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Preparing for the workday: The effects of pre-work strategies on psychological engagement and well-being

Nolan, Megan Theresa
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1578075620130347

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Psychology-Industrial/Organizational.
Recent research on reattachment (i.e., rebuilding a mental connection to work before starting work) has begun to provide evidence that individuals use specific strategies to facilitate the reconnection between life domains. The current study argues that reattachment is just one of several “pre-work” strategies that individuals can adopt to ease the transition between home and work domains and enhance their daily experiences. Pre-work is defined as active daily preparation for a given workday in which individuals bring their attention back to work, mobilize their energy, and/or reflect on the reasons they work. In addition to reattachment, individuals may use energy mobilization strategies to increase their sense of feeling energized and positive about work or positive reflection strategies to increase their sense of feeling autonomously motivated and emotionally connected with their work. The current study developed a psychometrically sound pre-work scale to accurately and reliably assess three distinct pre-work strategies and found support for a three-factor structure. In a second study, experience sampling methods were employed to examine how cognitive, physical, and emotional engagement translate pre-work strategies into satisfaction and emotional exhaustion during the day. Additionally, two variables—employee resilience and perceived supervisor support—were examined as cross‐level moderators of these relations. Daily-survey data was collected from 114 employees (total of 936 days) and analyzed with multilevel path analysis. Results suggest that day-level cognitive reattachment predicted cognitive and physical engagement, energy mobilization predicted cognitive engagement, and positive-reflection predicted emotional engagement. Cognitive engagement, in turn, predicted emotional exhaustion, and emotional engagement predicted both job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the relation between positive reflection and emotional engagement was strengthened at high levels of perceived supervisor support. The current study highlights the important role of a variety of pre-work strategies that employees can adopt to ease the transition between life domains and enhance their daily experiences.
James Diefendorff (Advisor)
Dennis Doverspike (Committee Member)
Paul Levy (Committee Member)
Erin Makarius (Committee Member)
Amanda Thayer (Committee Member)
197 p.
Organizational Behavior

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nolan, M. T. (2019). Preparing for the workday: The effects of pre-work strategies on psychological engagement and well-being [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1578075620130347

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nolan, Megan. Preparing for the workday: The effects of pre-work strategies on psychological engagement and well-being . 2019. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1578075620130347.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nolan, Megan. "Preparing for the workday: The effects of pre-work strategies on psychological engagement and well-being ." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1578075620130347

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1578075620130347
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.