The Influence of Leadership on Employees' Work-nonwork Interface and Wellbeing: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Occupational Health Psychology
• Management Science

Background:

• Increasingly blurred work-nonwork boundaries negatively impact employee wellbeing and recovery.
• Existing research inadequately addresses leadership's role in the leadership-wellbeing relationship concerning spillover and recovery.
• Longitudinal research is crucial for understanding these dynamic processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance understanding of leadership's role in the employee work-nonwork interface, spillover, and recovery.
• To synthesize existing literature on leadership, spillover, and recovery processes impacting employee wellbeing.
• To identify research gaps and methodological limitations in current studies.

Main Methods:

• A narrative synthesis of 21 studies following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews.
• Analysis of theoretical approaches and research gaps in leadership and wellbeing literature.
• Identification of methodological issues and potential remedies for future research.

Main Results:

• Work-nonwork research often adopts a negative, conflict-based perspective, yet studies focus more on positive leadership.
• Two main categories of mechanisms were identified: bolstering/hampering and buffering/strengthening.
• Personal energy resources are critical, suggesting a need for more affect-driven theories.

Conclusions:

• Leadership plays a vital role in managing work-nonwork spillover and promoting employee recovery and wellbeing.
• Future research should adopt a more integrated resource-demands perspective, incorporating spillover and recovery.
• Recommendations are provided for advancing theoretical and methodological approaches in this field, emphasizing diverse sectors and populations.