Specific features of the working environment as contributors to employee’s subjective well-being

Abstract

This article presents research aimed at operationalizing the psychosocial features of the work environment that influence subjective well-being, engagement, and cognitive functioning within organizations. The study surveyed 800 people, aged 18 to 70 years (M = 38, 70% women) residing in cities across Russia. The respondents were surveyed online. Methods: An empirical cross-sectional design was employed, with research questions and hypotheses developed based on a comprehensive review of existing studies. The following questionnaires were used: the Job Content Questionnaire (R. Karasek); the Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5); the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; E. Diener); the Psychologically Rich Life Questionnaire (PRLQ-17; S. Oishi et al.); an adapted version of Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ; F. Morgenson); the Work Adjustment Scale (adapted by S. Manichev et al.); the Russian version of the Job Crafting Questionnaire’ (JCQ; G. Slemp); the Russian version of the Career Crafting Assessment’ (CCA; J. Lee et al.). Multivariate regression analysis, using stepwise exclusion, was conducted using JASP. Results: The results indicate that the design of the work environment explains 26–29% of the variance in subjective well-being. Four key factors — task variety, social support, feedback, and workplace convenience — were found to be significant predictors of wellbeing across all the studied aspects. These factors of the work environment are crucial to enhancing employees’ psycho-emotional well-being, health, and life satisfaction. Furthermore, proactive job crafting was identified as an important skill for improving engagement, productivity, and emotional well-being in the workplace. This skill is amenable to development, while existing interventions have shown moderate effectiveness. The findings suggest that proactive job crafting interventions can be utilized to enhance work engagement.