Supporting Each Other's Heart at Work: An Ambulatory Field Study

The present study explored the association between perceived social support at work (from coworkers and supervisors), and heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of parasympathetic modulation of the heart which is considered an index of the ability to regulate emotional arousal in tune with environmental demands. To test these associations, we used data from 144 workers of various sectors (61.10% women; M-age = 40.45, SDage = 14.17 years). For these workers, HRV was assessed on three principal daily periods for which we computed three different HRV estimates: (a) during the working time, (b) during the pause(s) at work (averaging HRV across different pauses occurring randomly across individuals), and (c) during the evening (after work) till 10.00 p.m. Multilevel model results revealed that workers perceiving more social support by their supervisor showed increased HRV across different phases of the day (i.e., at work, during a work pause, and in the evening). Furthermore, the associations between social support perceived by supervisor and HRV were moderated by biological sex such that this association was stronger for men compared with women. Altogether, results provided support for the positive role of social interactions at work in fostering workers' psychophysiological adjustment. Theoretical and practical implications of our results for individuals and organizations are discussed.