Search

Embodying the negative side of the employee-organization relationship, organizational dehumanization is defined as the experience of an employee who feels objectified by his or her organization, denied personal subjectivity, and made to feel like a tool or instrument for the organization’s ends. Empirical evidence shows that organizational dehumanization is linked to deleterious consequences for both employees and organizations. Specifically, organizational dehumanization impairs employees’ well-being as well as their positive attitudes toward their organization and their work, and it elicits behaviors that impede organizational functioning. Overall, self-determination theory, social exchange theory, and social identity theory provide relevant theoretical insights into the underlying mechanisms through which organizational dehumanization leads to these negative consequences. Scholars also advanced theory regarding its antecedents that fall into six main categories (i.e., societal factors, organizational characteristics, environmental factors, job characteristics, interpersonal factors, and individual factors). Finally, prior work highlights that organizational dehumanization perceptions are not elicited to the same extent in all employees, depending on demographic characteristics and on contextual features. Although organizational dehumanization has already received some empirical attention, future research is needed to enrich its nomological network by further examining its antecedents, consequences as well as its explaining and moderating mechanisms.

Organizational dehumanization (OD), defined as employees' perceptions of being treated as mere tools by their organization, has been shown to negatively affect employees and organizations. To explain such detrimental effects, scholars have argued that OD might thwart employees' fundamental psychological needs. Yet, evidence of this mechanism remains empirically nonexistent. Filling this gap, this research aims at investigating the mediating role of psychological need thwarting in the relationships between OD and employees' well-being and attitudes. Based on a cross-sectional study (N = 340) and a two-wave study (3 months apart; N = 603), the results indicate that OD thwarts employees' psychological needs which are, in turn, negatively related to their well-being (psychological strains, absenteeism, and job satisfaction) and attitudes (turnover intentions and affective commitment).

n/a

n/a

This research investigates the extent to which employees facing unnecessary, ineffective, and burdensome rules (i.e., red tape) feel dehumanized by their organization, and examines the consequences of such a relationship for both employees and organizations. First, a cross-sectional study (N = 374) shows that red tape is positively related to organizational dehumanization which, in turn, negatively influences employees’ well-being (decreased job satisfaction and increased psychosomatic strains) and attitudes (decreased affective commitment and increased turnover intentions). Going one step further, a second, experimental study manipulating red tape (N = 197) indicates that red tape has a positive causal effect on organizational dehumanization, hence decreasing job satisfaction and affective commitment, and increasing turnover intentions. Finally, a third, cross-sectional study (N = 479) replicates these findings and shows that these links do not differ across the public and private sectors. Directions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

The present research investigates whether employees felt more alienated from their work during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it, and examines the causes and consequences of this increase in work alienation. To do so, two longitudinal studies using data collected before (T1; October 2019 [Study 1] and November 2019 [Study 2]) and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (T2; May 2020 [Studies 1 and 2]) were conducted (i.e., repeated measures). Data of both studies were analyzed using unobserved effects panel data models. Results of Study 1 (N = 197) indicated that employees reported higher levels of work alienation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going one step further, results of Study 2 (N = 295) showed that this higher feeling of work alienation may be explained by an increase in professional isolation and a decrease in meaningfulness of work induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results also demonstrated that this increase in work alienation negatively affected employees’ job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. Findings are discussed and practical implications for managers are identified.

This study addresses the lack of organizational research considering the functionality of employees’ work-related affective experiences. More precisely, this research relied on person-centered analyses to gain a better understanding of the various configurations taken by the intensity and direction (i.e., seen as facilitating performance, or as interfering with it) of positive and negative affect among nurses. We also documented the stability of these profiles over time and their longitudinal associations with theoretically relevant predictors (job demands and resources) and outcomes (somatic complaints and musculoskeletal disorders). Questionnaires were completed twice, three months apart, by a sample of 1143 French nurses. Five distinct affective profiles were identified, and found to be rather stable over time. Nurses' perceptions of their job demands and resources showed well-differentiated patterns of associations with these profiles. Finally, nurses' levels of somatic complaints and musculoskeletal disorders were more pronounced among nurses corresponding to a profile dominated by high levels of negative affect seen as interfering with performance. Overall, our results emphasize the importance of jointly considering affect intensity and direction, their combinations, and the role played by job characteristics, in order to understand the development of physical health problems among nurses.

Being a teacher is known to be a stressful job. In Belgium, the attrition rate is close to 25% within the first five years of teaching. This phenomenon causes high psychosocial costs for teachers, and burnout and job-related stress are key determinants of attrition. Research showed that better emotional competencies help teachers to manage their occupational stress. However, most of the studies focused on in-service teachers while targeting emotional competencies and psychological distress within the pre-service teachers could help them to prepare for the reality of the profession. Thus, this study investigates the relationships between emotional competencies and psychological distress among pre-service elementary school teachers. Data collection took place between December 2021 and February 2022. We measured emotional competencies (Profile of Emotional Competencies), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory). We found a significant indirect effect of stress between understanding our own’s emotions and the three dimensions of burnout. Moreover, emotional regulation predicts emotional exhaustion when controlling for other emotional competencies, gender and stress. These results emphasize the benefice of implementing emotional competencies training in initial teacher education.

Être enseignant est une profession reconnue comme étant stressante. En Europe, le taux d’attrition dans cette profession varie entre 25 et 40% selon le pays. Il en résulte des coûts financiers pour les pays, mais également des coûts psychosociaux pour les enseignants et leurs élèves. En effet, la prévalence du burnout est élevée chez les enseignants, et ressentir du stress semble être un puissant prédicteur de l’abandon de la carrière enseignante. Permettre aux enseignants une gestion plus efficace de leur stress semble donc crucial dans ce contexte actuel ; leur santé mentale est un facteur-clef dans la qualité de l’éducation. Toutefois, beaucoup d’études se centrent sur les enseignants déjà en activité, et celles sur les futurs enseignants restent minoritaires. Pourtant, cibler ces futurs enseignants leur permettrait d’être formés aux défis émotionnels liés à leur insertion professionnelle et, par conséquent, d’entrer dans le monde du travail outillés pour gérer la discordance entre la réalité préprofessionnelle et la réalité du terrain. Dans ce cadre, cette étude a pour objectif d’investiguer les associations entre les compétences émotionnelles des futurs enseignants du primaire, leur stress perçu et leur épuisement émotionnel en stage. Pour ce faire, 329 futurs enseignants de primaire ont répondu à un questionnaire en ligne mesurant les compétences émotionnelle (PEC), le burnout (MBI) et le stress (PSS) en stage. Nos données montrent des relations négatives entre les compétences émotionnelles et les variables de santé mentale (burnout, stress). Les résultats permettent de souligner le rôle des compétences émotionnelles des futurs enseignants dans leur tendance au stress lors de leurs stages. Ils mettent en emphase l’intérêt d’outiller les futurs enseignants émotionnellement pour gérer les défis liés à leur carrière.

This research investigates the negative relationship between organizational dehumanization and safety behaviors (i.e., safety compliance and safety participation). More importantly, relying on a social exchange and a motivational perspective applied to safety, we examined two potential underlying mechanisms of these relations, i.e. felt obligation regarding safety procedures and safety motivation. A total of 221 employees from various occupations, that involve following safety rules and procedures, took part in a cross-sectional survey. Results of structural equation modeling and latent bootstrapping analysis indicated that the indirect effect of organizational dehumanization on safety compliance and safety participation via felt obligation toward safety procedures was significant. In addition, the indirect effect of organizational dehumanization on safety compliance and safety participation via safety motivation was marginally significant. Theoretical contributions for both organizational dehumanization and safety behaviors literatures, as well as practical implications are discussed.

In this paper, we integrate displaced aggression theory with organizational dehumanization research to examine the trickle-out effects of organizational dehumanization. Specifically, we argue that supervisors who feel dehumanized by their organization will displace their aggression toward their subordinates by engaging in supervisor undermining behaviors. Undermined subordinates, in turn, will displace their own aggression toward their family members through family undermining behaviors, ultimately impairing the latter's relationship satisfaction and perceptions of emotional support. Furthermore, these mediated relationships are exacerbated when supervisors' fear of retaliation from the organization is high. We tested the research model in two independent studies using multi-source data: (1) a four-wave investigation of 184 full-time employees along with their spouses and supervisors (Study 1) and (2) 175 supervisor-subordinate-family member triads (Study 2). Results of Study 1 suggested that supervisors' perceptions of organizational dehumanization were associated with subordinates' perceptions of supervisor undermining. This, in turn, was associated with spouse-reported undermining behaviors and ultimately spouse-reported relationship satisfaction. In Study 2, we went one step further and showed that supervisors' perceptions of organizational dehumanization were serially related to family outcomes (i.e., relationship satisfaction and perceptions of emotional support) via subordinates' perceptions of supervisor undermining and family members' reports of family undermining. Further, high fear of retaliation strengthened these mediated relationships. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

n/a

The present research investigates whether employees felt more alienated from their work during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it, and examines the causes and consequences of this increase in work alienation. To do so, two longitudinal studies using data collected before (T1; October 2019 [Study 1] and November 2019 [Study 2]) and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (T2; May 2020 [Studies 1 and 2]) were conducted (i.e. repeated measures). Data of both studies were analyzed using unobserved effects panel data models. Results of Study 1 (N = 197) indicated that employees reported higher levels of work alienation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going one step further, results of Study 2 (N = 295) showed that this higher feeling of work alienation may be explained by an increase in professional isolation and a decrease in meaningfulness of work induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results also demonstrated that this increase in work alienation negatively affected employees’ job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. Findings are discussed and practical implications for managers are identified., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published