Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

An updated examination of gender differences in sexual harassment perception: A meta-analysis and a survey study.
Twenty years ago, Rotundo et al. (2001) meta-analyzed the gender differences in sexual harassment (SH) perception. They found an overall d of 0.30: Women are more likely than men to label certain behaviors as SH. Much has changed since then, including the increased social awareness and the prevalence of SH training. Given the prevalence of SH in the workplace and the importance of SH perception in SH research, we conducted a mixed-methods research program to explore possible changes in the gender gap. In Study 1 (k = 72, N = 27,767), we meta-analyzed the perceptual gender differences to compare with those in Rotundo et al. and examined several moderators of the differences. We found an overall mean d of 0.33, implying a similar gender gap in SH perception as 20 years ago, yet none of the moderators examined in this study showed significant results. In Study 2, we empirically examined gender differences in mean levels of SH perception using the same measurement scales used in two older studies and compared with the differences found in these two studies. We found higher levels of SH perception for both men and women, but no difference in the mean d between men and women, suggesting that no change over time in mean d does not mean no change in SH perception. The implications of our findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Designing work for healthy sleep: A multidimensional, latent transition approach to employee sleep health.
Healthy sleep is essential to employee well-being and productivity, but many modern workers do not obtain adequate sleep. Are technology-related changes to job design (i.e., computer use, sedentary work, nontraditional work schedules) related to long-term worsening of employee sleep health? The present study seeks to address this question using nationally representative data from the Midlife in the United States study, which includes detailed information on sleep duration, regularity, sleep onset latency, insomnia symptoms, napping, and daytime tiredness from full-time workers (N = 1,297) at two time points separated by approximately 10 years. Using latent transition analysis to consider how these sleep health dimensions co-occur, we identify three multidimensional sleep health phenotypes at both time points: good sleepers, catch-up sleepers, and insomnia sleepers. Sedentary work is linked to the insomnia sleeper phenotype. Nontraditional work schedules are linked to the catch-up sleeper phenotype. These findings test assumptions of modern models of job design regarding the impact of technology on employee sleep health and advance measurement of sleep health in the organizational sciences to be multidimensional and dynamic. Further, results point to specific sleep needs in the working adult population and identify potential points of intervention via job design. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The butterfly effect of appreciation at work: An impulse for daily perfectionistic cognitions and well-being beyond the workday.
Research on employee perfectionism and its duality is shifting from a mere dispositional perspective to consider the state-like nature of this phenomenon. Despite recent findings identifying negative work experiences as antecedents of daily perfectionism, the role of positive experiences remains to be elaborated. Bridging the principles of trait activation and stress-as-offense-to-self theory, the present study examined the role of daily appreciation as a positive, self-affirming experience for the expression of daily perfectionistic cognitions at work and its implications for well-being (vigor, serenity) beyond the workday. We expected that the impulse of daily appreciation would carry over into vigor and serenity at bedtime and at the beginning of the next workday by triggering daily perfectionistic strivings and serving as a protective factor against daily perfectionistic concerns. Data from 170 employees who participated in a daily diary study over two consecutive working weeks were analyzed using multilevel mediation analyses (multilevel structural equation modeling). In support of our hypotheses and the idea of a butterfly effect, daily appreciation was indirectly related to serenity at bedtime and to vigor and serenity at the beginning of the next workday via daily perfectionistic cognitions. We discuss implications for supervisors and organizations and encourage scholars and practitioners alike not to underestimate the role of positive self-affirming experiences and personality dynamics at work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Proactive employees perceive coworker ostracism: The moderating effect of team envy and the behavioral outcome of production deviance.
As the workplace becomes more team based, interpersonal relationships at work are a central topic that affects both employees and the organization. Despite ample evidence showing the detrimental effects of workplace ostracism on employees’ health and productivity, why someone is ostracized by others at work warrants more research. Based on social comparison theory, we predict that task proactivity could be perceived negatively and can elicit ostracism from team members; this effect is dependent upon the boundary condition of team envy. Furthermore, perceived coworker ostracism explains why task proactivity may turn into production deviance. We tested these predictions based on data from 630 employees in 131 teams collected in various industries in China. The results showed that individual-level task proactivity positively predicted coworker ostracism perceived by the proactive employee, and this relationship was moderated by team envy. Task proactivity was indirectly and positively related to production deviance via perceived coworker ostracism, especially in teams with high levels of team envy. Based on these results, we suggest that proactive employees need to be aware of possible unexpected interpersonal consequences in the workplace, given that proactive work behaviors may elicit unwanted and unintended treatment from team members. Managers should monitor team contextual factors, which may affect the extent to which good soldiers turn into bad apples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology - Vol 29, Iss 6