8th Business & Management Conference, Venice

THE LINKS BETWEEN TELECOMMUTING, SOCIAL SUPPORT AND MENTAL WELL-BEING AMONG TELEWORKERS

FRANK W. HAGER

Abstract:

Importance of the topic: Through limited communication possibilities, social support can be provided via structural distance only in a limited way. But exactly social support is a buffer to reduce work-related stress and diseases. The issue of workplace health promotion has so far received little attention in teleworking, which is incomprehensible, because healthy employees are the basis of an agile and competitive company. Aim of the study: The objective of this study is to identify and synthesize what is known about telecommuting, social-support and mental well-being of employees, and how these constructs are linked. Therefore, the respective understandings of social-support and of healthy work behind the background of telework has to be elaborated to develop the underlying interpretations of subjectivity, in order to propose a perspective for empirical investigations of health-oriented (tele-)working conditions. Methods: The study was carried out as a literature review, consisting information found in general and relevant science literature as well as scientific publications researched in common journal-databases. To gain a better understanding of how the constructs are linked, a conceptual model and testable hypotheses are provided. Findings: Proactive work-support, good workplace-relationships, but also support from non-work contexts are closely related to teleworkers’ mental well-being. The question, as to why some employees in the field of telework are mentally stable and can cope with perceived, unfavorable working conditions or lower social support and others fail, can be answered by individual's Sense of Coherence (SoC), a health-related resource and their ability to use available General Resistance Ressources (GRR).

Keywords: telework, social support, job strain, stress, well-being, job design, communication, telecommuting

PDF: Download