Remote work mindsets predict emotions and productivity in home office

A longitudinal study of knowledge workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15215751
AutoresLauren C Howe (0000-0003-4555-4851, University of Zurich, autor de correspondencia), Jochen I Menges (0000-0001-8689-409X, University of Zurich)
Año2021
Volumen37
Número6
Páginas481-507
Fecha de publicación2021-11-24
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHuman-Computer Interaction (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0737-0024 • E-ISSN: 1532-7051
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07370024.2021.1987238
OpenAlexW3216812364
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas100

Millions of employees across the globe, including a large proportion of knowledge workers, transitioned to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. As remote work continues to characterize work post-crisis, it is imperative to understand how employees adjust to remote work. The current research explores the extent to which knowledge workers hold a fixed mindset about remote work (e.g., that a person either is or is not suited to remote work and this cannot be changed) and tested how this mindset shaped well-being during coronavirus-related lockdown. In a longitudinal five-week study of 113 knowledge workers transitioning to remote work, we find that knowledge workers who endorsed a more fixed mindset about remote work experienced more negative and less positive emotion during remote work. The increased negative emotion prompted by fixed mindsets was associated with lesser perceived productivity among these knowledge workers in subsequent weeks. We conclude that understanding how fundamental beliefs (e.g., beliefs about the learnability of remote work) affect employee experiences can help create a brighter future as technology further enables remote work. Encouraging employees to view remote work as a skill that can be learned and developed could help people thrive in the new world of work

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Center (category theory · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Human capital · Human resource management · Human resources · Management · Medical education · Pandemic · Political science · Productivity · Public relations · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Sociology · Work (physics · Engineering · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Medicine · Mind wandering and attention · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges