Please wait until I am done! Longitudinal effects of work interruptions on employee well-being

Abstract

Work interruptions are contemporary job stressors that occur frequently in the workplace. Theories on work interruptions and the stressor-strain relationship over time suggest that work interruptions should have a lagged negative effect on well-being. However, we argue that continued changes in work interruptions may also be important for employees' well-being. We investigated the mid-and long-term effects of work interruptions on employee job satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints across two studies (Study 1: N = 415, four waves over five years; Study 2: N = 663, five waves over eight months). Using latent growth modelling, we predicted job satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints with respect to the level of, and changes in, interruptions. Controlling for initial well-being, we found that the mean levels (intercepts) of work interruptions had negative effects on later well-being in Study 1, but not in Study 2. However, increases in interruptions over time (slopes) predicted later well-being consistently. An analysis on reversed effects revealed that only the initial level of psychosomatic complaints positively predicted work interruptions. The studies underscore not only the importance of interruptions for well-being over time in general, but also the particular importance of exposure to increases in interruptions.

Activity-based flexible offices: effects on work-related outcomes in a longitudinal study

“…Research so far has shown that distractions negatively affect performance as indicated by more forgetting intentions (Baethge and Rigotti 2013;Einstein et al 2003), lengthening task times (Bailey and Konstan 2006;Eyrolle and Cellier 2000), increasing errors (Bailey and Konstan 2006;Oulasvirta and Saariluoma (Oulasvirta and Saariluoma, 2004) and decreasing performance satisfaction in general (Baethge and Rigotti 2013;Pachler et al 2018). Moreover, there is evidence that distractions negatively affect concentration and satisfaction with the work environment (Banbury and Berry 2005;Lee and Brand 2005); are linked with greater irritation (Baethge and Rigotti 2013;Grebner et al 2003), negative emotions (Zijlstra et al 1999), somatic complaints (Grebner et al 2003;Lin, Kain, and Fritz 2013;Keller et al 2020), emotional exhaustion (Lin, Kain, and Fritz 2013;Pachler et al 2018;Rogers and Barber 2019), disengagement and work tension (Rogers and Barber 2019), anxiety (Lin, Kain, and Fritz 2013), and lower job satisfaction (Keller et al 2020).…”

“…Apparent from this summary is that most studies about distraction and well-being focus on the affective aspect of well-being. Aside from Rogers and Barber (2019) who focussed on disengagement and Keller et al (2020) who looked at work satisfaction, studies that explored whether distractions affect motivation or job satisfaction are scarce. Moreover, as Keller et al (2020) argue, most of the research on work interruptions has been either cross-sectional or experimental.…”

“…Aside from Rogers and Barber (2019) who focussed on disengagement and Keller et al (2020) who looked at work satisfaction, studies that explored whether distractions affect motivation or job satisfaction are scarce. Moreover, as Keller et al (2020) argue, most of the research on work interruptions has been either cross-sectional or experimental. Apart from Keller et al (2020), no other study has focussed on longitudinally studying how changes in distractions affect employees' well-being.…”

“…Moreover, as Keller et al (2020) argue, most of the research on work interruptions has been either cross-sectional or experimental. Apart from Keller et al (2020), no other study has focussed on longitudinally studying how changes in distractions affect employees' well-being. The results of their study showed that not only are interruptions per se harmful for well-being over time but that increases in interruptions also deteriorate health and well-beingeven to a greater extent than constantly high levels of interruptions (Keller et al 2020).…”

“…Moreover, studies that explored interruptions and distractions before and after relocating to new flexible offices revealed either an increase, no change, or even a decrease in interruptions and distractions (Brennan, Chugh, and Kline 2002;Berthelsen, Muhonen, and Toivanen 2018;Gerdenitsch, Korunka, and Hertel 2018;Rolf€ o 2018). Therefore, more research is needed to clarify these inconsistent findings, especially considering the growing evidence about the negative effects of work interruptions on workers' wellbeing and performance (Baethge, Rigotti, and Roe 2015;Keller et al 2020).…”