Successful aging at work is important for both older workers and organizations, but the mechanisms that explain the relationships between family-work interaction and successful aging at work remain unknown. In this scholarly work, we draw upon the work-home resources model to examine whether family-work facilitation can replenish personal resources, thereby ultimately contributing to older workers' successful aging at work. In Study 1, we collected three-wave data from a sample of 263 older workers (aged 45 years and above) working in 56 Chinese companies. The results indicated that family-work facilitation was indeed positively associated with psychological resilience at work, which, in turn, contributed to successful aging at work. To replicate the findings of Study 1 and to test the boundary conditions of the aforementioned relationships, Study 2 employed a three-wave online survey of 316 Chinese older workers. After controlling for alternative mechanisms of successful aging at work (i.e., person-job fit and occupational future time perspective), we found interesting moderation effects as well, indicating that the influence of family-work facilitation on psychological resilience at work was stronger for those individuals scoring higher in work centrality. Our research highlights the importance of a positive work-family interaction for older workers, which functions as a mechanism to capitalize on their resources to achieve successful aging at work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Theoretical models on psychosocial job characteristics have proposed the interaction of demands and resources in shaping employee health, yet empirical evidence for their interplay in the development of impaired well-being using statistical approaches modeling interaction effects remains inconsistent. We propose fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, a configurational approach, as an alternative to identify combinations of job characteristics that may be associated with impaired well-being outcomes such as exhaustion. Using a split-sample design, we analyzed data from 9,358 employees nested in 980 teams across 32 organizations. Eight job characteristics (five demands and three resources) were examined through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis in one subsample and validated in the second using three-level generalized linear mixed models. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis yielded five configurations that were sufficient for the presence of exhaustion, three of which remained robust in sensitivity tests, as well as two protective configurations characterized by a complex pattern of multiple high resources and low demands. Multilevel validation analyses confirmed the estimation validity of all three robust risk configurations, with graded associations across partial configuration membership. Two of the three configurations demonstrated additional explanatory value beyond the individual job characteristics. These findings provide evidence for synergistic associations of specific demand-resource combinations. Practically, results highlight the need for configuration-sensitive risk assessments and interventions that address unfavorable constellations of job characteristics rather than isolated conditions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Job satisfaction and the resource-building processes it supports may have meaningful implications for health and well-being. These processes may work differently for employees who have informal (i.e., unpaid) caregiving duties outside of work. Guided by conservation of resources theory, we examined two indirect stress-buffering pathways in a sample of 799 nursing home workers, measured four times over 18 months. We tested how job satisfaction affects gain strengthening (via higher positive spillover) and loss weakening (via lower work-family conflict), how these processes impact indices of physiological (i.e., C-reactive protein) and psychological (i.e., perceived) stress, and how informal caregiving status may moderate these associations. We did not find strictly distinct pathways by caregiver status, but we did find differential within-person patterns among informal caregivers and noncaregivers. Most relevant for noncaregivers, times of higher job satisfaction were indirectly associated with (a) lower C-reactive protein through times of higher work-family positive spillover and with (b) lower perceived stress through times of lower work-family conflict. When employees (regardless of caregiver status) reported job satisfaction that was higher than their own average, they also reported lower perceived stress and showed lower chronic inflammation than at times when their job satisfaction was equal to or lower than their own average. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Working mothers encounter persistent sexism in the workplace. This study draws on ambivalent sexism theory to examine the mediated relationships of supervisors' hostile and benevolent sexist behaviors and working mothers' physical health via conflicts in the work-family interface. Given the ambivalent nature of hostile and benevolent sexism, we hypothesize two distinct pathways: (a) a congruent pathway, in which hostile sexism, via work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts, is positively related to poor physical health and (b) an opposing pathway, in which benevolent sexism, via work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts, is respectively negatively and positively related to poor physical health. Because both hostile and ambivalent sexism are rooted in assumptions of traditional gender roles, we further hypothesize that working mothers' gender role orientation moderates the relationships between ambivalent sexism and conflicts in the work-family interface. Our findings from a three-wave, time-lagged study of 719 working mothers with young children under the age of 5 provide general support for these hypotheses. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how and why ambivalent sexism can simultaneously mitigate and exacerbate conflicts in the work-family interface, affecting mothers' physical health and the perpetuation of workplace gender inequality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Despite comprising a significant percentage of the workforce and being susceptible to mistreatment, young adults with disabilities have not been widely focused on in the workplace mistreatment literature. In this study, we take an intersectional approach as we examine the specific workplace mistreatment-related ramifications that this cohort of the workforce experiences. Twenty-five semistructured interviews were conducted to better understand the outcomes of workplace mistreatment among young adult employees who self-identify as having a disability. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Results suggest that workplace mistreatment may shape the identities, relationships, career-related attitudes and behaviors, and health outcomes of this group of employees. This study offers insights into how workplace mistreatment impacts an understudied and underemployed group of employees. By considering multiple axes of power and privilege, namely, disability and age, this study allows for the consideration of the potentially unique experiences encountered by employees who face multiple barriers to their flourishing at work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Job-related burnout is a central concern in occupational health psychology, yet practical constraints often limit the use of comprehensive measures. The 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM-14) is widely used and grounded in a three-facet symptom framework consisting of physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion, but its length can be prohibitive in multiconstruct surveys and repeated-measures research. Across nine samples organized into four phases, we developed a nine-item short form (SMBM-9; three items per facet) and a three-item ultra-brief form (SMBM-3; one item per facet). Item reduction and structural results supported the intended three-facet structure of the SMBM-9 and the selection of a one-item-per-facet SMBM-3 composite. Internal consistency estimates were high for the SMBM-9 and lower, as expected, for the SMBM-3; both forms nevertheless showed high convergence with the SMBM-14 and established burnout measures. Across cross-sectional, panel, and daily diary designs, the brief forms reproduced the expected pattern of associations with work stressors, affective and distress-related constructs, and work and health outcomes, with the SMBM-9 tracking the SMBM-14 closely and the SMBM-3 showing modest differences consistent with its brevity. Additional longitudinal and within-person findings supported the usefulness of the brief forms in repeated-measures contexts, including high convergence with the SMBM-14 and similar relations with day-level work demands. These findings support the SMBM-9 as the preferred brief substitute when researchers want balanced coverage of the SMBM-14 facets, whereas the SMBM-3 is likely to be the more useful option when brevity itself is the primary objective and assessment space is severely constrained. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Job complexity has been identified as an important characteristic of work due to its potential to impact a wide range of employee outcomes. However, the literature on job complexity is theoretically fragmented and empirically inconclusive. We therefore conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize and extend our understanding of the relationship between job complexity and employee outcomes. We develop and test a model of job complexity that proposes three types of job complexity (job resource-complexity, job challenge-complexity, and job hindrance-complexity) and that each has a distinct pattern of effects on employee outcomes. Based on 71 studies (k = 121 effect sizes), analysis confirmed job resource-complexity to be positively associated with task performance, learning, and well-being and negatively associated with job strain, whereas job challenge-complexity was positively associated with task performance, learning, well-being, and job strain. A lack of data precluded analysis of job hindrance-complexity. Our study advances theoretical understanding of job complexity, provides the first empirical synthesis of different types of job complexity and employee outcomes, and shows that the effects of job complexity differ according to the type of job complexity. The article concludes by drawing out implications for theory, empirical research, and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Emotion regulation (ER) is a central component of emotional labor and a key predictor of burnout. However, empirical findings on the relationship between ER strategies and burnout have been inconsistent, particularly across occupational contexts. To address these discrepancies, we conducted a meta-analysis synthesizing data from 57 studies (65 independent samples; N = 29,053; 351 effect sizes). Drawing on Grandey and Gabriel's (2015) integrated model of emotional labor, we examined whether occupational context moderates the associations between two ER strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and burnout. We also tested additional moderators, age and gender. Results indicated that the associations between ER and burnout were significantly moderated by occupation settings but not key demographic characteristics. Reappraisal generally exhibited a protective effect, particularly in teaching professions. In contrast, suppression was positively associated with burnout, with stronger links in public safety than in teaching and health care. These findings underscore the importance of occupational context in shaping how ER strategies relate to burnout. The study also offers practical implications for symptoms-based interventions and highlights limitations to guide future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Work and breastfeeding responsibilities can often interfere with each other for breastfeeding working mothers who pump breast milk at work. While prior research has explored how contextual social support and organizational policies help these mothers manage work-breastfeeding challenges, the active self-initiated strategies breastfeeding working mothers can use to navigate these roles have been largely overlooked. This study addresses a critical gap in how breastfeeding working mothers can proactively regulate their actions to achieve desirable outcomes. From an action regulation perspective, we proposed the concept of action regulation at the breastfeeding-work interface (AR-BW; a domain-specific form of proactivity defined as breastfeeding working mothers' proactive and goal-directed behaviors to balance responsibilities in breastfeeding and work domains) and examined the associations of AR-BW with breastfeeding-related and work-related outcomes specifically for mothers who pumped breast milk at work. We conducted a daily diary study with 156 breastfeeding working mothers over 10 workdays to examine whether and how their daily AR-BW is related to their work- and breastfeeding-related outcomes. Multilevel path analyses showed that breastfeeding working mothers' daily AR-BW was positively associated with their next-day job performance and breastfeeding-work balance self-efficacy through increased breastfeeding-work enrichment and decreased breastfeeding-work interference. Moreover, the negative relationship between AR-BW and breastfeeding-work interference was stronger for breastfeeding working mothers perceiving higher levels of breastfeeding stigma. Our findings highlight the active, agentic role of breastfeeding working mothers in managing breastfeeding-work demands through self-regulation, extending beyond prior research on external supports. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Illegitimate tasks have garnered significant scholarly interest over the past decade, establishing such tasks as a key concept in stress research. Despite this, there has been no comprehensive quantitative systematic review to synthesize existing research findings. Addressing this gap, our meta-analysis (k = 141; N = 65,124) quantitatively examines the consequences of illegitimate tasks across three domains: attitudinal (affective commitment, job satisfaction, work engagement, and turnover intentions), well-being (negative affect, burnout, and work-family conflict), and behavioral (job performance, innovative behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, and work withdrawal behavior). We also compare the relationships between the two dimensions of illegitimate tasks-unreasonable tasks and unnecessary tasks-and related outcomes to assess their differential predictive validity. Furthermore, we investigate the potential moderating effects of sociodemographic factors (power distance and age) and methodological factors (rating source and measurement time lag). In light of the findings, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Employee mental health is an urgent concern for contemporary organizations, with anxiety and depression increasingly affecting workplace functioning. Yet managers often struggle to support employees facing mental health challenges. Drawing on affective neuroscience theory, which highlights the emotion systems involved in anxiety and depression, we explore how individual differences in affective dispositions influence emotion regulation at work. Specifically, we examine how curiosity, a momentary activation of the SEEKING system, can mitigate employee mental health challenges. Across two experience sampling methodology studies conducted during and after the pandemic, we explore how state experiences of interest relate to employees' emotional states and workplace functioning. Our investigation considers how trait predispositions interact with situational factors to influence the regulation of anxiety and depression, and how transient activation of curiosity may shape broader work attitudes. By framing curiosity as a biologically grounded, situationally sensitive mechanism, this research extends affective neuroscience theory to organizational contexts and highlights the dynamic interplay between individual differences, momentary emotional experiences, and workplace outcomes. Practically, fostering curiosity through autonomy, novelty, psychological safety, and opportunities for exploration may offer organizations a nonstigmatizing, evidence-based approach to support employee well-being and adaptive performance, complementing traditional interventions for mental health in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Providing care for older family members (e.g., parents or relatives) and fulfilling one's work responsibilities, known as family eldercare, is becoming increasingly common due to the growing population of older adults in many societies. A burgeoning literature has begun investigating the negative spillover effects of eldercare burden on employees' experiences and performance at work. In particular, scholars have called for more attention to identifying effective strategies for coping with eldercare burden and mitigating its negative impact. The present research examined whether challenge appraisals of eldercare could mitigate the effect of eldercare burden on employees' positive affect, which, in turn, was related to their sense of thriving at work. In two studies-an experiment and a 2-week experience sampling study-we found that challenge appraisals weakened the relationship between eldercare burden and employees' positive affect. Employees' challenge appraisals also weakened the indirect relationship between eldercare burden and thriving at work through positive affect. This research demonstrates that employees' eldercare burden negatively spills over into the work domain. However, challenge appraisals of eldercare can buffer this spillover process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Autonomy need satisfaction at work does not influence every employee equally. In the present research, we investigate how the personality disposition of action-state orientation influences who benefits from autonomy need satisfaction at work. Thus, our approach integrates self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and personality systems interactions theory (Kuhl, 2001). We argue that high autonomy need satisfaction at work facilitates access to the integrated self. Action-oriented employees can easily draw on their integrated self, and thus their self-regulatory abilities, during stressful work situations, whereas state-oriented employees struggle to do so under work stress. Therefore, we expect state-oriented employees to benefit more strongly from autonomy need satisfaction at work as a resource than action-oriented employees. We conducted two studies. In Study 1 (N = 142), we tested our hypotheses using a correlational design, and in Study 2 (N = 130), we experimentally induced low versus high autonomy need satisfaction using certain job autonomy conditions. Both studies confirmed that practitioners should not assume all employees benefit equally from autonomy need satisfaction since personality matters. State-oriented employees seem to generally benefit from high levels of autonomy need satisfaction at work across contexts, whereas action-oriented employees appear to benefit most from autonomy need satisfaction at work when facing specific situational stressors that require them to unfold their self-regulatory abilities. We discuss these differences, future research directions, and practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Using a human resource (HR) attributions lens, we uncover 16 attributions that employees make about the reasons why their organization provides wellness programs. We also examine the implications of such attributions for employee outcomes (i.e., psychological strain, job burnout, job satisfaction). Recognizing employees can hold multiple HR attributions at the same time, an employee-centered approach was used. Through latent profile analysis with a sample of 517 Australian employees, four wellness program attribution profiles emerged: indifferent, favorable, unfavorable and ambivalent. Overall, employees with a favorable profile of wellness program attributions experienced better health and well-being outcomes compared to those with an unfavorable profile. In addition, employees in the unfavorable profile were found to have higher psychological strain, higher job burnout, and lower job satisfaction compared with their indifferent counterparts. Furthermore, employees with a profile of unfavorable attributions had higher psychological strain and lower job satisfaction compared to those with more mixed views about their wellness program. Past participation was unrelated to employee outcomes, but past participation predicted profile membership, suggesting that it is the attributions employees hold about their wellness programs that matter more than actual usage. Overall, we advance our understanding of HR attributions within the specific context of wellness programs and offer novel insights into a far greater number of attributions than previously studied for any HR practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
The surge in telework after the COVID-19 pandemic has raised debates between employers and employees about how teleworkers can balance flexibility and productivity while working remotely. Our study examines how flow experiences as a volatile personal resource can facilitate teleworkers' functioning and well-being at work and at home through effortless self-regulation. Drawing on the work-home resources model, we argue that daily flow experiences promote teleworkers' work domain functioning (e.g., work engagement and need for recovery) and home domain well-being (e.g., subjective vitality and regulatory resource depletion) through reducing work-home interruption behaviors. Furthermore, we propose that states of high daily morning mindfulness act as another volatile personal resource that can support teleworkers' functioning and well-being on days with lower levels of flow experiences by attenuating the daily relationship between flow experiences and work-home interruption behaviors. Results from an experience sampling study with teleworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 87 individuals across N = 607 days) support our hypotheses that reduced work-home interruption behaviors mediate the daily relationships between daily flow experiences and work engagement, need for recovery, subjective vitality, and regulatory resource depletion. Our results further highlight that these indirect relationships became weaker on days when teleworkers experience higher, as compared to lower, mindfulness in the morning. Thus, on days with lower levels of flow experiences, mindfulness can be an effective way to facilitate functioning and well-being across domains. Our findings offer theoretical insights and practical implications by revealing how teleworkers can remain both productive and healthy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Performance comparisons are ubiquitous and natural at work and can be potent sources of social stress for employees. Drawing on social comparison and social self-preservation theories, the present research identifies perceived lower performance as a social stressor and investigates a dual mechanism through which individuals with relatively low performance engage in social self-preservation responses. We argue that perceived lower performance is likely to elicit social-evaluative threat, which, contingent on individuals' growth or fixed mindset, triggers either an upward assimilative or contrastive motive. Upward assimilative motive leads to self-improvement initiatives (i.e., learning from higher performers). Upward contrastive motive leads to self-protection strategies (i.e., withdrawal behavior, performance appraisal accusation). The results of a multitime survey (N = 371), an online experiment (N = 394), and a classroom-based observational study (N = 183) largely provide support for the hypotheses. Insights into theory, practice, and future research are addressed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Police officers are repeatedly exposed to critical incidents, making them vulnerable to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during service and posttraumatic stress disorder. Trauma-related coping self-efficacy (CSE) has been identified as a protective factor in posttraumatic recovery, yet little is known about its role in high-risk occupations. This study integrates the CSE framework into the cumulative burden model and examines longitudinal associations of CSE and accumulated critical incident history (CIH) with PTSS 1 year later in 2,954 police officers, while adjusting for multiple individual and organizational risk factors. The study also examines whether CIH modifies the CSE-PTSS association. Results showed that CSE was inversely associated, and CIH positively associated, with later PTSS. A small yet significant CIH × CSE interaction was found and stratified analyses indicated stronger CSE-PTSS associations at higher levels of CIH. Notably, post hoc analyses also showed lower mean CSE among officers with the highest CIH, indicating a potentially concerning pattern between cumulative exposure and strained CSE beliefs. The study provides novel etiological insights into the interplay of CSE as a protective factor and CIH as an occupational risk, underscoring their value in organizational prevention. Given the modest effect size, the interaction warrants cautious interpretation, although main findings remained consistent across sensitivity analyses, including models accounting for exposure during the 1-year follow up. Future research is needed to clarify the mechanisms linking critical incident exposure, CSE, and PTSS, and to identify factors that strengthen CSE in policing and other high-risk occupations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Accumulating longitudinal evidence suggests considerable stability in employees' work-family experiences over extended periods. However, this apparent stability may mask meaningful changes that earlier research could not detect, as prior studies often lacked designs suited to capturing shocks that alter the work-family interface and relied on long measurement intervals that can miss the adaptation process. To elucidate changes in employees' work-family interface and the resources that enable adaptation, we examine the work-eldercare interface among working informal caregivers of older adults in Singapore (N = 193) during the COVID-19 pandemic using a three-wave, "shortitudinal" design (prepandemic, during lockdown, postlockdown). Growth curve modeling revealed differential trajectories across work-eldercare constructs; work-to-eldercare conflict continued to worsen over time, eldercare-to-work conflict exhibited a partial rebound pattern, work-to-eldercare enrichment was maintained over time, and eldercare-to-work enrichment showed an improvement pattern. We also uncover important variations in how (i.e., as a stable reservoir or a dynamic supply) and for whom support at work (family-supportive supervisor behaviors [FSSBs]) and family (work-supportive family [WSF]) facilitated adaptation. Beyond between-person FSSB, within-person increases in FSSB predicted favorable trajectories of all four work-eldercare experiences. Within-person WSF did not influence trajectories beyond between-person WSF. Trait resilience enhanced the benefits of between-person FSSB and WSF on initial eldercare-to-work enrichment and work-to-eldercare enrichment, respectively, whereas within-person FSSB and WSF related to the eldercare-to-work conflict trajectory only among those lower on trait resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Employees are often not sufficiently physically active and engage in unhealthy snacking during the workday. We address these unhealthy behaviors by evaluating an individual-level intervention based on the principle of mental contrasting with implementation intentions targeted at increasing physical activity and decreasing unhealthy snacking during the workday. In addition to evaluating intervention effectiveness (compared to a passive control group), we also contrast two intervention groups: Participants were either randomly allocated to refresher interventions focusing on physical activity versus unhealthy snacking each day (daily-assignment intervention group) or could decide which behavior to focus on each day (daily-choice intervention group). We employed a randomized controlled design within a daily diary study (73 employees, 516 days). Between-person results showed that the intervention successfully improved employees' accelerometer-assessed physical activity during the 2-week study phase. Moreover, participants in the daily-choice intervention group were more physically active than participants in the daily-assignment intervention group. Within-person results did not provide evidence of an additional benefit from daily intervention refreshers. The intervention was ineffective at reducing unhealthy snacking at work. Exploratory analyses suggested that the intervention was more effective in work environments characterized by higher levels of job stressors (for both physical activity and unhealthy snacking) and among individuals with higher baseline levels of unhealthy snacking. These findings highlight the potential of mental contrasting with implementation intention interventions in promoting health behaviors during the workday while suggesting that behavioral choice and individual boundary conditions (i.e., baseline levels and work context) can further enhance intervention effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Can a brief meditation in the evening reshape our understanding of others at work during the next day, thereby enhancing the actor's performance and motivation? To address this question, we examine spillover effects of a brief meditation in the evening on next-day extra-role performance, in-role performance, and work engagement, considering perspective taking as explaining mechanism. Sixty-four participants from different sectors in Germany took part in our within-person field experiment over 10 days, receiving a 7-min mindfulness intervention on 5 days and an active control intervention on the other days. Our results supported a positive effect of the mindfulness intervention on next-day perspective taking, while the control intervention showed no effect. In turn, perspective taking predicted day-specific extra-role performance, in-role performance, and work engagement. The mindfulness intervention exerted significant indirect effects on all outcomes via perspective taking. These results help to clarify how an evening meditation enhances our understanding of others at work, improving performance and motivation. They further support employees in making an informed decision about whether they want to engage in evening meditation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
