1383: Exploring the Nonlinear Impact of Emotional Work Demands and Work Passion on Job Satisfaction (15675)

Monday, August 12, 2024

11:30 – 13:00 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

Location: Swissotel: St Gallen 2

Session Number: 1383
Paper Session
Orientation: Research
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/arK6mb

Author(s)

AL

Antonia Lampaki

American College of Greece, Greece
IK

Ilias Kapoutsis

Athens U. of Economics and Business, Greece
PK

Patricia Kenney

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital
MH

Marsha Hartline

Florida State U.
YD

Yufan Deng

Southwestern U. of Finance and Economics, China

In numerous professions, emotional work demands (EWDs) are a central stressor, and their impact on job satisfaction is key for effectively addressing workforce management challenges. Grounded in activation theory, we hypothesize and empirically establish that the EWDs-job satisfaction relationship is nonlinear across work passion levels. Analyzing data from 267 practicing nurses, collected over three time points using polynomial analysis, we reveal a unique pattern: high-passion workers exhibited the highest job satisfaction when EWDs are moderate-to-high, whereas less passionate workers achieved peak satisfaction with low-to-moderate EWDs. Our results challenge the often-assumed assumption that increased work demands are uniformly detrimental and questions the traditional linear models often used to represent employee behavior, especially when examined in unison with contextual factors. We discuss the study’s theoretical implications, practical manifestations, strengths and limitations, and suggest areas for further investigation.

view paper (if available)