Work-related boredom and depressed mood from a daily perspective: the moderating roles of work centrality and need satisfaction

an article by Madelon L. M. van Hooff (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Edwin A. J. van Hooft (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 30 Issue 3 (2016)

Abstract

This study aimed to advance insight into inter- and intra-personal processes that may affect the associations between work-related boredom and employee well-being.

We employed a daily perspective to examine

1. the relations between work-related boredom and depressed mood at the end of the workday and at the end of the evening after work;
2. whether these relations were stronger for employees with high work centrality (the importance of work to the individual); and
3. whether the indirect association between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening (via depressed mood at the end of the workday) was smaller on days during which employees’ basic psychological needs were satisfied after work.

Data were collected by means of a 5-day diary study among 106 employees in various occupations in The Netherlands. The results showed that work-related boredom was positively related to both depressed mood at the end of the workday and depressed mood in the evening, but only for employees with high work centrality.

Furthermore, daily need satisfaction after work mitigated the indirect relation between work-related boredom and depressed mood in the evening. Based on these findings it can be concluded that work centrality and need satisfaction should be taken into account in order to understand the association between work-related boredom and employee well-being.

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