Recently, researchers have focused on various factors influencing work engagement, particularly in the EFL context. In this vein, this study was carried out to investigate the relationship among ...proactive personality, flow, and work engagement in China. In so doing, three instruments including Proactive Personality Scale, Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF), and Work and Well-Being Survey (UWES) were used. Employing a convenience sampling method, 350 English teachers were selected from 20 provinces in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to analyze the obtained data. The findings demonstrated a positive correlation among EFL teachers' flow, proactive personality, and work engagement. The results of SEM also indicated that work engagement could be predicted by both flow and proactive personality; however, flow had more predictive power. The findings from this study have both theoretical and practical implications for second/foreign language researchers and different stakeholders.
Purpose The purpose of the research is to examine the impact of leader humor on employee job crafting. Using the insights from self-determination theory (SDT), we investigate the underlying mechanism ...of employees’ flow at work and the moderating role of employees’ playfulness trait. Design/methodology/approach We adopted a three-wave field survey of 306 employees recruited from various industries. The moderated mediation model was examined using latent structural equation model analysis. Findings Results revealed that leader humor positively affected employees’ flow at work and subsequent job crafting. Moreover, both the direct effect of leader humor on employees’ flow at work and the indirect effect of leader humor on employees’ job crafting via flow at work were amplified by employees’ playfulness trait. Practical implications Leaders are encouraged to use jokes and humorous language to facilitate job crafting among playful subordinates. Organizations can create a work environment conducive to flow at work through job redesign, regardless of employees’ levels of playfulness trait. Originality/value The paper uncovers the critical role of flow in the relationship between leader humor and employee job crafting and identifies employees’ playfulness trait as a boundary condition in which leader humor works.
The construct of flow has been associated with a plethora of positive work outcomes such as performance, engagement, and reduced burnout. However, flow is understudied in the domain of work and there ...is a lack of empirical examinations of flow interventions. Additionally, until recently, the vast majority of research examining flow at work assumes that individuals are passive agents who only experience flow when their working conditions facilitate the state. Therefore, the study tested a ‘SMART’ goal‐setting nudge intervention for individuals, aimed at increasing flow at work and its positive outcomes. Results of a 5‐day experimental experience sampling study with 65 American MTurk workers (who work full‐time besides MTurk) indicate that those in the goal‐setting condition experienced more flow at work and subsequently experienced less daily stress, as well as higher engagement and subjective performance when compared to the control group. Exploratory analyses revealed that flow decreased later in the week within‐day for participants in the control group, whereas flow remained relatively stable within‐day for those in the goal‐setting condition. Moreover, certain categories of goals, such as mastery goals, resource acquisition goals, and understanding goals, were found to be significant predictors of daily flow.
Practitioner points
Flow at work predicted daily stress, daily performance, and work engagement.
Self‐determination strategies (Occupat Health Sci, 1, 2017, 47), such as goal setting, can increase the amount of flow experienced at work and its subsequent positive outcomes.
Nudges (Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness, Yale University Press, 2008) can provide reminders for individuals to engage in behaviors that help them to experience flow and its positive work outcomes.
A proposed model was supported as a framework practitioners can use to better understand flow at work along with its antecedents and outcomes.
In this diary study, we aimed to examine the moderating effects of the following:(i) recovery efforts at work and (ii) detachment from work on the relationship between work-related flow and energy ...after work. Specifically, we hypothesized that flow would be beneficial for energy after work when employees failed (versus managed) to recover during work breaks. Additionally, we predicted that when employees experience flow at work, they would be more vigorous (and less exhausted) at the end of the day when they detached from work in the evening compared with days when they failed to detach. The study tracked 83 participants who completed daily surveys over four consecutive days. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that some characteristics of flow, such as absorption and enjoyment, were significantly associated with energy after work. Recovery at work and detachment from work moderated the relationship between flow (specifically the enjoyment component) and after-work energy.
PurposeThis study aims to ascertain the role of servant leadership in inducing flow at work. The study, along with confirming the relation between flow at work and innovative work behavior (IWB), ...intends to explore the mediating role flow at work plays in relating servant leadership to IWB.Design/methodology/approachThe data collection was conducted through an interviewee-administered questionnaire in three waves that were four weeks apart. The data were collected from 267 respondents. To run the measurement model and structural model, Smart-PLS was used, and Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) was used to summarize the demographic information and conduct hierarchal regression.FindingsServant leadership is related to flow at work. Additionally, flow at work is related to IWB. Finally, flow at work mediates the relationship between servant leadership and IWB.Originality/valueThe study found servant leadership is related to flow at work. Moreover, the study unearthed the relation between flow at work and IWB. Finally, the study unveiled that flow at work acts as a mediator between servant leadership and IWB.
This article presents a combined motivational and volitional intervention based on the theory of planned behavior aimed at promoting expansion-oriented job crafting behaviors. Participants were ...employees working in different companies, assigned to either an intervention (n = 53) or a control group (n = 55). Results of a field study (including premeasure, postmeasure, and weekly diaries) indicated that the intervention enhanced participants’ perceptions of behavioral control referred to job crafting and awareness regarding others’ engagement in job crafting. Latent change growth modeling showed that participation in the intervention led to participants shaping their job crafting intentions during the weeks, which translated into more frequent job crafting behaviors at the end of the study period. Besides, the intervention served to trigger weekly work-related flow experiences in terms of high absorption while working. Findings suggest that job crafting interventions can benefit from the inclusion of self-regulatory strategies complementing goal setting.
Passion for work is an important individual factor related to the quality of working life. Flow at work is an optimal experience in which the individual is immersed in, loves and enjoys the work. The ...aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between passion for work (harmonious and obsessive), flow at work (as a mediator) and exhaustion in a sample of Italian nurses. About 270 nurses participated in the study: this profession is characterized by intrinsic motivation but is also subjected to fatigue and distress. The results show that harmonious passion increases flow at work which, in turn, decreases exhaustion; moreover, flow mediates the relationship between harmonious passion and exhaustion. Obsessive passion has no significant effect on flow at work, but directly increases exhaustion. The study shows that harmonious passion and flow at work contribute to alleviate exhaustion, while obsessive passion instead increases feelings of distress.
Intense work experiences related not only to flow, but also to workaholism, characterize the work of neurosurgeons, who are professionals at high risk of burnout. The aim of this study was to ...investigate the combined effects of flow experience and workaholism on burnout among neurosurgery residents. Adopting a person-centered approach, we sought to identify subpopulations of neurosurgery residents with distinct profiles based on their levels of workaholism and flow at work. We then examined the links between these profiles and occupational burnout. Survey data were obtained from 141 residents enrolled on a neurosurgery program in France. Results revealed two profiles that differentiated between individuals with high- versus low-flow experiences, but not with high versus low workaholism scores. As expected, burnout differed significantly between the two profiles: 19.8% of residents with the low flow at work profile had severe overall burnout, compared with just 11.1% with the high flow at work profile, while 37.5% of residents with the low flow at work profile were characterized by high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, compared with 26.7% with the high flow at work profile. The low flow at work profile was also characterized by higher levels of neuroticism. Results suggest that neurosurgical residents with higher levels of neuroticism experience less flow at work, and are thus less protected from burnout. It is therefore important to investigate these factors in prevention programs.
Drawing from the conservation of resources theory, we explore how two personal resources (satisfaction with work–life balance and experience of flow at work) contribute to two important outcomes in ...entrepreneurship: entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being and firm growth. Although previous research has emphasized the importance of personal factors for firm growth and explored a variety of factors affecting entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being, little attention has been paid to the role of satisfaction with work–life balance as a critical personal resource for entrepreneurs. With this study, we find that entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with work–life balance is positively associated with subjective well-being, which, in turn, mediates the relationship between satisfaction with work–life balance and firm growth. Our study also shows that experiencing flow at work accentuates the relationship between satisfaction with work–life balance and subjective well-being. Based on our findings, we offer implications for practicing entrepreneurs in terms of how to achieve higher levels of well-being and better firm growth. Specifically, we emphasize the benefits of achieving satisfaction with work–life balance, as this is important for an entrepreneur’s subjective well-being and has an indirect impact on firm growth. Stakeholders in entrepreneurial ecosystems should embrace subjective well-being as an important indicator of firm outcomes alongside traditional economic measures.
Purpose
Drawing upon the capability approach, this study aims to investigate the impact of sense of competence on work–life and life–work enhancements. It also examines the mediating roles of ...mindfulness and flow at work in the above relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 254 medical doctors in various hospitals in Vietnam was surveyed to validate the measures via confirmatory factor analysis and to test the model and hypotheses using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results demonstrate that mindfulness and flow at work fully mediate the effects of sense of competence on both work–life and life–work enhancements, but sense of competence does not have any direct effect on both.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to examine the roles of sense of competence, mindfulness and flow at work in work–life and life–work enhancements, adding further insight into the literature on work–life balance. It also offers evidence for the capacity approach in explaining work–life and life–work enhancements in an emerging market, Vietnam.
