{"title":"From burden to thriving: Challenge appraisals as a buffer between family eldercare burden and employee thriving at work.","authors":"Yisheng Peng, Yujie Zhan, Wenqin Zhang","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000438","DOIUrl":"10.1037/ocp0000438","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Providing care for older family members (e.g., parents or relatives) and fulfilling one's work responsibilities, known as family eldercare, is becoming increasingly common due to the growing population of older adults in many societies. A burgeoning literature has begun investigating the negative spillover effects of eldercare burden on employees' experiences and performance at work. In particular, scholars have called for more attention to identifying effective strategies for coping with eldercare burden and mitigating its negative impact. The present research examined whether challenge appraisals of eldercare could mitigate the effect of eldercare burden on employees' positive affect, which, in turn, was related to their sense of thriving at work. In two studies-an experiment and a 2-week experience sampling study-we found that challenge appraisals weakened the relationship between eldercare burden and employees' positive affect. Employees' challenge appraisals also weakened the indirect relationship between eldercare burden and thriving at work through positive affect. This research demonstrates that employees' eldercare burden negatively spills over into the work domain. However, challenge appraisals of eldercare can buffer this spillover process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"345-363"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148254319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Who benefits from autonomy? Action-state orientation moderates the effect of autonomy need satisfaction at work on employee well-being.","authors":"Sofia Maria Hohmann, Nicola Baumann","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000436","DOIUrl":"10.1037/ocp0000436","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Autonomy need satisfaction at work does not influence every employee equally. In the present research, we investigate how the personality disposition of action-state orientation influences who benefits from autonomy need satisfaction at work. Thus, our approach integrates self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and personality systems interactions theory (Kuhl, 2001). We argue that high autonomy need satisfaction at work facilitates access to the integrated self. Action-oriented employees can easily draw on their integrated self, and thus their self-regulatory abilities, during stressful work situations, whereas state-oriented employees struggle to do so under work stress. Therefore, we expect state-oriented employees to benefit more strongly from autonomy need satisfaction at work as a resource than action-oriented employees. We conducted two studies. In Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 142), we tested our hypotheses using a correlational design, and in Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 130), we experimentally induced low versus high autonomy need satisfaction using certain job autonomy conditions. Both studies confirmed that practitioners should not assume all employees benefit equally from autonomy need satisfaction since personality matters. State-oriented employees seem to generally benefit from high levels of autonomy need satisfaction at work across contexts, whereas action-oriented employees appear to benefit most from autonomy need satisfaction at work when facing specific situational stressors that require them to unfold their self-regulatory abilities. We discuss these differences, future research directions, and practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"400-414"},"PeriodicalIF":6.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148139482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
David Holman,Hend Gabr,Walaa Saad ElKhalifa,Anthony Rafferty
{"title":"The complex effects of job complexity: A meta-analysis of job complexity and employee outcomes.","authors":"David Holman,Hend Gabr,Walaa Saad ElKhalifa,Anthony Rafferty","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000439","url":null,"abstract":"Job complexity has been identified as an important characteristic of work due to its potential to impact a wide range of employee outcomes. However, the literature on job complexity is theoretically fragmented and empirically inconclusive. We therefore conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize and extend our understanding of the relationship between job complexity and employee outcomes. We develop and test a model of job complexity that proposes three types of job complexity (job resource-complexity, job challenge-complexity, and job hindrance-complexity) and that each has a distinct pattern of effects on employee outcomes. Based on 71 studies (k = 121 effect sizes), analysis confirmed job resource-complexity to be positively associated with task performance, learning, and well-being and negatively associated with job strain, whereas job challenge-complexity was positively associated with task performance, learning, well-being, and job strain. A lack of data precluded analysis of job hindrance-complexity. Our study advances theoretical understanding of job complexity, provides the first empirical synthesis of different types of job complexity and employee outcomes, and shows that the effects of job complexity differ according to the type of job complexity. The article concludes by drawing out implications for theory, empirical research, and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148565026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jesse S Michel,Kendall McGoey,Nicole V Shifrin,Faith A Shannon,Lauren E Postier,Julia R Barrett,Joseph R Himmler,Lucia Hardin
{"title":"Reducing the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure: Development and validation of nine-item and three-item short forms.","authors":"Jesse S Michel,Kendall McGoey,Nicole V Shifrin,Faith A Shannon,Lauren E Postier,Julia R Barrett,Joseph R Himmler,Lucia Hardin","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000442","url":null,"abstract":"Job-related burnout is a central concern in occupational health psychology, yet practical constraints often limit the use of comprehensive measures. The 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM-14) is widely used and grounded in a three-facet symptom framework consisting of physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion, but its length can be prohibitive in multiconstruct surveys and repeated-measures research. Across nine samples organized into four phases, we developed a nine-item short form (SMBM-9; three items per facet) and a three-item ultra-brief form (SMBM-3; one item per facet). Item reduction and structural results supported the intended three-facet structure of the SMBM-9 and the selection of a one-item-per-facet SMBM-3 composite. Internal consistency estimates were high for the SMBM-9 and lower, as expected, for the SMBM-3; both forms nevertheless showed high convergence with the SMBM-14 and established burnout measures. Across cross-sectional, panel, and daily diary designs, the brief forms reproduced the expected pattern of associations with work stressors, affective and distress-related constructs, and work and health outcomes, with the SMBM-9 tracking the SMBM-14 closely and the SMBM-3 showing modest differences consistent with its brevity. Additional longitudinal and within-person findings supported the usefulness of the brief forms in repeated-measures contexts, including high convergence with the SMBM-14 and similar relations with day-level work demands. These findings support the SMBM-9 as the preferred brief substitute when researchers want balanced coverage of the SMBM-14 facets, whereas the SMBM-3 is likely to be the more useful option when brevity itself is the primary objective and assessment space is severely constrained. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148565030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supplemental Material for When Breastfeeding Meets Work: Impact of Daily Action Regulation at the Breastfeeding–Work Interface Among Breastfeeding Working Mothers","authors":"","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000441.supp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000441.supp","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148589113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supplemental Material for Moderating Role of Occupational Context in the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Burnout Syndrome: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Meta-Analytic Review","authors":"","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000440.supp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000440.supp","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"151 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148476020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Khalid M Alameer,Sjir Uitdewilligen,Ute R Hülsheger
{"title":"Reciprocal relations of recovery activities and employee well-being: A shortitudinal study using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model.","authors":"Khalid M Alameer,Sjir Uitdewilligen,Ute R Hülsheger","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000437","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000437","url":null,"abstract":"The present study builds on conservation of resources theory and the concept of the recovery paradox (Hobfoll, 1989; Sonnentag, 2018) and responds to repeated calls to (a) study recovery processes over midterm time frames of weeks and (b) investigate directions of effects in recovery-well-being relations. Doing so, we employed the recovery activity characteristics approach, a dimensional framework for examining the underlying attributes of recovery activities (physical, social, creative, mental, spiritual, virtual, and outdoor dimensions) and examined the reciprocal lagged relationships between recovery activities and two indicators of employee well-being-emotional exhaustion and work engagement. We use preregistered data from 333 participants answering weekly surveys over an 8-week period to explore how recovery dimensions influence and are influenced by emotional exhaustion and work engagement using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Across dimensions, we found little evidence for consistent week-to-week lagged effects between recovery activities and well-being in either direction. One association indicated that higher-than-usual engagement in creative activities was followed by higher work engagement the subsequent week; however, given the number of statistical tests conducted, this finding may reflect a chance result and therefore requires independent replication. Overall, the findings suggest that recovery processes may be temporally bounded, with limited support for delayed within-person carryover effects across working weeks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148388778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The outcomes of illegitimate tasks at work: A meta-analysis.","authors":"Chenyang Li,Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000435","url":null,"abstract":"Illegitimate tasks have garnered significant scholarly interest over the past decade, establishing such tasks as a key concept in stress research. Despite this, there has been no comprehensive quantitative systematic review to synthesize existing research findings. Addressing this gap, our meta-analysis (k = 141; N = 65,124) quantitatively examines the consequences of illegitimate tasks across three domains: attitudinal (affective commitment, job satisfaction, work engagement, and turnover intentions), well-being (negative affect, burnout, and work-family conflict), and behavioral (job performance, innovative behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, and work withdrawal behavior). We also compare the relationships between the two dimensions of illegitimate tasks-unreasonable tasks and unnecessary tasks-and related outcomes to assess their differential predictive validity. Furthermore, we investigate the potential moderating effects of sociodemographic factors (power distance and age) and methodological factors (rating source and measurement time lag). In light of the findings, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148313846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jessi Mariah Rivin,Russell Cropanzano,H Phoenix Van Wagoner
{"title":"How curiosity mitigates mental health challenges in organizations.","authors":"Jessi Mariah Rivin,Russell Cropanzano,H Phoenix Van Wagoner","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000434","url":null,"abstract":"Employee mental health is an urgent concern for contemporary organizations, with anxiety and depression increasingly affecting workplace functioning. Yet managers often struggle to support employees facing mental health challenges. Drawing on affective neuroscience theory, which highlights the emotion systems involved in anxiety and depression, we explore how individual differences in affective dispositions influence emotion regulation at work. Specifically, we examine how curiosity, a momentary activation of the SEEKING system, can mitigate employee mental health challenges. Across two experience sampling methodology studies conducted during and after the pandemic, we explore how state experiences of interest relate to employees' emotional states and workplace functioning. Our investigation considers how trait predispositions interact with situational factors to influence the regulation of anxiety and depression, and how transient activation of curiosity may shape broader work attitudes. By framing curiosity as a biologically grounded, situationally sensitive mechanism, this research extends affective neuroscience theory to organizational contexts and highlights the dynamic interplay between individual differences, momentary emotional experiences, and workplace outcomes. Practically, fostering curiosity through autonomy, novelty, psychological safety, and opportunities for exploration may offer organizations a nonstigmatizing, evidence-based approach to support employee well-being and adaptive performance, complementing traditional interventions for mental health in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148299276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isaac Alshaikh, Shane Hayden-Smyth, Wladislaw Rivkin, Jakob Stollberger, Stefan Diestel, Karin S. Moser
{"title":"Are you in the zone when working from home? How remote workers’ daily flow experiences promote daily functioning and well-being through reduced work–home interruption behaviors.","authors":"Isaac Alshaikh, Shane Hayden-Smyth, Wladislaw Rivkin, Jakob Stollberger, Stefan Diestel, Karin S. Moser","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000429","url":null,"abstract":"The surge in telework after the COVID-19 pandemic has raised debates between employers and employees about how teleworkers can balance flexibility and productivity while working remotely. Our study examines how flow experiences as a volatile personal resource can facilitate teleworkers' functioning and well-being at work and at home through effortless self-regulation. Drawing on the work-home resources model, we argue that daily flow experiences promote teleworkers' work domain functioning (e.g., work engagement and need for recovery) and home domain well-being (e.g., subjective vitality and regulatory resource depletion) through reducing work-home interruption behaviors. Furthermore, we propose that states of high daily morning mindfulness act as another volatile personal resource that can support teleworkers' functioning and well-being on days with lower levels of flow experiences by attenuating the daily relationship between flow experiences and work-home interruption behaviors. Results from an experience sampling study with teleworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 87 individuals across N = 607 days) support our hypotheses that reduced work-home interruption behaviors mediate the daily relationships between daily flow experiences and work engagement, need for recovery, subjective vitality, and regulatory resource depletion. Our results further highlight that these indirect relationships became weaker on days when teleworkers experience higher, as compared to lower, mindfulness in the morning. Thus, on days with lower levels of flow experiences, mindfulness can be an effective way to facilitate functioning and well-being across domains. Our findings offer theoretical insights and practical implications by revealing how teleworkers can remain both productive and healthy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":"128 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147667113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}