Summary: Small moments of shared fun with colleagues can reduce workplace stress and help employees stay engaged and creative, a new study finds.
Source: TCD
Short, positive interruptions that take employees away from unpleasant or demanding tasks can meaningfully lower stress and preserve self-control resources, according to new research by WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management together with Trinity Business School and other partners.
The international research team found that brief positivity “micro-interventions,” such as watching a short, funny video, help workers recover from taxing moments—like dealing with an irritating email or an aversive task—and return to the rest of the day more focused, creative, and cooperative.
By replenishing positive affect, these brief activities reduce the likelihood that employees enter a resource-protective state that diminishes engagement and prosocial behaviour. In practical terms, a few minutes of light-hearted distraction can help employees preserve the self-regulatory energy they need to perform well and interact positively with colleagues.
The study was led by Professor Vera Schweitzer of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management with co-authors Wladislaw Rivkin (Trinity Business School), Fabiola Gerpott (WHU), Stefan Diestel (University of Wuppertal), Jana Kühnel (University of Vienna), Roman Prem (University of Graz), and Mo Wang (University of Florida).
When you find yourself laughing at a colleague’s meme during a break, the researchers say it is worth embracing: those moments of shared enjoyment help you recover from a stressful morning and prepare for a more productive afternoon.
Professor Vera Schweitzer explained: “Our study shows that experiencing positive emotions during the workday helps employees stay effective, especially when daily demands require substantial self-control. Regulating your temper after reading an upsetting email, for instance, can be draining. That depletion can reduce the ability to stay engaged, to be creative, and to support colleagues over the remainder of the day.
“Positivity plays a protective role: watching a short funny clip or receiving an uplifting message boosts positive affect. Those emotions help employees shield their regulatory resources even after confronting resource‑draining demands. As a result, their work effectiveness improves.”
Dr Wladislaw Rivkin, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Trinity Business School, added: “Modern workplaces place heavy demands on employees’ self-control, and we still need practical strategies to prevent the stressful consequences of those demands. Our research demonstrates that short positivity interventions can help employees recover and make the best of their workday. Employers and staff should consider introducing more moments of positivity into daily routines.”
The authors suggest simple, low-cost measures that organisations could adopt: share brief humorous videos or uplifting messages in a daily bulletin, publish a light-hearted item on the intranet, or encourage short, informal social breaks. These small initiatives can reduce the negative effects of frequent self-control demands and support employee well‑being and performance.
To test these ideas, the research team ran a within-person field experiment involving 85 employees across 12 workdays. Each participant received a short text- or video-based positivity micro-intervention daily. The study measured how those interventions affected positive affect, perceived regulatory resource availability, and afternoon outcomes including work engagement, organisational citizenship behaviour, and creativity.
Results showed that on days when participants experienced enhanced positive affect through the micro-intervention, the harmful impact of midday self-control demands on afternoon effectiveness was reduced. In other words, positivity buffered the drain that otherwise led employees to conserve their remaining resources at the expense of engagement and helpful behaviours.
About this psychology research news
Author: Fiona Tyrrell
Source: TCD
Contact: Fiona Tyrrell – TCD
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access. “Some positivity per day can protect you a long way: A within-person field experiment to test an affect-resource model of employee effectiveness at work” by Vera Schweitzer et al., published in Work & Stress. DOI: 10.1080/02678373.2022.2142987
Abstract
Some positivity per day can protect you a long way: A within-person field experiment to test an affect-resource model of employee effectiveness at work
This study integrates Conservation of Resources Theory with the Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions to explain daily fluctuations in employee effectiveness. It argues that work-related self-control demands act as stressors that deplete regulatory resources, prompting employees to conserve remaining resources in ways that reduce effectiveness.
The authors propose that positive affect can replenish regulatory resources. Enhancing positive affect through short interventions should therefore prevent employees from entering a resource-preservation state on demanding days, supporting sustained engagement, creativity, and organisational citizenship behaviour.
A within-person field experiment over 12 workdays with 85 employees tested this affect-resource model. Participants received daily text- or video-based positivity micro-interventions. Findings show that when positive affect was increased through these micro-interventions, the negative pathway from midday self-control demands to reduced afternoon effectiveness—mediated by lower regulatory resource availability—was attenuated.
The research discusses implications for theories of regulatory resources, the value of within-person field experiments in organisational research, and practical steps for integrating short, positivity-based practices into everyday working life to support employee well‑being and performance.