The interest in the construct of resilience in work- and organizational psychology has increased within the past years. Research within the challenge-hindrance framework has shown that stressors do not affect working outcomes such as strain and work engagement in an equal way. Yet, the potential influence of resilient behavioral skills as a potential moderator are not well understood.
A diary study was used to investigate the influence of resilient behavior on strain and work engagement on an intraindividual level (N = 95; 58.9% females). Furthermore, potential interaction effects of resilient behavior with time pressure (challenge stressor) and role ambiguity (hindrance stressor) were examined.
Multilevel analysis showed that employees report less irritation (as indicator for strain) (β = -.27, p<.05) and more work engagement (β = .22, p<.001) on days they used resilient behavioral tactics. A significant interaction effect between time pressure and resilient behavior on work engagement was revealed (β = -.11, p<.01). With high resilient behavior, work engagement is always high independent on the amount of time pressure.
The results highlight the meaning of resilient behavioral skills for employees and organizations. This research contributes to a better understanding of interaction mechanism of resilience in working life.