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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of self-employed work characteristics (consumer orientation, innovativeness, number of employees, motivation, and entrepreneurial phase) on work-life balance (WLB) satisfaction.

The job demands and resources approach is applied to test whether self-employed work characteristics are evaluated as job demands or resources for WLB. The Global Entrepreneurship Data (2013) offer a unique opportunity to conduct multilevel analysis among a sample of self-employed workers in 51 countries (N=11,458). Besides work characteristics, this paper tests whether country context might explain variation in WLB among the self-employed.

The results of this study reveal that there is a negative relation between being exposed to excessive stress and running a consumer-oriented business and WLB. Being motivated out of opportunity is positively related to WLB. In addition, the results indicate that country context matters. A higher human development index and more gender equality are negatively related to WLB, possibly because of higher social expectations and personal responsibility. The ease of doing business in a country was positively related to the WLB of self-employed workers.

For some workers self-employment might be a way to combine work and responsibilities in other life domains, but this does not seem to be valid in all cases.

This paper contributes to current literature on the WLB of self-employed workers by showing how work characteristics can be evaluated as job demands or resources. Including work characteristics in future research might be a solution for acknowledging the heterogeneity among self-employed workers.

The paper aims to clarify how work-specific characteristics at both the individual and organizational level influence professional civil servants’ readiness for change during the implementation of reforms in public administration. We examine the influence of work characteristics at the individual and organizational levels, such as reform-related strains, organizational climate, and organizational professionalism, on the employees’ response to change. In addition, we also consider the interaction between these specific work characteristics.

This article employs a quantitative multi-level analysis to examine the influence of individual and collective predictors of employees' readiness for change. For our analysis, we used data from the evaluation of a school reform in Switzerland aimed at aligning teachers' working conditions with those of other administrative employees. The survey conducted for the evaluation includes responses from 2,162 teachers.

Our study expands the understanding in public management research of work characteristics that either promote or reduce employees’ readiness for change in the public sector. Our findings suggest that the organizational level, in our case the school level, influences the individual’s response to change. Furthermore, the role of organizational professionalism in terms of a reform-related transformation of the identities, structures, and practices of the actors concerned is highlighted as a potential stressor and catalyst that reinforces the negative correlation between reform-related stress and willingness to change.

This paper offers insights into how public managers can effectively overcome challenges in the implementation process of public school reforms. This also includes the awareness among change agents that positively associated changes at the organizational level may have negative consequences at the individual level, due to the fact that they affect professional understanding, for example, which may cause the affected actors to respond with resistance.

This paper contributes to the small number of multi-level research studies on the responses to change in public administration and answers the call for research to investigate the hurdles that may arise when implementing change. Further, the paper contributes to the literature on the impact of new public management (NPM) on the identity of professional civil servants.

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the main propositions of the job demands-resources (JDR) model are moderated by type of contract (i.e. temporary contract vs permanent contract).

Survey data were collected in a large, heterogeneous sample from different countries, sectors, and jobs (n=3,845). Hypotheses were tested by means of multilevel analyses.

Results showed moderate support for the main effects of job demands (job insecurity and time pressure) and job resources (autonomy and social support) and weak support for the buffer effect of job resources in the prediction of job satisfaction and general health. The impact of contract type on the main propositions of the JDR model appeared to be weak. Yet, the evidence that was found suggests that temporary workers may be more tolerant to job insecurity and more likely to benefit from the buffering role of autonomy than permanent workers.

This is the first study to investigate whether the relation between job demands and job resources and employee health and well-being differs for permanent workers and temporary workers.

This study aims to propose a model to examine the relationship between authentic leadership (AL), civility and burnout among health-care employees. This model proposes that civility mediates the relationship between AL and burnout.

Data were collected from 360 (72% response rate) registered health-care employees working in two large public hospital centers in Lisbon, Portugal. The sample was predominantly female (79.4%). The instruments used to measure the variables were the AL inventory, workplace civility scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Hayes’ PROCESS macro for mediation analysis in SPSS was used to test the hypothesized model.

The results suggest that AL has a positive direct effect on civility, adding to the negative effect of the aforementioned variables on burnout. Furthermore, civility was found to have a mediating effect on AL and burnout.

This study may be useful for hospital management and the health-care sector as a whole, underlining the importance of AL and civility in preventing detrimental effects of burnout among health-care employees.

Considering that mainstream literature on AL mainly focuses on nurses, there is a scarcity of literature integrating the relationship between AL, civility and burnout among a wide range of occupational groups in the health-care sector. Furthermore, the research model has not been previously introduced when considering the mediating role of civility in the relationship between AL and burnout.

Este estudio propone un modelo para examinar la relación entre el liderazgo auténtico, la civilidad y el burnout entre los trabajadores de la salud. Este modelo plantea que la civilidad media la relación entre el liderazgo auténtico y el burnout.

Se recopilaron datos de 360 trabajadores de salud registrados (tasa de respuesta del 72%) que trabajan en dos grandes centros hospitalarios públicos en Lisboa, Portugal. La muestra fue predominantemente femenina (79,4%). Los instrumentos utilizados para medir las variables fueron el Inventario de Liderazgo Auténtico, la Escala de Civilidad de Trabajo y el Inventario de Burnout de Maslach. Se utilizó el macroproceso de Hayes para el análisis de mediación en SPSS para probar el modelo hipotetizado.

Los resultados sugieren que el liderazgo auténtico tiene un efecto directo positivo en la civilidad, sumándose al efecto negativo de las variables mencionadas anteriormente en el burnout. Además, se encontró que la civilidad tiene un efecto mediador en el liderazgo auténtico y el burnout.

Este estudio puede ser útil para la gestión hospitalaria y el sector de la salud en su conjunto, destacando la importancia del liderazgo auténtico y la civilidad para prevenir los efectos perjudiciales del burnout entre los trabajadores de la salud.

Dado que la literatura predominante sobre el liderazgo auténtico se centra principalmente en las enfermeras, existe una escasez de literatura que integre la relación entre el liderazgo auténtico, civilidad y el burnout en una amplia gama de grupos ocupacionales en el sector de la salud. Además, el modelo de investigación no se ha presentado previamente al considerar el papel mediador de la civilidad en la relación entre el liderazgo auténtico y el burnout.

O presente estudo propõe um modelo para análise da relação entre liderança autêntica, civilidade e burnout entre profissionais de saúde. O modelo propõe civilidade como mediadora na relação entre liderança autêntica e burnout.

Os dados foram recolhidos de 360 (com taxa de resposta de 72%) funcionários registados do sistema de saúde em dois centros hospitalares de Lisboa, Portugal. A amostra foi predominantemente feminina (79,4%). Os instrumentos usados para medir as variáveis foram Authentic Leadership Inventory, Escala de Civilidade no Trabalho e Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. O modelo proposto foi testado fazendo uso da macro Hayes PROCESS para análise de mediação no SPSS.

Os resultados sugerem que a liderança autêntica tem um efeito positivo direto na civilidade, além do efeito negativo no burnout. Adicionalmente, verificou-se um efeito mediador da variável civilidade nas variáveis liderança autêntica e burnout.

Este estudo pode ser útil a administradores hospitalares e gestores no sector da saúde em geral, sublinhando a importância da liderança autêntica e civilidade na prevenção dos efeitos prejudiciais do burnout em profissionais de saúde.

Considerando que a literatura prevalente sobre liderança autêntica foca maioritariamente enfermeiros, existe uma escassez de estudos que integram liderança autêntica, civilidade e burnout num amplo espetro de grupos profissionais no setor da saúde. Adicionalmente, o modelo de investigação considerando o papel mediador da civilidade na relação entre liderança autêntica e burnout não foi introduzido.

While diversification within organisations is seen by many to be a strategic move, there is conflicting evidence about what makes diverse teams successful. The purpose of this paper is to highlight a range of complex, and in some cases contradictory, research contributions towards several key areas of diversity within teams, and to propose a framework for integrating existing approaches and clarifying inconsistencies in this domain.

A literature review was conducted to explore several key areas of surface and deep-level diversity in teams, with the discussion included in this paper highlighting many of the inconsistencies and complexities associated with this research domain.

This review highlights the need for future research to look at the effects of surface and deep-level diversity simultaneously, over time, across multiple levels and with a broad range of contextual moderators, to examine their impact on a range of outcomes.

In order to account for the complexities within diversity research, the authors propose the use of the job demands-resources (JDR) model which suggests possible explanations for inconsistent findings and bridges the gap between commonly used theoretical perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consequences of experiencing social isolation in a context of dirty work. Relying on an integration of the job demands-resources model (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004) with the social identity approach (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999), the paper posits that perceived social isolation prevents the development of defense mechanisms that could counter the occupational stigma, and thus tends to increase perceptions of stigmatization, and to decrease perceptions of the prosocial impact of their work. Through these two perceptions, perceived social isolation indirectly affects emotional exhaustion and work engagement.

Research hypotheses are tested among a sample of 195 workers in the commercial cleaning industry who execute physically tainted tasks.

Results support the research model. Perceived prosocial impact mediates the negative relationship between perceived social isolation and work engagement, and perceived stigmatization mediates the positive relationship between perceived social isolation and emotional exhaustion.

This research contributes to the dirty work literature by empirically examining one of its implicit assumptions, namely, that social isolation prevents the development of coping strategies. It also contributes to the literature on well-being and work engagement by demonstrating how they are affected by the social context of work.

The present paper is the first to study the specific challenges of social isolation in dirty work occupations and its consequences.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the innovative application of an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach for the design and implementation of organizational stress management interventions, alongside a case study of the successful design and implementation of the approach. By utilizing the AI methodology to develop a “local stress theory” for the participating organization, the authors propose a model which can be utilized in other similar organizations.

Stage 1: 35 participants completed up to ten daily logs by answering four positively framed questions regarding their working day. Stage 2: semi-structured interviews (n=13). The interview schedule was designed to further elaborate log findings, and begin looking into feasible organizational changes for improvement of stress. Stage 3: two focus groups (Stage 3, total 13 employees) verified interventions from logs and interviews and discuss how these can be implemented.

The log phase identified two key themes for improvement: managerial/organizational support and communication. From these, interviews and focus groups led to workable proposals for simple but likely effective changes. The authors reported findings to management, emphasizing organizational change implementation, and these were subsequently implemented.

The study demonstrated the effectiveness of AI to identify and implement relatively simple but meaningful changes. The AI cycle was completed but allocating lengthy follow-up time for evaluation of outcomes was not possible, although initial responses were favorable. There are also issues of generalizability of the findings.

This is the among first studies to utilize an AI approach for the design of stress management interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between job demands and job search behavior. The study also explores the moderating role of worker cooperatives in the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. There is little extant research on the relationships of job demands with employee behaviors, and the roles of worker cooperatives in those relationships.

Using the multi-level moderated mediation model, this study analyzed surveys conducted in capitalist firms and worker cooperatives in the metropolitan area of Seoul in 2016.

This study provided evidence that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between job demands and job search behavior in the total sample. The findings revealed that worker cooperatives moderated the relationship between job demands and organizational commitment. In other words, while the negative relationship between job demands and organizational commitment was significant in capitalist firms, it was not maintained in worker cooperatives.

This study provides implications on how job demands are related to job search behavior, and how worker cooperatives may alleviate the adverse effects of job demands on employee attitudes and behaviors. A potential limitation of the present study is that individual-level variables were measured by self-reports.

While previous studies on the JDR model have examined the interaction between job demands and individual levels of resources, the current study investigated the interaction between job demands and organizational levels of resources.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a buffer to job stressors on employee adjustment.

Based on the job demands resources model, this study examined 306 nurses in the healthcare sector to test a model of job stressors, EI, and their interactions nursing adjustment outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and psychological health). The hypothesized model predicted that higher trait EI would act as a buffer to the potential negative effects of stressors on employee adjustment. Two-way moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses was used to test the model in addition to interaction effects.

The results of this study revealed mixed results in terms of the expected main effects of EI and the five significant moderating effects. While some interactions support a buffering hypothesis; contrary to expectations, a buffering effect was also found for those with low EI.

The findings enable a better understanding how EI moderates the effects of stressors on important work outcomes in healthcare. Additionally, the implications from this study allows healthcare administrators and managers to improve staffing and work outcomes through identifying and selecting staff who are characterized by higher trait EI or alternatively, train staff in self-awareness and dealing with emotional behaviors.

HR managers could focus on selecting staff, who possessed higher trait EI for roles where overload and ambiguity are endemic to the job performed. Training could also be used to enhance EI among managers to focus on self-awareness and dealing with emotional behaviors.

This study makes several contributions to understanding how EI moderates the relationships between work stressors and workplace adjustment and wellbeing.

Due to the fact that most employees have been forced to work remotely during the lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is great concern about how to alleviate increased stress among employees through human resource (HR) practices. Drawing upon the job demands-control (JDC) model and the job demands-resources (JDR) model, this study empirically investigated the direct effect of HR practices on employee stress in enforced remote work and the mediating role of sources of stress (SoS) and sense of control (SoC).

Data were collected through an online survey platform called Wenjuanxing from March 15 to 22, 2020 in Hubei, China and from April 22 to 29, 2022 in Shanghai, China. Respondents scanned the QR code on WeChat to enter the platform. A total of 511 valid questionnaires were received with a response rate of 75.4%. After controlling demographic variables, the authors used the mediation modeling and PROCESS tool to test the proposed hypotheses.

HR practices negatively affect stress in enforced remote work among employees. Both SoS and SoC partially mediate the relationship between HR practices and stress. HR practices can alleviate stress via decreasing SoS and enhancing SoC, respectively. Moreover, employee care and training are found to be two key factors of HR practices to help employees alleviate stress in enforced remote work.

Lockdown as an extreme external condition has brought great challenges in employee work arrangement as well as HR practices. Although the relationship between HR practices and job stress was studied previously, there is a lack of research on the effects of HR practices on stress in enforced remote work due to lockdown. It advances knowledge on HR practices' stress-reducing effect in the context of remote work and provides suggestions for HR practitioners on ways of alleviating employee stress in remote work.