Publications

You are a helpful co-worker, but do you support your spouse? A resource-based work-family model of helping and support provision, with Remus Ilies, Helen Pluut and Su-Ying Pan (2017), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 138, 45-58

Assistant Professor Lin Jia, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Management and Marketing

Abstract

Drawing from the literature on behavioral spillover effects, the work-home resources model and research on helping at work, we investigate how help provision at work spills over to influence the provision of spousal support at home by examining a resource generation mechanism and a resource depletion mechanism. Across two experience-sampling studies, we collected data from employees and their spouses multiple times per day in different domains for ten workdays. Results from our two-study examination supported both the resource generation mechanism and the resource depletion mechanism. On days when employees helped colleagues more, they reported higher positive affect, which led to higher support provision to their spouses; meanwhile, higher levels of helping translated in less time for the family, which led to lower support provided to spouses. In Study 2, we tested and found that prosocial motivation enhanced the resource-generating effect of help provision. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Is it better to give or receive? The role of help in buffering the depleting effect of surface acting, with Marilyn Uy and Remus Ilies (in press), Academy of Management Journal

Assistant Professor Lin Jia, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Management and Marketing

Abstract

The resource depleting effect of surface acting is well established. Yet we know less about the pervasiveness of this depleting effect and what employees can do at work to replenish their resources. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and the ecological congruence model, we examine the extended depleting effect of surface acting and whether social interactions with coworkers (i.e., giving and receiving help) can mitigate the negative consequences of emotional labor by conducting a five-day diary study among customer service representatives (CSRs). Momentary reports from 102 CSRs indicate that within-person daily surface acting positively predicted end-of-day emotional exhaustion, and the effect of emotional exhaustion spilled over to work engagement the following day. Analyzing the within-person moderating effects of giving and receiving help at work, we find that giving help buffered the depletion process while receiving help did not. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of considering the temporality of the resource depleting effects of surface acting, the role of at-work help giving in buffering the negative effect of emotional labor that could affect the sense of self, and the importance of resource congruence in influencing the efficacy of buffering effects.