ABSTRACT

A high workload has long been considered a harmful stressor that adversely affects employees. In the current study, we propose that work underload also has negative implications for employees, and that there is a curvilinear relationship between daily workload and rumination. These negative consequences can carry over to the next day. We collected data from a sample of 137 employees over the course of 9 days to examine how deviations from employees’ average workload impacts their negative rumination at the conclusion of the workday and their negative emotions the following morning. Results of the multilevel analyses indicated that daily workload had a significant curvilinear, J-shaped association with subsequent evening negative rumination that carries over into the following day in the form of higher negative emotions. These effects were stronger for employees with high levels of trait negative affectivity. Our findings suggest that while the effect of upward deviation from the typical workload is worse for employee rumination and subsequent negative emotions than the effect of downward deviation, deviations in either direction have negative effects on employees, especially for individuals with high levels of trait negative affectivity. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of examining daily fluctuation in workload.

摘要

长期以来，高工作量一直被认为是对员工产生不利影响的有害压力源。在目前的研究中，我们提出工作负荷过低也会对员工产生负面影响，并且日常工作量与反刍思维之间存在曲线关系。这些负面后果可能会延续到第二天。我们在 9 天内从 137 名员工的样本中收集了数据，以检查员工平均工作量的偏差如何影响他们在工作日结束时的负面反刍和第二天早上的负面情绪。多层次分析的结果表明，日常工作量呈明显的曲线J 形与随后的晚上负面反刍有关，这种反刍以更高的负面情绪形式延续到第二天。对于具有高水平特质消极情感的员工，这些影响更强。我们的研究结果表明，虽然向上偏离典型工作量对员工反刍和随后的负面情绪的影响比向下偏离的影响更严重，但任何一个方向的偏离都会对员工产生负面影响，尤其是对于具有高水平特质负面情感的个人. 总之，本研究强调了检查日常工作量波动的重要性。