Abstract. Leaders working part time struggle with a lack of respect and acceptance from their subordinates and their management colleagues. Leadership as a part-time role does not match the traditional expectation of leaders being omnipresent and always responsive (Jochmann-Döhl, 2017). Although leaders working part time (LPT) are supported by subordinates and colleagues, their supportive behavior is often coupled with accusations that work-related problems occur only because the leader is working part time. According to the stress-as-offense-to-self theory (SOS, Semmer et al., 2007 ; Semmer et al., 2019 ), such dysfunctional supportive behavior triggers threats by offending the need for belonging. This study serves to strengthen SOS theory and extend its application beyond stress research by investigating the effects of LPT threat experiences on rumination, LPT job satisfaction, and role identification. Further, it empirically confirms the need-based threat mechanism. Results based on an online questionnaire ( N = 101 LPT) show that dysfunctional support by subordinates and management colleagues relates to a feeling of exclusion by significant others as an indicator of an offended need for belonging. Furthermore, the results indicate that the feeling of exclusion mediates the relationship between dysfunctional support and role identification and between dysfunctional support and LPT job satisfaction. No mediation effect was found for rumination. In addition to providing a theoretically differentiated understanding and prediction of threats, the study includes important practical starting points for the risk management of LPT.

Emergency teams facing critical adversity situations (CAS) often feel questioned in their professional roles as conscientious rescuers, leading to feelings of threats as a kind of stress experience. According to the stress-as-offence-to-self theory, perceptions of insufficiency and disrespect trigger threats by frustrating underlying needs. In this study, we explored threats in the context of a CAS by investigating the activation of threat triggers during the action and postaction phases of teamwork, and evaluating the mediating role of needs. In a multitask experiment, student teams (N = 60 dyads) experienced a controllable mission (non-CAS), followed by a CAS mission in a computer simulation task. After the CAS, teams received negative feedback (situation-nonspecific feedback; situation-specific feedback; no feedback). We measured threats, the activation of insufficiency and disrespect triggers, and the frustration of needs. While insufficiency triggers were activated in the CAS but not in the non-CAS, disrespect triggers were activated by situation-nonspecific and situation-specific feedback but not by no feedback. Furthermore, the results of mediation models indicated the presence of the postulated need-based mechanism between triggers and threats. Our study highlights that the action and postaction phases of a CAS pose a variety of risks for experiencing threats. As individuals cope with these risks, needs are important mediators.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt change from in-person to online teaching in higher education, resulting in increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) and students’ stress and uncertainty. Integrating theories of human motivation, stress, and humane work design, we investigated whether different types of action regulation hindrances (ARH) pertaining to human (ICT competence deficits), technology (technical problems), interaction (coordination difficulties), and task aspects (work overload) related to technostress (H1). Furthermore, we examined if this relationship was mediated by satisfaction of the basic human needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness (H2). Our analysis of causes and mechanisms of technostress is based on cross-sectional survey data (self-report) from 205 psychology students attending an organizational psychology class that was switched from an in-person to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modeling revealed that different types of ARH (i.e., ICT competence deficits, technical problems, coordination difficulties, work overload) positively predicted technostress (β  =  .17 to β  =  .42, p < .05). The effects were (partially) mediated by satisfaction of the need for autonomy (β  =  .11 to β  =  .15, p < .05), for all ARH except technical problems (β  =  .01, p  =  .86). We discuss implications for online course planning, technostress prevention as well as potential interventions beyond pandemic times.