Cooley P Dean, Mainsbridge Casey P, Cruickshank Vaughan, Guan Hongwei, Ye Anjia, Pedersen Scott J
College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tas, Australia.
Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, USA.
AIMS Public Health. 2022 Jul 12;9(3):574-588. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2022040. eCollection 2022.
Occupational sedentariness is problematic for office-based workers because of their prolonged sitting periods and the advent of technology which reduces work-based movement. A common workplace strategy to deal with this preventable health risk is to have workers engage in brief movement breaks throughout the workday. To date, the use of interventions underpinned by individual self-regulation has had less than optimal impact on changing workers sedentary work behaviours. An alternative design for workplace interventions is the use of nudge theory. Nudge theory incorporates strategies that are delivered at the point of choice designed to influence individual decision making regarding alternative behaviour options. In this study, desk-based workers were exposed to two nudge strategies which suggested alternative behaviours of regular standing and taking movement breaks during work periods to the default behaviours of prolonged sitting and sedentary work behaviour. A small group of women managers who served as peer champions (n = 6), withdrew early from the study, and then took part in an exit interview to gain an understanding of their experiences of being exposed to the two nudge strategies. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using inductive, reflexive thematic analysis. Two major themes with seven second order themes central to their experiences were extracted: facilitative behaviour and feelings (advocacy, acceptance & facilitative burden) and dysfunctional behaviours and feelings (dysfunctional behaviour & feelings, control, reactance & presenteeism). Participants initially perceived a positive exchange associated with exposure to nudge strategies. Yet, participants' emotional connection to their work roles and behaviour were perceived as a negative exchange. Participants cited numerous maladaptive feelings because of a perception of incongruency with the established work normative behaviour. These findings reveal that nudge strategies of reduced choice and social norms are viable, but perceptions of monitoring can moderate adherence.
职业久坐对办公室职员来说是个问题，因为他们长时间坐着，而且技术的出现减少了工作中的活动量。应对这种可预防健康风险的常见工作场所策略是让员工在工作日进行短暂的活动休息。迄今为止，以个体自我调节为基础的干预措施在改变员工久坐工作行为方面的影响并不理想。工作场所干预的另一种设计是运用助推理论。助推理论包含在选择点实施的策略，旨在影响个体对替代行为选项的决策。在本研究中，伏案工作的员工接触到两种助推策略，这两种策略向他们提出了在工作期间经常站立和进行活动休息的替代行为，以取代长时间坐着和久坐不动的默认行为。一小群担任同伴倡导者的女性经理（n = 6）提前退出了研究，然后参加了离职面谈，以了解她们接触这两种助推策略的经历。逐字记录稿采用归纳性、反思性主题分析进行分析。提取出了两个主要主题以及七个对她们的经历至关重要的二级主题：促进性行为和感受（倡导、接受与促进负担）以及功能失调行为和感受（功能失调行为与感受、控制、抵触与出勤主义）。参与者最初认为接触助推策略会带来积极的交流。然而，参与者对其工作角色和行为的情感联系被视为一种消极的交流。由于感觉与既定的工作规范行为不一致，参与者列举了许多适应不良的感受。这些发现表明，减少选择和社会规范的助推策略是可行的，但对监督的认知会影响依从性。
