Abstract
New techniques for multiple moment assessment allow us to assess how people feel atdifferent times of the day. These techniques are mostly used to assess how well people feel during particular activities, such as during work or childcare. In this paper we focuson the difference in how well people feel at work and at home.
The following questionsare addressed:
1) How large is the difference in mood at work and at home?
2) How muchdoes the difference in mood at work and at home vary across kinds of people andoccupations?
3) Is the difference in mood at work and at home associated with jobsatisfaction as measured using common general retrospective ratings or does it tapanother aspect of job satisfaction?
We explore answers to these questions, using datafrom a diary study in the Netherlands, done using an e-application of the Day Recon-struction Method (DRM) in which 1,410 people provided information about mood experienced in 32,000 episodes. We found that the average difference in mood at workand at home is small in this sample but that it varies across people and occupations. Wefound a low correlation of the difference in mood with the respondent’s retrospectiveratings of their general job satisfaction, which suggests that there is more in the phenom-ena of job satisfaction than is measured using the usual questions on general jobsatisfaction. This, as yet unrecognized, aspect of job satisfaction is likely to add toinformation demands behind common measurements of job satisfaction, that is, toindicate the quality of the work conditions and estimate chances to improve worker performance and reduce turnover by making work more satisfying. We suggest an agenda for research in these areas of possible gains.
The following questionsare addressed:
1) How large is the difference in mood at work and at home?
2) How muchdoes the difference in mood at work and at home vary across kinds of people andoccupations?
3) Is the difference in mood at work and at home associated with jobsatisfaction as measured using common general retrospective ratings or does it tapanother aspect of job satisfaction?
We explore answers to these questions, using datafrom a diary study in the Netherlands, done using an e-application of the Day Recon-struction Method (DRM) in which 1,410 people provided information about mood experienced in 32,000 episodes. We found that the average difference in mood at workand at home is small in this sample but that it varies across people and occupations. Wefound a low correlation of the difference in mood with the respondent’s retrospectiveratings of their general job satisfaction, which suggests that there is more in the phenom-ena of job satisfaction than is measured using the usual questions on general jobsatisfaction. This, as yet unrecognized, aspect of job satisfaction is likely to add toinformation demands behind common measurements of job satisfaction, that is, toindicate the quality of the work conditions and estimate chances to improve worker performance and reduce turnover by making work more satisfying. We suggest an agenda for research in these areas of possible gains.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 347–367 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Well-Being Assessment |
| Volume | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Earlier published as EHERO working paper 2021/2Research programs
- ESE - AE
