Compensatory Coping Through the Extension of Working Hours
The Buffering Role of Leader–Member Exchange
Abstract
Abstract. To advance knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between leadership and employees’ well-being, this study examines leaders’ effects on their employees’ compensatory coping efforts. Using an extension of the job demands–resources model, we propose that high-quality leader–member exchange (LMX) allows employees to cope with high job demands without increasing their effort expenditure through the extension of working hours. Data analyses (N = 356) revealed that LMX buffers the effect of quantitative demands on the extension of working hours such that the indirect effect of quantitative demands on emotional exhaustion is only significant at low and average levels of LMX. This study indicates that integrating leadership with employees’ coping efforts into a unifying model contributes to understanding how leadership is related to employees’ well-being. The notion that leaders can affect their employees’ use of compensatory coping efforts that detract from well-being offers promising approaches to the promotion of workplace health.
Zusammenfassung. Um besser zu verstehen, wie Führungskräfte Einfluss auf die Gesundheit ihrer Mitarbeiter nehmen, untersucht diese Studie den Effekt von Führung auf die Ausdehnung der Arbeitszeit als kompensatorische Copingstrategie der Mitarbeiter. Auf Grundlage einer Erweiterung des JD-R Modells nehmen wir an, dass Mitarbeiter in qualitativ hochwertigen Leader–Member Exchange (LMX)-Beziehungen hohe Arbeitsanforderungen bewältigen können, ohne ihre Anstrengungen durch die Ausdehnung der Arbeitszeit erhöhen zu müssen. Die Analyse der Daten (N = 356) zeigt, dass LMX den Effekt von quantitativen Anforderungen auf die Ausdehnung der Arbeitszeit abpuffert, sodass der indirekte Effekt von quantitativen Anforderungen auf emotionale Erschöpfung über die Ausdehnung der Arbeitszeit nur bei geringen und mittleren LMX-Werten signifikant ist. Die Integration von Führung und kompensatorischen Copingstrategien der Mitarbeiter verbessert das Verständnis davon, wie Führung und Mitarbeitergesundheit zusammenhängen. Die Idee, dass Führungskräfte die Copingstrategien ihrer Mitarbeiter beeinflussen können, die sich ungünstig auf die Gesundheit auswirken, ist ein vielversprechender Ansatz für die betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung.
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