Should I pet or should I work? Human-animal interactions and (tele)work engagement: an exploration of the underlying within-level mechanisms

• Autor(a) principal: Junça Silva, A.
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/27729
• topic: Human-animal interaction; Affect; Work engagement; Mindfulness; Multilevel analyses

Aims: Human-animal interactions (HAI) have been found to have an extensive and significant influence on individuals’ well-being and health-related outcomes. However, there are few studies that examine this influence on work-related contexts, such as teleworking. In the current study, we relied on the affective events theory to examine the effect of daily HAI on employee daily work engagement and the underlying mechanisms (daily affect ratio and state mindfulness), by resorting to a daily diary study. Method: To test our hypotheses, we collected daily data during five consecutive working days with pet owners (N=400*5=2000). Findings: Multilevel results showed that interacting with pets during the working day was positively associated with daily work engagement, but this positive relationship was stronger for individuals with lower levels of mindfulness. Further analyses showed that the daily affect ratio mediated the moderating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between daily interactions with pets and daily work engagement. Practical implications: These findings provide strong support for the proposed mediated moderation model; indeed, positive affect and mindfulness help to explain the positive effect of human-animal interactions on work engagement. Hence, managers may consider the adoption of teleworking, even in a hybrid format for those workers who own pets, because interacting with pets may be a strategy to make them feel more positive affect and, in turn, more enthusiastic, dedicated, and absorbed in their work. Originality: This study is one of the first studies to demonstrate the importance of adopting pet-friendly practices, such as allowing pet owners to telework, as a way to promote daily work engagement.