Too Committed to Switch Off—Capturing and Organizing the Full Range of Work-Related Rumination from Detachment to Overcommitment

Oliver Weigelt (), J. Charlotte Seidel, Lucy Erber, Johannes Wendsche, Yasemin Z. Varol, Gerald M. Weiher, Petra Gierer, Claudia Sciannimanica, Richard Janzen and Christine J. Syrek
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Oliver Weigelt: Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, D-04109 Leipzig, Germany
J. Charlotte Seidel: Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, D-04109 Leipzig, Germany
Lucy Erber: Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, D-04109 Leipzig, Germany
Johannes Wendsche: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Section 3 Work and Health, D-01099 Dresden, Germany
Yasemin Z. Varol: Educational Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, D-60629 Frankfurt, Germany
Gerald M. Weiher: Educational Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, D-60629 Frankfurt, Germany
Petra Gierer: Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Hagen, D-58084 Hagen, Germany
Claudia Sciannimanica: Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Hagen, D-58084 Hagen, Germany
Richard Janzen: Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology, Leipzig University, D-04109 Leipzig, Germany
Christine J. Syrek: Business Psychology, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, D-53359 Rheinbach, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-29

Abstract: Work-related thoughts during off-job time have been studied extensively in occupational health psychology and related fields. We provide a focused review of the research on overcommitment—a component within the effort–reward imbalance model—and aim to connect this line of research to the most commonly studied aspects of work-related rumination. Drawing on this integrative review, we analyze survey data on ten facets of work-related rumination, namely (1) overcommitment, (2) psychological detachment, (3) affective rumination, (4) problem-solving pondering, (5) positive work reflection, (6) negative work reflection, (7) distraction, (8) cognitive irritation, (9) emotional irritation, and (10) inability to recover. First, we apply exploratory factor analysis to self-reported survey data from 357 employees to calibrate overcommitment items and to position overcommitment within the nomological net of work-related rumination constructs. Second, we apply confirmatory factor analysis to self-reported survey data from 388 employees to provide a more specific test of uniqueness vs. overlap among these constructs. Third, we apply relative weight analyses to assess the unique criterion-related validity of each work-related rumination facet regarding (1) physical fatigue, (2) cognitive fatigue, (3) emotional fatigue, (4) burnout, (5) psychosomatic complaints, and (6) satisfaction with life. Our results suggest that several measures of work-related rumination (e.g., overcommitment and cognitive irritation) can be used interchangeably. Emotional irritation and affective rumination emerge as the strongest unique predictors of fatigue, burnout, psychosomatic complaints, and satisfaction with life. Our study is intended to assist researchers in making informed decisions on selecting scales for their research and paves the way for integrating research on the effort–reward imbalance into work-related rumination.

Keywords: work-related rumination; overcommitment; psychological detachment; burnout; irritation; problem-solving pondering; positive work reflection; negative work reflection; affective rumination; satisfaction with life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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