Background:
In the wake of COVID-19, the world witnessed a significant downturn. Among the many changes, the involuntary work-from-home arrangement was observed across sectors and occupations. The sudden, unanticipated change was overwhelming and challenging. Thus, this study aimed at exploring the various factors that affected anxiety and engagement during work-from-home during the lockdown.
Hypotheses/Research Questions:
Based on the tenets of the Border theory (Ashforth, Kreiner & Fugate, 2000) and the effort-recovery model (Meijman & Mulder, 1998), the study hypothesizes that organizational/work factors (such as work environment, goal clarity, informal socialization) and home factors (such as home demands, support, and control) will influence anxiety and engagement via psychological detachment for employees who are involuntarily working from home. Further, drawing from the positive psychology framework such as the PERMA model (Seligman, 2011), it is hypothesized that the indirect effects are conditional on employees 'meaningfulness at work' and psychological capital.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size:
The sampling methods employed for the study was purposive and snowball sampling. It included 296 employees who involuntarily worked from home. The age range varied between 24-56 years and constituted 41.37% of women employees. 53.04% belonged to dual-income households, and 76.01% of the respondents had dependents.
Design:
Following the cross-sectional design, the survey included items from standardized scales, designed electronically, floated via emails, and posted on social media. The hypotheses were tested using the hierarchical regression and PROCESS Macro for SPSS.
Results:
The findings revealed that home and organizational challenges significantly influenced employees' anxiety and engagement via psychological detachment only for those employees who demonstrated lower psychological capital and meaningfulness at work.
Scientific Contribution:
This work adds to the research on teleworking and attempts an integration with the growing field of positive psychology, specifically establishing the significance of psychological capital and deriving meaning.