Psychosocial influence of blended working: the reciprocity of blended working and organizational optimism

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of blended working (BW) on individual payoffs like psychological ownership (PO), affective organizational commitment (AOC) and digital stress (DS). Additionally, the study also examines the moderating role of organizational optimism (OO) on the relationships stated to determine the boundary condition of the relationship between BW and the individual payoffs.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal field survey based on executives employed in the Indian service industries (comprised of state-owned banks, three healthcare and four MNCs) was conducted. Levels of BW, AOC, PO, DS and OO were measured through a validated scale, and the relationships' significance was explored.

Findings

The result indicated that BW positively influences AOC and DS, while OO influences PO positively and DS negatively. OO also moderates the influence of BW on PO and DS.

Originality/value

This research extends its contribution to the extant literature by (1) exploring the unique context of research in work conditions (BW) across India, (2) examining macro level factor (OO) in the linkage between BW and psychosocial factors, (3) investigating the moderating effect of OO and (4) considering a relatively large sample for empirical analysis in several waves to study BW and its individual pay-offs.

Citation

Thakur, K., Mishra, T., Jena, L.K. and Pal, S. (2024), "Psychosocial influence of blended working: the reciprocity of blended working and organizational optimism", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 521-538. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-02-2023-0075