Impact of JD-R Model on Psychological Well-Being of Gig Workers

Abstract

In the digital era, the gig economy has recently emerged as a key theme independent review of current work patterns. There is a variety of jobs in Malaysia's gig economy and the number of gig workers keeps increasing. Gig workers are facing many challenges. However, there is only a little research on psychological wellbeing among gig workers in Malaysia. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is one of the most widely used frameworks to examine well-being. This paper aims to uncover the gig worker's working conditions by adopting the widely recognized and well-established JD-R theory to examine the psychological well-being of gig workers. The early JD-R model was concerned primarily with work-related factors. However, the current JD-R model integrates personal resource as a determinant of employees' well-being. Psychological capital may help gig workers to reduce stress and enhance well-being. Many gig workers mainly join the gig economy because of the autonomy to decide their workload, working time, and job content. However, gig workers have high time pressure and workload as they only get paid after providing the service. The more order they make, the more earning they get. Furthermore, gig workers are performing on online platforms and feeling isolated from the social environment. Social support from family is important to workers. Hence, this conceptual paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of how job demands, job resources, and personal resources affect gig workers' psychological well-being.