Junça-Silva Ana, Almeida Margarida, Gomes Catarina
ISCTE-IUL, Business Research Unit, Lisbon University Institute, Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal.
Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Escola Superior de Gestão de Tomar, Quinta do Contador, Estrada da Serra, 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jul 4;12(13):1727. doi: 10.3390/ani12131727.
Although there is evidence that pets may help individuals facing significant daily stressors, and that they may enhance the well-being of their owners, little is known about the benefits of pets for job performance. Since the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, teleworking was a strategy implemented in many countries to reduce the virus widespread and to assure organizational productivity. Those who work from home and who own pets may work close to them. Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aimed to analyze whether positive affect mediated the relationship between telecommuting and self-reported job performance and if psychological and physical closeness to the pet would moderate this relationship in such a way that it would be stronger for those who worked closer to their pet, and who were more emotionally attached to them. For this study, we collected data from 81 teleworkers who did not own pets, and from 320 teleworkers who owned pets. Both answered an online questionnaire. Findings: Results from the study showed the existence of significant differences between those who owned and who did not own pets regarding positive affect and performance, in which those who owned pets reported higher levels of positive affect and self-reported performance and perceived telework more positively. Moreover, positive affect mediated the relationship between telework and self-reported job performance. Furthermore, emotional and physical closeness moderated the mediating effect. This study contributes to a better understanding of the human-animal interaction and how pets can be a personal resource able to change their owners' affective experiences and job performance while they are working from home. The findings demonstrate that telework may be a suitable organizational strategy for pet-owners.
尽管有证据表明宠物可能有助于个体应对重大日常压力源，且能提升主人的幸福感，但对于宠物对工作表现的益处却知之甚少。自新冠疫情危机以来，远程办公成为许多国家实施的一项策略，以减少病毒传播并确保组织生产力。那些在家工作且养宠物的人可能会在宠物身边工作。基于资源守恒理论，本研究旨在分析积极情绪是否介导了远程办公与自我报告的工作表现之间的关系，以及与宠物在心理和身体上的亲近程度是否会调节这种关系，使得对于那些与宠物工作距离更近且情感上更依恋宠物的人来说，这种关系更强。在本研究中，我们收集了8名无宠物的远程工作者和320名有宠物的远程工作者的数据。两者都回答了一份在线问卷。研究结果：研究结果表明，在积极情绪和工作表现方面，有宠物和无宠物的人之间存在显著差异，其中有宠物的人报告的积极情绪水平更高，自我报告的工作表现更好，对远程工作的看法也更积极。此外，积极情绪介导了远程工作与自我报告的工作表现之间的关系。此外，情感和身体上的亲近程度调节了这种中介效应。本研究有助于更好地理解人与动物的互动，以及宠物如何成为一种个人资源，能够在主人在家工作时改变他们的情感体验和工作表现。研究结果表明，远程工作可能是适合宠物主人的一种组织策略。
