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Work–family conflict (WFC) is rife among construction professionals, leading to a significant negative impact on their work engagement. Building on an extant body of research, this study provides nuanced insights into the link between WFC, work–life balance (WLB) and work engagement and identifies the boundary conditions of these relationships.

Data were collected from 257 dyads of construction professionals and their immediate supervisors from a sample of five construction firms based in India using an online survey.

The results found that WLB mediates the relationship between WFC and work engagement, and the relationship is controlled by professionals' gender and perceptions of psychological contract breach (PCB). An important finding is that PCB accentuates the negative influence of WFC on work engagement via WLB. The study also reveals that the negative impact of WFC on WLB is stronger for women.

The findings are relevant for construction firms since they are primarily dominated by men and continue to struggle to attract more women professionals. The study insights provide avenues to expand existing research on the relationship between WFC and work engagement and offer managerial implications for improving construction professionals' work engagement in the high-pressure context of the construction industry.

The study significantly advances the underdeveloped literature on work–family interface, especially in the unique work settings of the construction industry, by establishing WFC as a predictor and revealing how engagement at work is affected. It highlights the importance of boundary conditions such as gender and PCB. It is one of the first to assess the relationship between WFC, WLB, PCB and work engagement among construction professionals in India.

The aim of this study is to identify the association between leadership styles (LS) and employee commitment(EC) among employees working in the mechanical manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mediated by job satisfaction.

The research is cross-sectional and the survey method was used, and Pearson correlation analyses, regression analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to examine the hypothesis. A sample of 911 responses was collected from 102 mechanical manufacturing SMEs in and around Bangalore, India.

EC depends on the age, the experience of employees, LS of the superior and job satisfaction of employees who are working in the mechanical manufacturing SMEs. The research found out that job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between LS and EC.

The study is cross-sectional in nature; it measures and quantifies the different variables at a single point period; therefore, the research does not offer outcomes over a long period.

To enhance the commitment of employees working in the mechanical manufacturing SMEs, managers/superiors should make an effort to exhibit a holistic view of LS that enhances job satisfaction and improves the pleasant relationship in the work environment.

In the competitive business environment retaining skilled and talented employees is the major challenge for the organization. Many research studies explored that committed employees will retain in the organization for a long tenure. Thus, our study contributes to the body of the literature on predictors of EC. It is noted that the involvement of employees by the leaders during the decision-making process, creates an effective working ambience for the employees and establishes a pleasant relationship among employees. The leader will motivate the employees to work efficiently and effectively, in addition to that they motivate employees to continue working with the same organization. Hence there is a need for the mechanical manufacturing firms to design and implement strategies of motivating employees to remain in the organization. Our study was cross-sectional in nature; it measures and quantifies the different variables at a single point period; therefore, research does not offer outcomes over a long period. Hence a longitudinal study over some time gives more accurate outcomes, and it is more appropriate. This study focused on employees working in the mechanical manufacturing firms, in and around Bangalore, India; therefore, findings cannot be generalized to all employees of the mechanical manufacturing firms.

This research contributes to the existing literature by exploring further evidence and support for the relationship between LS and EC in mechanical manufacturing SMEs. And research also reveals that job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between the LS and EC in mechanical manufacturing SMEs.

This study aims to explore the gender differences in working from home (WFH) experiences during the pandemic from the Australia’s construction workforce perspective. Specifically, it explores gender differences in terms of: (1) the respondents’ family responsibilities during the pandemic; (2) their WFH experiences prior to and during the pandemic; and (3) their perceptions of the impacts of challenges associated with WFH on their work activities and performance along with their self-reported work performance when WFH, overall satisfaction with WFH and preference for WFH post-COVID.

This study adopted a survey design to reach the targeted sample population, i.e. construction workforce in the Australian construction industry who has had experienced WFH during the pandemic. Data was collected using an online anonymous questionnaire survey.

The results show notable gender differences in various aspects including family responsibilities, workplace arrangements and perceptions of the impacts of the challenges associated with WFH on work activities and performance. Also, statistically significant associations are detected between gender and the respondents’ self-reported work performance when WFH, overall satisfaction with WFH and preference for WFH post-COVID.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about WFH experiences among construction workforce due to the low prevalence of regular and planned remote working in the industry. This is the first study sheds light on construction workforce WFH experiences using gender lenses. The findings have implications for construction-related firms continuing with WFH arrangement post the pandemic, which may include the formulation of policy responses to re-optimize their present WFH practices.

The aim of this article is to empirically investigate the effect of co-worker support on communities of practice with a sequential mediating effect of concern for team members and preference for teamwork.

The data of 216 were gathered from respondents employed as full-time personnel in public and private sector organizations in India using a survey questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis, structured equation modelling and regression analysis were applied to test the formulated hypothesis. Hayes PROCESS macro model was also used to estimate the indirect effects with bootstrap resamples.

The study's findings revealed the mediating effect of concern for team members and preference for teamwork on the relationship between co-worker support and communities of practice in a sequential manner. The total and direct consequence of co-worker support on communities of practice was also substantial.

This article offers an understanding of the process through which co-worker support is related to communities of practice. This study is the first of its type, basically in the Indian context to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

This study aims to examine if relational attachment could be considered as a mediator in the relationship between social support and career regret. The theoretical framework is based on Kahn’s (2007) work on meaningful connections.

The authors used a three-part survey for data collection, spread over two months from 368 employees for co-worker social support and 324 employees for supervisor social support working in different sectors in India.

The results indicate that for co-workers, relational attachment acts as a mediator between instrumental support and career regret; but for personal support, the mediation effect is absent. However, instrumental support is not directly related to career regret. Notably, in case of social support from the supervisor, there does not seem to be any mediation effect for personal or instrumental support. But social support is related to career regret for both categories of support.

The authors contribute to literature that examines the mechanism, driving social support and career regret. By understanding how these factors interact and impact one another, researchers can develop interventions and strategies to help individuals navigate career decisions, improve their personal relationships and increase their access to social support. Ultimately, this research can lead to improved well-being and career satisfaction for individuals. As the sample is generalized, there is scope to examine if the relationships differ based on the work structures and idiosyncrasies of the industries.

This study examines the unmapped mechanism that mediates the social support and career regret relationship, and in the process, provides new directions for research.

Given inconsistent results in prior studies, this paper applies the dual process theory to investigate what social media messages yield audience engagement during a political event. It tests how affective cues (emotional valence, intensity and collective self-representation) and cognitive cues (insight, causation, certainty and discrepancy) contribute to public engagement.

The authors created a dataset of more than three million tweets during the 2020 United States (US) presidential elections. Affective and cognitive cues were assessed via sentiment analysis. The hypotheses were tested in negative binomial regressions. The authors also scrutinized a subsample of far-famed Twitter users. The final dataset, scraping code, preprocessing and analysis are available in an open repository.

The authors found the prominence of both affective and cognitive cues. For the overall sample, negativity bias was registered, and the tweet’s emotionality was negatively related to engagement. In contrast, in the sub-sample of tweets from famous users, emotionally charged content produced higher engagement. The role of sentiment decreases when the number of followers grows and ultimately becomes insignificant for Twitter participants with many followers. Collective self-representation (“we-talk”) is consistently associated with more likes, comments and retweets in the overall sample and subsamples.

The authors expand the dominating one-sided perspective to social media message processing focused on the peripheral route and hence affective cues. Leaning on the dual process theory, the authors shed light on the effectiveness of both affective (peripheral route) and cognitive (central route) cues on information appeal and dissemination on Twitter during a political event. The popularity of the tweet’s author moderates these relationships.

A significant increase in financial crime globally emphasises the importance of forensic interviewing to obtain useful and reliable information as part of a commercial forensic investigation. Previous research has identified two interviewing strategies that are aligned with the legal framework in South Africa: the PEACE model (P = preparation and planning; E = engage and explain; A = account, clarify and challenge; C = closure; E = evaluation) and the person-centred approach (PCA). The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical underpinnings and application of the PEACE model and the PCA as commercial investigative strategies aligned with the legal context in South Africa.

A scoping review was undertaken to identify literature relevant to the theoretical assumptions and application of the PEACE model and the PCA.

Literature for the most part reports on the PEACE model but offers very little information about the PCA. A critical analysis revealed that the PEACE model incorporates a clear guiding structure for eliciting information but lacks content needed to create an optimal interpersonal context. To promote this, the PCA proposes that interviewers demonstrate three relational variables: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. The PCA suggests a basic structure for interviewing (beginning, middle and end), while providing very little guidance on how to structure the forensic interview and what information is to be elicited in each phase.

Combining the PEACE model and PCA presents an integrated interviewing technique best suited for obtaining useful and reliable information admissible in a South African court of law. The PEACE model has a clear structure, and the PCA assists in creating an optimal interpersonal context to obtain information in an interview.