The Curvilinear Relationship Between Daily Time Pressure and Work Engagement: The Role of Psychological Capital and Sleep

The present study focuses on the fluctuation in work engagement by examining the relationship between daily time pressure and daily work engagement. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, this study also tests whether psychological capital and sleep moderate the influence of time pressure on work engagement. We conducted a diary study to gather 67 participants' data over 10 consecutive work days (502 daily measurement points), including their daily time pressure, work engagement, and sleep quality. Our results indicate that there is a curvilinear relationship between daily time pressure and work engagement in the form of an inverted U-shape. If it was lower than the optimal level, daily time pressure as a challenging stressor positively predicted daily work engagement. Substantial time pressure impaired daily work engagement. In addition, the curvilinear relationship between daily time pressure and work engagement was attenuated as a function of increasing psychological capital or chronic sleep quality. Specifically, compared with low psychological capital or chronic sleep quality, excessive time pressure could also positively predict daily work engagement if psychological capital or chronic sleep quality was high. In addition, this study provided preliminary evidence that daily sleep quality may not be enough to buffer the curvilinear relation. Implications for research on daily work engagement and intervention programs are discussed.