Coworker Influences on Employee Responsiveness After Work, Vigor, and Creativity

While prior research has identified the harmful effects of off-the-job responsiveness on employees, coworkers’ roles in this process have been largely unknown. Guided by social learning theory and conservation of resource theory, we contend that coworkers’ daily off-the-job responsiveness can spread to affect employees’ daily off-the-job responsiveness, thereby impacting employees’ daily on-the-job vigor and hence daily creativity. We collected data from 235 employee-coworker dyads over 10 workdays and showed that (a) coworkers’ daily off-the-job responsiveness (and on-the-job vigor) were indeed positively related to employees’ daily off-the-job responsiveness (and on-the-job vigor), and (b) employees’ daily off-the-job responsiveness negatively predicted their own daily on-the-job vigor, lowering their daily creativity. Moreover, extraverts (vs. introverts) were even more likely to experience these effects. This study contributes to the employee communication and work-life balance literatures by revealing why coworkers’ daily off-the-job responsiveness and on-the-job vigor can be contagious, shaping employee daily creativity, especially for extraverts.