The happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT) is considered the Holy Grail of management research, and it proposes caeteris paribus, happy workers show higher performance than their unhappy counterparts. However, eudaimonic well-being in the relationship between happiness and performance has been understudied. This paper provides a systematized review of empirical evidence in order to make a theoretical contribution to the happy-productive worker thesis from a eudaimonic perspective. Our review covers 105 quantitative studies and 188 relationships between eudaimonic well-being and performance. Results reveal that analyzing the eudaimonic facet of well-being provides general support for the HPWT and a much more comprehensive understanding of how it has been studied. However, some gaps and nuances are identified and discussed, opening up challenging avenues for future empirical research to clarify important questions about the relationship between happiness and performance in organizations.

In organizations, psychologists have often tried to promote employees’ well-being and performance, and this can be achieved through different pathways. The happy-productive worker thesis states that ‘happy’ workers perform better than ‘unhappy’ ones. However, most studies have focused on hedonic well-being at the expense of the person’s eudaimonic experience. This study examines whether orientations to happiness (i.e., life of pleasure/meaning) are related to hedonic (i.e., perception of comfort) and eudaimonic (i.e., activity worthwhileness) experiences that, in turn, improve performance. We applied multilevel structural equation modeling to diary data (68 office workers; n = 471 timepoints). We obtained significant effects of: life of pleasure on self-rated performance through activity worthwhileness, life of meaning on performance (self-rated, rated by the supervisor) through activity worthwhileness, and life of meaning on performance rated by the supervisor through perception of comfort. Results show more significant paths from/or through eudaimonia to performance than from/or through hedonia. The results suggest that the pursuit and/or experience of eudaimonic happiness is more beneficial for work performance than the pursuit and/or experience of hedonic happiness. Theoretical and practical implications for organizations are discussed.

This study examines the paths through which Covid-19 can negatively impact health and lead to somatic symptoms. Based on the dual process theory, fears can impair health in two ways: through psychological distress, which is an automatic reaction to fear, and through a more conscious and deliberative rumination process. Data from a representative sample of the Spanish population (N = 3083 subjects,18 years or older) were obtained from a Survey by the Sociological Research Center (CIS). The dual path model was tested, and a longer sequence was included where the two mediators act sequentially to produce an impact on somatic symptoms. The results showed how Covid-19 fears translate into somatic problems. Beyond the direct relations, and after comparing with other possible alternative models, our findings support a process where rumination mediates between fears and psychological distress, and psychological distress in turn leads to somatic problems. This process reveals a plausible mechanism that explains the somatization of health problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it provides theoretical and practical inputs to better understand the role of fears in health in crisis contexts.

Background: Different studies have shown a relationship between office environmental stressors and performance. However, studying environmental stress in the workplace requires analyzing more specific patterns to generate knowledge about the type of employees who are more or less vulnerable to environmental stressors. The present study analyzes the mediating role of health symptoms and negative emotions in the relationship between stressors and performance in different work patterns (task complexity and interactivity). Methods: There were 83 office workers (n = 603 time points) that took part in a diary study with multilevel design. Results: The appraisal of the environmental stressors is positively related to health-related symptoms, which in turn increase negative emotions, and then decrease the performance of workers who perform complex tasks and interact frequently with other people at work. This mediation is not significant when office workers do not interact frequently with other people at work and/or perform simple, rather than complex tasks. Conclusions: Work patterns play an important role when studying the mediating role of health-related symptoms and negative emotions in the relationship between the appraisal of environmental stressors and performance in office workers. In other words, employees in the ‘interactive and complex’ pattern are more vulnerable to the negative effects of office stressors on performance.

Este estudio evalúa la efectividad de FOURCHAT (FOrmación Universitaria en uso Responsable de CHATgpt), una intervención educativa diseñada para promover el uso crítico y responsable de ChatGPT entre estudiantes universitarios. La investigación, que contó con 150 estudiantes de tres grados diferentes (111 en grupo experimental y 39 en control), analizó los cambios en la confianza hacia los resultados de ChatGPT y las conductas de comprobación de la información, examinando además la relación de estas variables con la responsabilidad digital y el pensamiento crítico. Para esto, se realizaron medidas pre y post intervención, comparando ambos grupos a través de ANOVA factorial y regresiones lineales. Los resultados muestran que la intervención fue efectiva, especialmente en el incremento de conductas de comprobación en el grupo experimental, mientras que estas disminuyeron en el grupo control. Asimismo, la responsabilidad digital mostró una relación significativa con la disminución de la confianza y el aumento de las conductas de comprobación post-intervención. En conclusión, este trabajo destaca la importancia de formar al estudiantado en el uso ético de las herramientas de IA para favorecer su desarrollo académico y fomentar una inclusión óptima de estas tecnologías en la educación superior.

Las oficinas inteligentes y sostenibles (SSO) requieren sinergias entre las tecnologías y los comportamientos de los usuarios. El enfoque sociotécnico considera los motivos, las actitudes, las cogniciones y los comportamientos de los usuarios al diseñar entornos de trabajo. Esta nota describirá esos fenómenos en entornos de oficina. También presentará un conjunto de herramientas para evaluar esos fenómenos y proporcionará pautas para mejorarlos.