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The influence of working time characteristics on employee perceptions of physical and mental health: The moderating role of value orientations

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Abstract

Employee health problems including depression, burnout, and even “karoshi” (i.e., occupational sudden mortality), as a result of overtime work, are becoming increasingly severe, which should cause concern among the general public and current organizational management practices. Employees who have different value orientations differ in terms of their perceptions of physical and mental health. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of working time characteristics on employees’ perceptions of physical and mental health and the role of value orientation. This paper explored the characteristics of working time, and for the first time, developed a four-dimensional structure of the employee working time characteristics based on qualitative analysis. A questionnaire-based investigation was conducted with 448 employees located in the eastern region of China, and a descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis were employed. The results showed that: (1) at present, employee working time is generally characterized by frequent overtime, insufficient flexibility, and poor work-life boundaries, (2) employee working time characteristics are significantly correlated with employee perceptions of physical and mental health, (3)the relationship between working time characteristics and the perception of physical and mental health is moderated, to a varying degree, by three types of value orientations, which are primarily influenced by “job orientation”, “calling orientation”, and finally, “career orientation”. This study clarified the relationship between working time characteristics and employees’ perceptions of physical and mental health, and confirmed the moderating role of value orientation, which provided a reference for improving occupational health.

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Funding

This research was funded as a Major Project of the National Social Science Funding of China, grant number 16ZDA056, the Think Tank of Green Safety Management and Policy Science (2018 “Double First-Class” Initiative Project for Cultural Evolution and Creation of China University of Mining and Technology), grant number 2018WHCC03, the National Natural Science Funding of China, grant numbers 71473248, 71673271, 71473247, and 71273258, the Jiangsu Philosophy and Social Sciences Excellent Innovation Cultivation Team, grant number 2017ZSTD031, the 333 High-Level Talents Project of Jiangsu Province, grant number 2016, the Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province Project, grant number 14JD026, the “13th Five Year” Brand Discipline Construction Funding Project of China University of Mining and Technology, grant number 2017, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CUMT, grant number 2019CXNL07.

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  1. School of Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Menghua Yang, Hong Chen & Shanshan Li

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Correspondence to Hong Chen.

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Ethical Approval

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of Ethical Codes of Consulting and Clinical Psychology of Chinese Psychological Society, Chinese Psychological Society. The protocol was approved by the China Occupational Safety and Health Association - Occupational Mental Health Professional Committee. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. It is the duty of researchers who are involved in psychological research to protect the life, health, dignity, integrity, right to self-determination, privacy, and confidentiality of personal information of research subjects. The responsibility for the protection of research subjects must always rest with our research team and China Occupational Safety and Health Association - Occupational Mental Health Professional Committee and never with the research subjects, even though they have given consent.

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Yang, M., Chen, H. & Li, S. The influence of working time characteristics on employee perceptions of physical and mental health: The moderating role of value orientations. Curr Psychol 40, 6029–6044 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00483-8

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