Working from home during the COVID-19 crisis: How self-control strategies elucidate employees’ job performance

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Working from home during the COVID-19 crisis: How self-control strategies elucidate employees’ job performance. / Troll, Eve Sarah; Venz, Laura; Weitzenegger, Fritzi et al.
In: Applied Psychology, Vol. 71, No. 3, 07.2022, p. 853-880.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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@article{fb331a902e5342329810d67a2aad6916,
title = "Working from home during the COVID-19 crisis: How self-control strategies elucidate employees{\textquoteright} job performance",
abstract = "Employees around the globe experience manifold challenges to maintain job performance during the so-called work-from-home experiment caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Whereas the self-control literature suggests that higher trait self-control should enable employees to deal with these demands more effectively, we know little about the underlying mechanisms. In a mixed-methods approach and two waves of data collection, we examine how self-control strategies elucidate the link between teleworking employees' trait self-control and their job performance. Using a qualitative approach, we explored which strategies employees use to telework effectively ( N  = 266). In line with the process model of self-control, reported strategies pertained to situation modification (i.e., altering the physical, somatic, or social conditions) and cognitive change (i.e., goal setting, planning/scheduling, and autonomous motivation). Subsequent preregistered, quantitative analyses with a diverse sample of 106 teleworkers corroborated that higher trait self-control is related to job performance beyond situational demands and prior performance. Among all self-control strategies, modifying somatic conditions and autonomous motivation was significantly associated with job performance and mediated the self-control-performance link. This research provides novel insights into the processes by which employees productively work from home and inspires a broad(er) view on the topic of self-control at work. ",
keywords = "COVID-19, process model, self-control strategies, telework, trait self-control, Psychology",
author = "Troll, {Eve Sarah} and Laura Venz and Fritzi Weitzenegger and Loschelder, {David D.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Applied Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Applied Psychology.",
year = "2022",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1111/apps.12352",
language = "English",
volume = "71",
pages = "853--880",
journal = "Applied Psychology",
issn = "0269-994X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Working from home during the COVID-19 crisis: How self-control strategies elucidate employees’ job performance

AU - Troll, Eve Sarah

AU - Venz, Laura

AU - Weitzenegger, Fritzi

AU - Loschelder, David D.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Applied Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Applied Psychology.

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - Employees around the globe experience manifold challenges to maintain job performance during the so-called work-from-home experiment caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Whereas the self-control literature suggests that higher trait self-control should enable employees to deal with these demands more effectively, we know little about the underlying mechanisms. In a mixed-methods approach and two waves of data collection, we examine how self-control strategies elucidate the link between teleworking employees' trait self-control and their job performance. Using a qualitative approach, we explored which strategies employees use to telework effectively ( N  = 266). In line with the process model of self-control, reported strategies pertained to situation modification (i.e., altering the physical, somatic, or social conditions) and cognitive change (i.e., goal setting, planning/scheduling, and autonomous motivation). Subsequent preregistered, quantitative analyses with a diverse sample of 106 teleworkers corroborated that higher trait self-control is related to job performance beyond situational demands and prior performance. Among all self-control strategies, modifying somatic conditions and autonomous motivation was significantly associated with job performance and mediated the self-control-performance link. This research provides novel insights into the processes by which employees productively work from home and inspires a broad(er) view on the topic of self-control at work.

AB - Employees around the globe experience manifold challenges to maintain job performance during the so-called work-from-home experiment caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Whereas the self-control literature suggests that higher trait self-control should enable employees to deal with these demands more effectively, we know little about the underlying mechanisms. In a mixed-methods approach and two waves of data collection, we examine how self-control strategies elucidate the link between teleworking employees' trait self-control and their job performance. Using a qualitative approach, we explored which strategies employees use to telework effectively ( N  = 266). In line with the process model of self-control, reported strategies pertained to situation modification (i.e., altering the physical, somatic, or social conditions) and cognitive change (i.e., goal setting, planning/scheduling, and autonomous motivation). Subsequent preregistered, quantitative analyses with a diverse sample of 106 teleworkers corroborated that higher trait self-control is related to job performance beyond situational demands and prior performance. Among all self-control strategies, modifying somatic conditions and autonomous motivation was significantly associated with job performance and mediated the self-control-performance link. This research provides novel insights into the processes by which employees productively work from home and inspires a broad(er) view on the topic of self-control at work.

KW - COVID-19

KW - process model

KW - self-control strategies

KW - telework

KW - trait self-control

KW - Psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118483803&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/apps.12352

DO - 10.1111/apps.12352

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 34898804

VL - 71

SP - 853

EP - 880

JO - Applied Psychology

JF - Applied Psychology

SN - 0269-994X

IS - 3

ER -

DOI