed that the positive relationship between supportive leadership and personal hope was stronger when the hospital-level psychosocial safety climate was high. To improve personal hope and resilience among nurses during critical times, hospital management must ensure consistent supportive leadership and establish policies, practices and procedures that support nurses' psychosocial health and safety at the hospital level.

Unlocking the Effect of Supervisor Incivility on Work Withdrawal Behavior: Conservation of Resource Perspective

Workplace incivility has gotten a lot of attention in recent decades. Researchers have looked at many forms of aggressive conduct in the workplace and their negative impacts on individuals and businesses. The goal of this study was to see how incivility among supervisors leads to work withdrawal and when this link might be mitigated. We argued that supervisor incivility indirectly influences work withdrawal behavior through job insecurity, and that emotional intelligence moderates this connection. This study attempted to evaluate the influence of supervisor incivility on the job withdrawal behavior of personnel working in several banks Lahore by drawing on affective events theory and conservation of resource theory. Data were gathered from 350 workers of banks in Lahore, Gujranwala, and Sheikhupura to test our assumptions, and SPSS 24 was used to generate and analyze data with Hayes Process. The findings revealed a strong link between supervisor incivility and job insecurity but no link between supervisor incivility and work withdrawal behavior. The idea of moderation was validated, since emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between job insecurity and job withdrawal behavior. There are also suggestions for more empirical studies and theoretical and practical ramifications.

Creativity in the South Korean Workplace: Procedural Justice, Abusive Supervision, and Competence

Innovation is now a feature of daily life. In a rapidly changing market environment and amid fierce competition, organizations pursue survival and growth through innovation, and the key driver of innovation is the creativity of employees. Because the value of creativity has been emphasized, many organizations are looking for effective ways to encourage employees to be creative at work. From a resource perspective, creativity at work can be viewed as a high-intensity job demand, and organizations should encourage it by providing and managing employee resources. This study is an attempt to empirically investigate how competence and abusive supervision affect the relationship between procedural justice and creativity from the conservation of resources perspective. Findings from two-wave time-lagged survey data from 377 South Korean employees indicate that procedural justice increases creativity through the mediation of competence. Furthermore, abusive supervision has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between procedural justice and competence. The findings show that competence moderates the relationship between procedural justice and creativity and that the lower the level of abusive supervision, the greater the effect of procedural justice on competence and creativity.

Innovative Behavior in the Workplace: An Empirical Study of Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Efficacy, Perceived Organizational Support, and Leader-Member Exchange

Recently, most organizations, from for-profit organizations to nonprofit organizations, are facing a rapidly changing environment and increased uncertainty. Organizational performance now depends on quickly responding and overcoming change through employees’ innovative behavior. As the importance of innovative behavior has been highlighted, many organizations are looking for effective ways to encourage employees to adopt innovative behavior. From the resource perspective, innovative behavior can be regarded as high-intensity job demand, and organizations should support innovative behavior by providing and managing employees’ resources. Based on the conservation of resource perspective, this study attempted to empirically explore how self-efficacy and perceived organizational support affect the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and innovative behavior. Using two-wave, time-lagged survey data from 337 employees in South Korea, we found that leader–member exchange enhances innovative behavior via the mediation of self-efficacy. Additionally, perceived organizational support positively moderates the relationship between leader–member exchange and self-efficacy. Our findings demonstrate that self-efficacy is a mediating mechanism in the relationship between leader–member exchange and innovative behavior. Furthermore, this study suggests that the higher the level of perceived organizational support, the greater the effect of leader–member exchange on innovative behavior affected by self-efficacy.

The Influence of Self-Regulation on Learner's Behavioral Intention to Reuse E-Learning Systems: A Moderated Mediation Model

Learners' behavioral intention to reuse e-learning is of great significance to the implementation and management of e-learning in higher education. This study examined the relationship between self-regulation and behavioral intention to reuse by focusing on the mediating role of study engagement and the moderating role of peer collaboration. Based on a sample of 379 undergraduates from central China, we found that self-regulation positively influences behavioral intention to reuse via study engagement. In addition, moderated path analysis indicated that peer collaboration strengthened the direct effect of self-regulation on study engagement and its indirect effect on behavioral intention to reuse. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed as well.

Association between workplace bullying and nurses' professional quality of life: The mediating role of resilience

AIM

We aim to determine workplace bullying in relation to the professional quality of life of nurses and the mediating role of resilience between workplace bullying and the professional quality of life.

BACKGROUND

Workplace bullying is an increasingly serious problem worldwide and deleteriously affects the occupational health and quality of life of nurses. However, it has not attracted adequate managerial attention.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a sample of 493 clinical nurses from two tertiary grade A hospitals in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey in July 2020 and analysed with structural equation modelling.

RESULTS

Workplace bullying had negative and direct effects on the professional quality of life of nurses. Resilience mediated the relationship between workplace bullying and the professional quality of life.

CONCLUSION

Resilience is a protective factor that helps nurses cope with workplace bullying. Managers can improve the professional quality of life of nurses by reducing workplace bullying and strengthening the resilience of nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Managers must take measures to prevent the workplace bullying of nurses. In addition, nurse supervisors should pay attention to the resilience of nurses and strengthen resilience training to help nurses withstand the pressure of workplace bullying and improve their professional quality of life.

How to Solve the Time Dilemma? The Influence of Team Temporal Leadership on Team Innovation Performance

Time pressure (TP) is the most common kind of pressure faced by R&D teams. How to improve team innovation performance (TIP) when time resources are insufficient has been a concern of practitioners and scholars. The purpose of this paper is to put forward some suggestions to solve that time dilemma. We conducted a survey based on a sample of 163 teams. In the first-stage survey (time 1), we measured the team temporal leadership (TTL) and TP. In the second-stage survey (time 2), we measured team learning behavior (TLB). TIP was measured in the third-wave survey (time 3). The results are as follows: (i) TTL has a significant positive impact on the TLB and TIP; (ii) TLB plays a mediating role in the relationship between TTL and TIP; and (iii) TP can positively moderate the relationship between TTL and TLB, that is, the promoting effect of TTL on TLB is more pronounced under the higher level of TP. These findings reveal the influence mechanism of TTL on TIP from the perspective of TLB and TP.

Abusive Supervision and Creativity: Investigating the Moderating Role of Performance Improvement Attribution and the Mediating Role of Psychological Availability

The existing studies have indicated that abusive supervision affects creativity; however, the specific impact mechanism is still unclear due to the uncertain relationship between leadership and employee creativity. Based on the resource perspective, this study examines the influence of abusive supervision on creativity through psychological availability (PA) and the moderating of this mediation by performance improvement attribution (PIA). Based on a survey of 234 employees', the hypotheses have been tested and the results reveal that abusive supervision had a detrimental effect on employee creativity partially mediated by employee PA, and employees' PIA moderated the mediation. This study offers new insights into the mechanisms associated with the relationship between abusive supervision and creativity.

Can Corporate Social Responsibility Promote Employees' Taking Charge? The Mediating Role of Thriving at Work and the Moderating Role of Task Significance

There is growing evidence to suggest that employees’ perceptions of their employer’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively influences their attitude and behavior. An increasing number of scholars have called for further explorations of the microfoundations of CSR. To that end, this study takes the conservation of resources perspective to examine relationships and the perception of CSR by employees, considering areas such as thriving at work, task significance, and employees taking charge. By analyzing 444 questionnaires completed by employees in China and using the conditional process analysis to test a hypothesis, results showed that the association between employees’ CSR perception and taking charge is significantly and positively correlated, with thriving at work mediating the connection. We also found that task significance negatively moderates the mediating effect between CSR and taking charge, such that the lower the level of task significance of a job, the more positive the effect of CSR on taking charge via thriving at work. These findings have theoretical implications for micro-level CSR research and managerial implications for entrepreneurs.

Work-to-Family Spillover Effects of Workplace Negative Gossip: A Mediated Moderation Model

Existing research has found that workplace negative gossip exerts a negative impact on employees and organizations. However, there is a lack of study on the spillover effect of workplace negative gossip on employees’ families. This paper aimed to address this gap in prior literature. Based on resource conservation theory, we chose married employees who perceived or suffered from workplace negative gossip as the subjects and analyzed the effect of workplace negative gossip on their work–family conflict. We adopted a self-reported questionnaire to assess employees’ perception or experience of workplace negative gossip, psychological distress, level of neuroticism, and work–family conflicts. A total of 245 valid employee questionnaires were obtained from two-wave data collection in China. The results of the empirical analysis indicated that workplace negative gossip perceived or suffered by employees has a positive impact on their work–family conflicts, and psychological distress plays a mediating role in the relationship between perceived or suffered workplace negative gossip and employees’ work–family conflict. Furthermore, we found that employees’ level of neuroticism moderates the positive effect of workplace negative gossip and work–family conflict, and it also moderates the mediating effect of workplace negative gossip on employees’ work–family conflict by psychological distress. The conclusion of this paper supported our previous hypotheses. Finally, according to the earlier findings, we discussed the theoretical contributions, practical significance, and limitations of the study and provided some practical suggestions for managers.

The Effect of Received Neighboring Behavior on General Health: The Mediating Role of Work-Family Conflict

This study investigated the relationships between received neighboring behavior (i.e., informal mutual assistance and information sharing among neighbors) and the general health of low-income residents in a mixed-income community. A conservation resource theory perspective was applied. Survey data were selected from a self-reported questionnaire of 247 low-income residents in a mixed-income community of China. A 2-wave panel design was used to test the hypothesized relationships among the studied variables, and the interval between both measurements was 5 weeks. Structural equation modeling was adopted to examine the proposed hypotheses. The findings showed that received neighboring behavior decreased individual work-family conflict, while showing no significant differences between the mediating effects of work-family conflict. This study has important implications for neighbor behavior and work-family conflict.

Student Cyberloafing In and Out of the Classroom in China and the Relationship with Student Performance

This study investigates the in-class and out-of-class cyberloafing activities of students in China, and tests the relationship between those activities and academic performance. A sample of 1,050 undergraduate students at a large University in China reported their in-class (N = 548) and out-of-class (N = 502) cyberloafing activities, which were tested against the students' academic performance. The test results show a negative relationship between in-class cyberloafing and academic performance, but an inverted U-shaped relationship between out-of-class cyberloafing and academic performance. The results support our propositions that cyberloafing is a harmful distraction in the classroom, but can have positive effects when performed in moderation outside the classroom as a means of effort recovery.

Organisational efficiency and co-worker incivility: A cross-national study of nurses in the USA and Italy

AIM

To examine the relationship of co-worker incivility with organisational efficiency, workload and intention to leave in nursing samples from two different countries, the USA and Italy.

BACKGROUND

Organisational efficiency has received little attention as a possible correlate of co-worker incivility in the nursing management literature. Studies on co-worker incivility have primarily been carried out in North America and no cross-national studies are available.

METHOD

Data were collected by a self-report questionnaire involving nurses from the USA (n = 341) and Italy (n = 313).

FINDINGS

Organisational efficiency was negatively associated with workload, co-worker incivility and intention to leave in both samples. The path from co-worker incivility to intention to leave was also positive and significant in both samples. Workload was positively associated with co-worker incivility and intention to leave in the US sample, but not in the Italian sample.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that organisational efficiency is central to understanding both co-worker incivility and intention to leave among nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nurse administrators should adopt interventions aimed at fostering organisational efficiency in an effort to reduce nurse co-worker incivility.

Examining the relationships between resources and online health information seeking among patients with chronic diseases and healthy people

The Internet is increasingly used as an important source of health and medical-related information for people with chronic diseases. It is recognized that online health information seeking (OHIS) is influenced by individuals' multi-dimensional factors, such as demographics, socio-economic factors, perceptions of the Internet, and health conditions. This study applies the conservation of resource theory to examine relationships between various multi-dimensional factors, daily challenges, and OHIS depending on individuals' health conditions. The data used in this study was taken from the U.S. Health Tracking Survey (2012). In this study, Internet users aged 18 and older were classified into patients (N = 518) and healthy people (N = 677) based on their health status related to chronic diseases. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between multi-dimensional factors (resources), self-rated health, and OHIS. Patients' various resources (e.g., age, income, education, having a smartphone, and health tracking) significantly predicted their self-rated health and OHIS; in addition, self-rated health significantly mediated the relationships between focal resources and OHIS. However, the mediating effects of self-rated health were not found in healthy people.