RISK OF COVID-19 INFECTION AT WORK AND PSYCHO-PHYSICAL STRAIN: THE MODERATING ROLE OF NEGATIVE AFFECTIVITY

"The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 is severely affecting many areas of everyday life, including family, education, and work. Hence, safety at work – both physical and psychological – plays a central role for organizations, which need to be productive while, at the same time, preserving employees' health and well-being. Building on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model applied to safety at work, in this study we proposed that the perceived risk of being infected with COVID-19 at work can be conceptualized as a job demand (i.e., a risk factor for work-related stress). We also proposed that negative affectivity (i.e., a dispositional dimension that reflects pervasive individual differences in negative emotionality and self-concept; NA) may be conceived as a personal demand, that is, an individual characteristic that hinders employees' abilities to effectively cope with their work environment. Hence, according to the health impairment process of the JD-R, in this study we hypothesized that the perceived risk of being infected at work (PRIW) is positively associated with psycho-physical strain (i.e., stress-related psycho-physical symptoms), which, in its turn, is negatively associate with employees’ job performance. We also hypothesized that NA affects the association between PRIW and psycho-physical strain, which is expected to be stronger for high-NA individuals. The study was carried out on a sample of 353 workers who completed a self-report questionnaire aimed at determining PRIW, NA, psycho-physical strain, and job performance. Data were analyzed using path analysis. Results showed that PRIW was positively associated with psycho-physical strain, which, in its turn, was negatively associate with job performance. The association between PRIW and job performance was not significant. Interestingly, NA moderated the association between PRIW and psycho-physical strain, which was stronger for high-NA individuals, and not significant for low-NA individuals. Overall, this study suggests that the JD-R can be successfully applied to safety at work during the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. In line with the JD-R, PRIW (a job demand) was negative associated with workers' health and job performance, although indirectly in the latter case. Moreover, NA (a personal demand) exacerbated the association between PRIW and psycho-physical strain. From a practical standpoint, this study suggests that organizations should provide workers with adequate job resources to manage the risk of infection and achieve their objectives safely (i.e., primary prevention). Furthermore, in terms of secondary prevention, interventions could help high-NA employees to develop skills to cope effectively with the risk of infection at work."