Effects of a Bad Day at Work Rarely Last Long

Dec. 3, 2004 -- People may bring a bad mood home from a rough day at the office, but those moods rarely last long, according to a new study.

Researchers found that both good and bad moods from work may spillover into home time, but the effect of job satisfaction on mood is only temporary and depends largely on a person's personality.

"The boundaries between work and family are pretty permeable, and this is one more piece of evidence that people do tend to take their work home," says researcher Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Florida, in a news release. "The one comfort is that the effect is short-lived and gone by the next day."

The results of the study appear in a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Workday Moods Spill Into Night

In the study, researchers surveyed a random sample of 74 employees at the University of Florida who had access to a computer at work and at home. The group consisted of administrative employees such as secretaries and office managers.

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Each of the participants completed job satisfaction surveys and mood surveys at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. each day at work and once at night at home for two weeks.

Researchers assessed the mood of the workers on a six-point scale based on how strongly they felt about statements such as "right now each minute of work seems like it will never end" and "right now I find real enjoyment in my work."

The results showed that job satisfaction at work was associated with a good mood after work. But employees who had a stressful day at work also tended to bring their bad mood home with them.

Researchers say the amount of mood spillover from work to home depended largely on whether the person was an introvert or extrovert.

Extroverts were more likely to talk about their day at work when they got home than introverts, who tended to keep their emotions about work inside.

Researchers say that for some people, expressing how their day at work went may provide a catharsis and help them get things off their chests.

"We know that moods are fairly ephemeral or fleeting so that even though we are affected by these experiences, our mind has the ability to digest them and reset by the next day," says Judge.