Kern Marcel, Ohly Sandra, Ďuranová Lenka, Friedrichs Juliane
Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Department of Business Psychology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2024 Oct 3;15:1439070. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1439070. eCollection 2024.
High email load has been associated with impaired well-being because emails impose specific demands, disturb the workflow, and thereby overtax individuals' action regulation toward prioritized goals. However, the causes and well-being-related consequences of email load are not yet well understood, as previous studies have neglected the interaction type and function of emails as well as co-occurring stressors as antecedents of high email load and have relied predominantly on cross-sectional designs.
In two studies, we aimed to clarify the nature of email load through the lens of action regulation theory. The first study, a two-wave investigation with a fortnightly interval, examined the lagged relationships among email load, work stressors, strain, and affective well-being. The sample included 444 individuals across various occupations and organizations, with 196 of them working from home or remotely at least part of the time. In the second cross-sectional study, we surveyed 257 individuals using a convenience sampling approach, 108 of whom worked from home or remotely at least partially. This study focused on evaluating how different email classes-distinguished by email interaction type (received vs. processed) and email function (communication vs. task)-serve as predictors of high email load.
In Study 1, we found a positive lagged effect of high email load on strain, even when controlling for the co-occurring stressors time pressure and work interruptions. In addition, lagged effects of email load on time pressure and interruptions were identified, while no evidence was found for the reverse direction. The results of Study 2 suggest that only the number of communication-related emails received, but not the number of task-related emails received, or the number of all emails processed contribute to high email load.
Findings suggest that email load can be considered a unique stressor and that different classes of email need to be distinguished to understand its nature. Clarifying the sources of email load can help develop effective strategies to address it.
高邮件负荷与幸福感受损有关，因为邮件带来了特定要求，扰乱了工作流程，从而给个人针对优先目标的行动调节带来过重负担。然而，邮件负荷的成因及其与幸福感相关的后果尚未得到充分理解，因为以往的研究忽略了邮件的交互类型和功能以及同时出现的压力源作为高邮件负荷的前因，并且主要依赖横断面设计。
在两项研究中，我们旨在通过行动调节理论来阐明邮件负荷的本质。第一项研究是一项间隔两周的两波调查，考察了邮件负荷、工作压力源、压力和情感幸福感之间的滞后关系。样本包括来自不同职业和组织的444名个体，其中196人至少部分时间在家工作或远程工作。在第二项横断面研究中，我们采用便利抽样方法对257名个体进行了调查，其中108人至少部分时间在家工作或远程工作。这项研究重点评估了不同类型的邮件——根据邮件交互类型（接收与处理）和邮件功能（沟通与任务）区分——如何作为高邮件负荷的预测因素。
在研究1中，我们发现即使控制了同时出现的压力源时间压力和工作中断，高邮件负荷对压力仍有正向滞后效应。此外，还发现了邮件负荷对时间压力和中断的滞后效应，而未发现反向效应的证据。研究2的结果表明，只有收到的与沟通相关的邮件数量，而不是收到的与任务相关的邮件数量或处理的所有邮件数量，会导致高邮件负荷。
研究结果表明，邮件负荷可被视为一种独特的压力源，需要区分不同类型的邮件以了解其本质。明确邮件负荷的来源有助于制定有效的应对策略。
