Teleworking and Emotional Exhaustion. The Curvilinear Role of Work Intensity

Abstract

The impact of teleworking on the emotional health of employees has been extensively discussed in academic literature. Nonetheless, the debate remains open and inconclusive. Previous research has established contradictory relationships, such as positive or negative, linear or curvilinear. However, one common feature of these studies is that the results are either partial or inconclusive. Therefore, this research aims to analyse whether teleworking and its benefits systematically alleviate emotional exhaustion or whether the relationship between the two variables has a turning point associated with work intensity. The results show that the relationship between teleworking and emotional exhaustion is curvilinear. Thus, the benefits of teleworking decrease emotional exhaustion when work intensity is low to medium. However, when teleworking exceeds four days per week, the downward trend progressively changes its orientation until the trend becomes detrimental to the employee's affective well-being. The relationship between teleworking and emotional exhaustion is complex and cannot be linearly modelled. Excessive work or certain personal traits can distort the positive characteristics of teleworking, and the benefits (resources) can become demands. Inability to disconnect from work prevents recovery and inevitably leads to a sense of emotional inadequacy. The sample size was 448 employees, and statistical analysis was done through a simple moderation process.