Hot Buttons and Time Sinks: The Effects of Electronic Communication During Nonwork Time on Emotions and Work-Nonwork Conflict

Abstract

As advances in communication technologies have made organizations more easily connected to their workforce outside of normal work hours, there is increased concern that employees may experience heightened work-nonwork conflict when away from the office. The current study investigates the effects of electronic communication received during nonwork time using an experience sampling methodology to examine withinperson relationships among elements of electronic communication (affective tone, time required), emotional responses (anger, happiness), and work-to-nonwork conflict in a sample of 341 working adults surveyed over a seven-day period. Hierarchical linear modeling results suggested that both affective tone and time required were associated with anger, but only affective tone was associated with happiness. Further, anger was associated with work-to-nonwork conflict and mediated the effects of affective tone and time required on work-to-nonwork conflict. Results also revealed cross-level moderating effects of abusive supervision and communication sender together, as well as segmentation preference. Implications of these findings for future theorizing and research on electronic communication during nonwork time are discussed.

Feeling interrupted—Being responsive: How online messages relate to affect at work

“…Our findings also contribute to the broader research on ICT use and affect at work. In addition to findings from earlier research that has linked job‐related electronic communication at home to affective processes at home (Butts et al, ; Ohly & Latour, ), our study showed that experiences associated with e‐mail and other online communication at work matter for employee affect, with perceived interruptions being indirectly related to negative affect and responsiveness being indirectly related to positive affect. Importantly, the total indirect effect of perceived interruptions with positive affect was not significant.…”

Work after work: The impact of new service delivery models on work hours

“…In our setting, we instead rely on a growing body of research documenting the link between “work after work”, or work creep, and various outcomes of interest. For example, Butts, Becker, and Boswell () write how “the new night shift” stemming from email use affects employee well‐being, and Barley et al () show that email obligations specifically are a key source of stress for workers.…”

Voluntary Work‐related Technology Use during Non‐work Time: A Narrative Synthesis of Empirical Research and Research Agenda

“…Voluntary ICT use brings work into designated non-work time, not just by extending work hours cutting down available down-time, but also extending employees' cognitive and emotional engagement in their work into non-work time: work-related ICT use keeps work on one's mind with a potentially constant stream of new work-related information that is commonly 'pushed' directly on the screen of mobile devices (Future Work Centre 2015), with these incoming communications potentially triggering negative emotions, depending on their affective tone (Butts et al 2015). As evident from numerous reviewed studies, employees appear to be less capable of mentally switching off when engaging in voluntary ICT use.…”