Lehigh Study Finds Link Between After-Hours E-Mails & Anxiety
The Lehigh School of Business published an article by Lori Friedman on a new study co-authored by Lehigh professor Liuba Belkin, along with Virginia Tech’s William Becker, and Colorado State’s Samantha A. Conroy about how “organizational expectation regarding ‘off’ hour emailing” tends to lead to anxiety, depression, absenteeism, decreased job productivity, and diminished work-family balance.
The study, entitled Exhausted, but Unable to Disconnect: The impact of Email-related Organizational Expectations on Work-family Balance, surveyed data from 385 subjects primarily from finance & banking, technology, and healthcare. The authors measured “organizational expectations, time spent on email outside of work, psychological detachment from work during off-work hours, level of emotional exhaustion and perceptions of work-family balance, among other factors.”
According to the article, the study found a clear link between “organizational after-hours email expectations and emotional exhaustion, which hinders work-family balance.” The problem is so ubiquitous that France just passed a law that bans checking work-related e-mail on weekends—and more countries are soon to follow suit.
According to the study’s authors, “The accessibility [of e-mail] contributes to experience of work overload since it allows employees to engage in work as if they never left the workspace, and at the same time, inhibits their ability to psychologically detach from work-related issues via continuous connectivity.”
The study clarifies that this kind of after-hours anxiety can be rectified if organizational leaders set clear boundaries. “The organizational culture is created through what its leaders and members define as acceptable or unacceptable behavior.” The researchers add, “Such policies…will serve as a signal of organizational caring and support, potentially increasing trust in management, work identification, job commitment and extra-role behaviors.”
According to the article, “people who prefer a strict separation of their work and family time have an even more difficult time detaching from work than those…with less rigid separation between work and family time [whose] personal preferences do not conflict with organizational expectations.”
Belkin concludes, “We believe our findings have implications for organizations, as even though in the short run being “always on” may seem like a good idea because it increases productivity, it can be dangerous in the long-run.”
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
