Extending and intensifying work as mediators in the relationship between weekly time pressure and fatigue: The moderating role of perfectionism.

Abstract

Extending and intensifying work are two self-endangering work strategies that have been shown to impair employee health and well-being. In this study, we investigate with a weekly design the mediating effect of extending and intensifying work in the interplay of time pressure and fatigue. In addition, we explore the role of dispositional perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and concerns) in this relationship. A sample of 175 teachers responded to weekly surveys over 6 weeks. Multilevel moderated mediation models revealed that time pressure evokes fatigue on a weekly basis. This effect is mediated by weekly extending work, but not by weekly intensifying work. Teachers who rate high on dispositional perfectionistic concerns and strivings are more likely to engage in intensifying work on a weekly basis. In addition, those rating high on dispositional perfectionistic strivings are also more likely to extend their weekly working time. Interestingly, dispositional perfectionism does not affect teachers’ responses to time pressure. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

What if I like it? Daily appraisal of technology-assisted supplemental work events and its effects on psychological detachment and work engagement

“…Hence, different employees may understand work in the evening as working time vs. work during their off-job time. As a consequence, some participants may have experienced TASW events (e.g., they continued a work task in the evening) but answered "no" to the respective items because they understood them as work extension (Mullan and Wajcman, 2019;Hoppe et al, 2023). As the question of what counts as working time and what does not can differ more and more on an individual or even the day level, future studies could ask directly what participants consider to be their working time and what is work during off-job hours (i.e., TASW)-in general (e.g., during a baseline questionnaire) or on a daily basis (e.g., during every evening questionnaire).…”