Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Employment Context Shapes Time and Stress Factors

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

SES - 1131551 Jeffrey Olick (PI) Benjamin Snyder (co-PI) University of Virginia Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Employment Context Shapes Time and Stress Factors Abstract Numerous studies have shown that time pressure is widespread among workers in today's economy. Demands on our time often exceed our ability to meet them and can become a source of stress that crosses racial, gender, and class boundaries. Moreover, in the American context, stress related to time pressure is considered as contributing to a public health crisis. Two puzzles emerge from existing research: First, objective measures of time use are poor predictors of how people experience time pressure subjectively. In other words, people who work long hours do not necessarily report feeling rushed, overwhelmed, burned out, or pressed for time. Yet, some groups with relatively low work hours and high leisure time do report feeling a great deal of time-related stress. Second, the number of people reporting time pressure has risen over the last few decades, although longitudinal statistics show no clear trend regarding a decrease in leisure time compared to the past. This project addresses this puzzle by analyzing the link between employment context and the subjective experience of time pressure. The central research question is: How do different occupational contexts shape the way people experience time, leading some to experience time as a source of stress? The data collection includes observations of and interviews with executive professionals, truck drivers and unemployed persons. The project evaluates (1) how time pressure is produced in different employment contexts, (2) how the flexibility of one's schedule and the perceived value of one's time shape the flow of work, and (3) how individuals make meaning of a time-pressured life within different cultural contexts. Broader Impacts The project addresses pressing public concern about the pace of life in modern societies like the United States. As Americans are increasingly squeezed between complex and often competing demands of work and life, the need to better understand how individuals cope with the new forms of stress created by these fast and fluid social conditions becomes paramount. Project findings will help researchers, policy makers, and employers better understand how different ways of organizing the work experience produce different forms of time-related stress.