The moderation effect of  boundary control on the  relationship between job  demands, job control, and  emotional exhaustion in  COVID-times

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were forced to work from home. The sudden change of working from home causes blurry boundaries between work and non-work life and, therefore, has an impact on work-life balance. This study provides insight into the possible effect of boundary control on employee’s well-being who are working from home. The present paper investigated the interaction between job demands and job control in relation to emotional exhaustion. Subsequently, the study investigated the possible moderating effect of boundary control on this relationship. An online questionnaire, based on the Leiden Quality of Work Questionnaire (LQWQ), The Work-Life Indicator, and the Utrecht Burnout School (UBOS-A), was distributed among employees who performed their work from home (N=151). To test the four hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Contrary to the hypotheses, the interaction between job demands and job control did not predict emotional exhaustion nor...Show moreDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were forced to work from home. The sudden change of working from home causes blurry boundaries between work and non-work life and, therefore, has an impact on work-life balance. This study provides insight into the possible effect of boundary control on employee’s well-being who are working from home. The present paper investigated the interaction between job demands and job control in relation to emotional exhaustion. Subsequently, the study investigated the possible moderating effect of boundary control on this relationship. An online questionnaire, based on the Leiden Quality of Work Questionnaire (LQWQ), The Work-Life Indicator, and the Utrecht Burnout School (UBOS-A), was distributed among employees who performed their work from home (N=151). To test the four hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Contrary to the hypotheses, the interaction between job demands and job control did not predict emotional exhaustion nor boundary control. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that boundary control moderates the relationship of the interaction between job demands, job control, and emotional exhaustion. However, no moderating effect of boundary control was found within this study. This study did find a relationship between boundary control and emotional exhaustion. To conclude, this paper showed that having low boundary control is related to higher levels of emotional exhaustion. However, these results should be interpreted with some caution, due to the low reliability and validity of boundary control. Based on these results, strengths, limitations, suggestions for future research, and practical implications were proposed.Show less

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The moderation effect of boundary control on the relationship between job demands, job control, and emotional exhaustion in COVID-times