Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Academic research has studied interruptions to workflow under the pretext that all face-to-face interruptions are negative events, finding that frequent interruptions cause increases in employee stress and productivity loss. However, it is likely that not all interruptions are perceived as stressful by employees. Some interruptions could even be considered rejuvenating experiences that provide employees with renewed energy to return to their work tasks. We propose that employees’ stressor appraisals of various interruption events vary due to the characteristics of the event such as the content of the conversation and the length of the interaction. The proposed study is designed to tap into a largely unexplored dimension in the relationship between workflow interruptions and employee stress and well-being. It will explore three different interruption characteristics and determine whether or not they cause variability in employee well-being. Specifically, the study aims to explore how employee stressor appraisals and perceived energy change when the domain (work vs social), duration (long vs short), and urgency (high vs low) of an interruption are manipulated using a vignette technique.
Date
10-24-2020
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Included in
"Hey, Are You Busy Right Now?" Stressor Appraisals of Interruptions to Workflow
Academic research has studied interruptions to workflow under the pretext that all face-to-face interruptions are negative events, finding that frequent interruptions cause increases in employee stress and productivity loss. However, it is likely that not all interruptions are perceived as stressful by employees. Some interruptions could even be considered rejuvenating experiences that provide employees with renewed energy to return to their work tasks. We propose that employees’ stressor appraisals of various interruption events vary due to the characteristics of the event such as the content of the conversation and the length of the interaction. The proposed study is designed to tap into a largely unexplored dimension in the relationship between workflow interruptions and employee stress and well-being. It will explore three different interruption characteristics and determine whether or not they cause variability in employee well-being. Specifically, the study aims to explore how employee stressor appraisals and perceived energy change when the domain (work vs social), duration (long vs short), and urgency (high vs low) of an interruption are manipulated using a vignette technique.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology