员工正念对配偶家庭满意度和工作投入的影响

Abstract

Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper examines how and when employee mindfulness influences spouse family satisfaction and work engagement. It proposes that employee mindfulness as an important resource is positively related to spouse family satisfaction and work engagement by strategic emotional connecting display. Meanwhile, COR theory suggests that threats to resources would urge individuals to protect rather than consume the remaining resources. Thus, this study considers spouse family negative emotional expression as a moderator in the relationship between employee mindfulness and employee strategic emotional connecting display. We collected data from front-line employees in a commercial bank in Northern China and their spouses by experience sampling methodology. At Time 1 (one week before the start of the daily surveys), we invited 129 front-line employees to offer demographic information. We also asked their spouses to provide demographic information and rate the variable at the between-person level (i.e., family negative emotional expression). During 10 workdays, we invited participants to rate the variables at the within-person level. At 9 a.m., spouses received a link to assess their work engagement. At 8:30 p.m., employees and their spouses received a link respectively. Employees rated their mindfulness and strategic emotional connecting display, and spouses were asked to rate their family satisfaction. The final valid sample consisted of 114 employees and 114 their spouses. Mplus 8.0 and the bootstrap technique were used to test our hypotheses. As hypothesized, our study found that employee mindfulness was positively and significantly related to employee strategic emotional connecting display. Employee strategic emotional connecting display was positively and significantly associated with spouse family satisfaction and work engagement in the next morning. Additionally, employee strategic emotional connecting display mediated the effects of employee mindfulness on spouse family satisfaction and spouse work engagement in the next morning. Moreover, spouse family negative emotional expression moderated the positive relationship between employee mindfulness and employee strategic emotional connecting display. That is, when spouse family negative emotional expression was higher rather than lower, the positive relationship between employee mindfulness and employee strategic emotional connecting display was weakened. The moderated mediation model was also supported such that the indirect effects of employee mindfulness on spouse outcomes (i.e., family satisfaction and work engagement in the next morning) via employee strategic emotional connecting display were weakened when spouse family negative emotional expression was higher rather than lower. This study contributes to the mindfulness literature in multiple ways. First, our study enriches the interpersonal effects of mindfulness literature and advances research on the work-family interface by linking employee mindfulness to spouse work and family outcomes. Second, this study opens the "black box" between employee mindfulness and spouse outcomes by exploring the mediating mechanism of strategic emotional connecting display. This study also extends the antecedent of strategic emotional connecting display and enriches the nomological network of this construct. Third, this study explores the moderating role of spouse family negative emotional expression, which responds to the call of the previous studies and enhances our understanding of the boundary conditions of the effects of employee mindfulness. Finally, by adopting experience sampling methodology, this study can obtain a large number of ecological data sets to capture the dynamic nature of relationships in the model. In addition to the theoretical contributions, this study also provides useful guidance for management practice.