Daily Conflict and Employee Well-being: The Moderating Role of Conflict Detachment

Keywords: Conflict; well-being; conflict detachment; diary study

Abstract: Work-related well-being is a desirable psychological state that aids employees to function and perform well in their jobs and contributes to organizational performance (Grant, et al., 2007). This study examines how daily conflict events at work are related to three indicators that have considerable impact on employee occupational well-being: negative affect, emotional exhaustion, and rumination. I hypothesize further that psychological conflict detachment is a cognitive strategy that buffers the negative consequences of daily conflict for well-being. Sixty-four Dutch employees from various professions provided questionnaire and daily survey measures during five consecutive workdays. The multi-level analyses results in general confirmed the hypotheses.