Working, studying in 'off' hours can harm motivation

Date:
March 3, 2022
Source:
Cornell University
Summary:
Working a nontraditional schedule, and checking in at all hours
of the day, night and weekends, is not necessarily beneficial for
the 21st- century workforce, according to new research.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The traditional 9-to-5 work week has been replaced in many cases by
hybrid hours tailored to individual needs.


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But working a nontraditional schedule, and checking in at all hours
of the day, night and weekends, is not necessarily beneficial for the 21st-century workforce, according to new Cornell University research.

"Even if you're still working 40 hours a week, you're working during time
that you've mentally encoded as time off, or as time that should be for
a vacation, and that can make you feel suddenly that your work is less enjoyable," said Kaitlin Woolley, associate professor of marketing in
the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, in the Cornell
SC Johnson College of Business.

Woolley and Laura Giurge, assistant professor of behavioral science at
London School of Economics and a former postdoctoral research fellow
at Cornell, address the issue in "Working During Non-Standard Work
Time Undermines Intrinsic Motivation," which published Feb. 26 in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Woolley and Giurge wanted to examine the effect of working -- and
studying, among college students -- during nontraditional hours on job satisfaction and motivation. "We had this feeling that sometimes the
ability to work when we want to could also impact how we feel about our
work," Woolley said.

In one study, the researchers approached Cornell students studying in a
campus library on President's Day. They reminded half the participants
that they were studying during a federal holiday; the other half did not receive this reminder. They then measured students' intrinsic motivation
for their schoolwork -- asking them how enjoyable, engaging, interesting
and fun they found their materials to be. Students who were reminded the
day was a federal holiday reported that their work was 15% less enjoyable.

In another study, the researchers measured whether a simple calendar
reminder on a federal holiday (MLK Day) would alter full-time workers' perception of work enjoyment. They found that work was 9% less enjoyable
on the holiday Monday, compared with a typical Monday, despite engaging
in similar work- related activities on both days.

In the third study, participants were surveyed on a Tuesday, with no
reminder that it's a typical work day, then again on a Saturday. Some participants were reminded that it was Saturday, "a weekend day," while
others were given no reminder. Both groups reported lower levels of
work satisfaction on the weekend day, although the effect was stronger
in the reminder group.

Woolley and Giurge think part of this discrepancy has to do with the
idea of "collective time off" -- having free time when friends and family
are also off.

"The real benefit of time off on the weekend or on holidays is that it's
not just that I have time off, but my family and friends have time off,
too," Woolley said. "And so one thing that we suggest for managers
is, can you create a 'weekend shift' so people feel like they're in
it together with other people?" The idea of "work-life balance" --
setting boundaries between work and "play" times -- has been a priority
for many employers and employees recently. Woolley said it can be hard for workers who feel pressured to achieve to commit to striking that balance.

"It's hard sometimes for workers who aren't in a position of power,
whereas I think managers have the responsibility to create that
environment for their employees," she said. "I do think people are
becoming more aware of the importance of that, and shaping their jobs
and their life choices to allow for it."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cornell_University. Original written
by Tom Fleischman, courtesy of the Cornell Chronicle. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Laura M. Giurge, Kaitlin Woolley. Working during non-standard
work time
undermines intrinsic motivation. Organizational Behavior
and Human Decision Processes, 2022; 170: 104134 DOI:
10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104134 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220303125024.htm

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