Remote work and wellbeing : the role of grit during Covid19 outbreak

• Autor(a) principal: Rebordão, Ana Beatriz Nogueira
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/33416
• topic: Remote work; Covid 19; Grit; Productivity; Trabalho remoto; Bem-estar; Produtividade; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Psicologia

The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the nature of work, and millions of people worldwide are currently working from their homes. Apart from the worries regarding their own physical health, and since the finishing line is not in sight, people are also fighting with the uncertainty regarding the near future. In this dissertation we aimed to address the wellbeing of remote workers and how a certain personality trait – grit – could influence how workers are coping with this new reality. Since it addresses a new topic, this paper is an exploratory study and passed first through a general approach of the data gathered in the questions of self-report measurement about remote working and the Covid-19 outbreak, and secondly it was analyzed the data collected over the following questionnaires: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (Cohen Kamarck & Mermelstein, 1983), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) (Kessler et al., 2002) and Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). The findings suggest that grit has a statistically significant correlation with a better work life balance and productivity; additionally, participants’ ability of perseverance for long-term goals (grit) is a significant predictor of one’s wellbeing. Furthermore, participants who reported having a good work life balance and productivity showed higher levels of wellbeing. Supplementary findings demonstrate that remote workers are being more productive, even though they are working more hours and reported having difficulties in maintaining a good work life balance, especially female participants. This dissertation can be used as a starting point, future studies can extend and transform it into a longitudinal study and measure the differences between the wellbeing of remote workers in a different moment of the pandemic outbreak. Finally, this dissertation has societal impact since it contributes to increase the knowledge about the pandemic and inspire and alert the institutions responsible for the policy making.