A thematic analysis of how men and women post 56 years, unwind from work during their free time

BACKGROUND

Recent research indicates that as men age, their tendency to ruminate about work decreases, while ruminating remains high in women, which poses an increased risk for impaired health among older women.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored gender differences/similarities in the process of unwinding from work in men and women aged between 56-65 years.

METHODS

Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted online with eight men and eight women, recruited from a UK leading organization that provides health care solutions between May and June 2022. Participants were asked about their job role and responsibilities, their leisure time activities, how they unwind post work, and their experiences of thinking about work related thoughts outside of work. Transcripts were analyzed using an inductive analysis.

RESULTS

Three superordinate themes were identified that underpinned their ability to unwind: 'Work style', 'Creating work-life balance' and 'Switching off from one's responsibilities'. Women reported a more perfectionist approach, they set high standards for themselves, were worried about making mistakes, and demonstrated, if in a supervisory role, a more nurturing and holistic approach to their colleagues/subordinates, while men, were more focused on task completion. Most women, but not men, also described difficulties in psychologically switching off from work, and stated they could only truly relax outside the home, when they are away from household activities.

CONCLUSION

The study provides nuanced insights into the experiences of unwinding from work, and the findings suggest the need for person-centric approaches in developing interventions to help workers over 56 years to psychologically disengage from work.

Too Committed to Switch Off-Capturing and Organizing the Full Range of Work-Related Rumination from Detachment to Overcommitment

Work-related thoughts during off-job time have been studied extensively in occupational health psychology and related fields. We provide a focused review of the research on overcommitment-a component within the effort-reward imbalance model-and aim to connect this line of research to the most commonly studied aspects of work-related rumination. Drawing on this integrative review, we analyze survey data on ten facets of work-related rumination, namely (1) overcommitment, (2) psychological detachment, (3) affective rumination, (4) problem-solving pondering, (5) positive work reflection, (6) negative work reflection, (7) distraction, (8) cognitive irritation, (9) emotional irritation, and (10) inability to recover. First, we apply exploratory factor analysis to self-reported survey data from 357 employees to calibrate overcommitment items and to position overcommitment within the nomological net of work-related rumination constructs. Second, we apply confirmatory factor analysis to self-reported survey data from 388 employees to provide a more specific test of uniqueness vs. overlap among these constructs. Third, we apply relative weight analysis to assess the unique criterion-related validity of each work-related rumination facet regarding (1) physical fatigue, (2) cognitive fatigue, (3) emotional fatigue, (4) burnout, (5) psychosomatic complaints, and (6) satisfaction with life. Our results suggest that several measures of work-related rumination (e.g., overcommitment and cognitive irritation) can be used interchangeably. Emotional irritation and affective rumination emerge as the strongest unique predictors of fatigue, burnout, psychosomatic complaints, and satisfaction with life. Our study is intended to assist researchers in making informed decisions on selecting scales for their research and paves the way for integrating research on the effort-reward imbalance and work-related rumination.

Antecedents, outcomes and measurement of work related-cognition in non-work time: A multistudy report using the work-related rumination questionnaire in two languages

According to the perseverative cognition hypothesis, prolonged activation for example, via work-related rumination impairs recovery and thereby poses a risk to employee health. The extent to which gender, age, occupation or longitudinal stress exposure may alter work-related rumination is an ongoing debate. Whether group or longitudinal comparisons of work-related rumination are valid, however, has never been tested. In this multistudy report, we therefore investigated measurement invariance of the widely used Work-Related Rumination Questionnaire (WRRQ) across gender, age, occupation, and longitudinal measurements by performing secondary analyses of preexisting data on work-related rumination. We examined the psychometric properties of WRRQ measurements in two languages and expand knowledge about the nomological network of affective rumination, problem-solving pondering and detachment in relation to individual employee characteristics (e.g., personality, work engagement, commitment), job stressors (e.g., work intensity, decision latitude, social relations with colleagues and supervisors) and employee health outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, irritation, somatic symptoms). Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses showed partial scalar invariance of English and German WRRQ measurements and full scalar invariance across gender, age, occupation and over the period of 1 week (Study 1, n = 2,207). Correlation analyses supported criterion, convergent and discriminant validity of WRRQ measurements (Study 2, n = 4,002). These findings represent a prerequisite for comparisons of work-related cognition across groups and further the understanding of the antecedents and outcomes of different types of work-related cognition.

Emotional exhaustion and unhealthy eating among COVID-19 front-line healthcare workers during recuperation: A cross-sectional study

Objective

Thousands of healthcare workers on the frontlines who have been battling the COVID-19 pandemic could face emotional and mental health risks even after their critical pandemic work. This study examined the impact of affective rumination on emotional exhaustion and the spillover effect of affective rumination on unhealthy food consumption among healthcare workers during recuperation.

Methods

A total of 418 frontline healthcare workers from 10 Chinese medical institutions were recruited through random cluster sampling. A linear mixed model in SPSS25.0 was performed for hierarchical regression to analyze the effect of affective rumination on unhealthy food consumption via emotional exhaustion. A conditional process analysis was employed to investigate the moderating role of family support in the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion.

Results

Front-line healthcare workers scored at a medium level on an emotional exhaustion scale (2.45 ± 0.88). Affective rumination mediated by emotional exhaustion had a significant positive predictive effect on unhealthy food consumption. The indirect effect accounted for ~43.9% of the total effect. Family support amplified the effect of emotional exhaustion on unhealthy food consumption (β = 0.092, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Affective rumination could be a cause of emotional exhaustion and unhealthy food consumption. First-line healthcare workers could be screened for possible emotional exhaustion through the evaluation of affective rumination in order to provide them with targeted interventions. Family support did not prove to be beneficial in all cases as it enhanced the positive effect of emotional exhaustion on unhealthy eating in the current study. Therefore, family support should be carefully integrated in future interventions.

Switch Off Totally or Switch Off Strategically? The Consequences of Thinking About Work on Job Performance

As a universal workplace phenomenon, the impact of work-related rumination on job performance is attracting scholars' attention. In the current study, the relationship between two types of work-related rumination, counterproductive behavior, and creativity at work were examined, as well as the mechanism of this association. Participants were 1109 employees from a variety of jobs in mainland China. The results showed that affective rumination was negatively associated with employees' work creativity and positively associated with counterproductive behavior. On the contrary, problem-solving pondering was positively related to creativity and negatively related to counterproductive behavior. The loss of self-control resource partially mediated the link between affective rumination and counterproductive behavior. Problem-solving pondering had no significant impact on self-control resource. Results suggest the significant effects of problem-solving pondering may be positive in the workplace and clarify the self-control resource is the internal mechanism linking rumination and job performance.

Emotional versus cognitive rumination: are they differentially affecting long-term psychological health? The impact of stressors and personality in dental students

In the process of recovery from work, rumination is considered as an important mediating variable in the relationship between work demands and psychological health outcomes. Past research differentiated affective rumination from problem-solving pondering. The aim of the present study was to test a moderated mediation model for these two distinct ruminative states and to show how personality (i.e. neuroticism and conscientiousness) can alter the mediating effect. The present study is based on 119 surveys from dental students with a time lag of 6 months. Participants filled out questionnaires assessing specific study-relevant performance demands, rumination and personality and a screening measure for psychological health status. Neuroticism was found to moderate the demand-affective rumination association, but conscientiousness did not moderate the demand-problem-solving pondering association. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that affective rumination mediates the impact of demands on psychological health only for individuals low in neuroticism. Findings are discussed regarding potential interventions for dental students to prevent negative psychological health outcomes due to increased work-related demands in the long term.