Emotion Experienced at Work of Remote Workers During the Pandemic

Abstract

As the government regulated the lockdown to suppress the increase in COVID-19 cases in Spain in 2020, organizations were obligated to shift to work from home to minimize the infection risk. The pandemic-driven shift in work patterns during the outbreak had a strong influence on the organizing of work and affected people’s quality of life, health, and well-being. It is generally assumed that emotion experienced at work has both positive and negative consequences for individuals and organizations. The present study analyzed the emotions experienced at work by workers that were confined due to the COVID-19 pandemic during five consecutive workdays (from Monday to Friday). Seventy remote workers participated in this research, in order to test whether daily changes in negative job affect over time relate to changes in daily work engagement and cynicism. The hypotheses was tested through hierarchical linear models using growth modelling. The result confirms that daily shifts in job-related negative emotions can predict changes in daily work engagement and daily cynicism.