The Curvilinear Relation Between Working Time Pressure And Subjective Wellbeing

Time pressure, or the experience of not having enough time to do what one wants to do(or that needs to be done), is arguably a persistent characteristic of modern life for many individuals. Researchers have been studying its influence on individuals for decades. Earlier researches concentrated mainly on the negative consequences of time pressure. Recently, however, many studies have revealed the motivating effects of it.Through synthesizing the current researches of time pressure, we have found the present studies had several problems to be solved:(1) the studied results have divergence. Few researchers had revealed time pressure had detrimental effects on people, while a growing number of studies had suggested that time pressure also lead positive effects;(2) Future studies need exam the time pressure in different domains(working and nonworking) based on mental accounting theory of time. Current studies measure the time pressure in a general and fuzzy sense, but not specific to a particular time. So the specific and accurate measurement of time pressure should be designed in the future researches.On the account of summarized of current studies, we tested the influences of working time pressure on worker's subjective wellbeing and the mechanisms underlying it. And the survey investigation was conducted on employees of the enterprises in Guangzhou. Results indicate that:(1) Results showed an inverted U-shaped working time pressure-subjective wellbeing relation. In other words, When working time pressure are at intermediate levels, individuals are “optimally stimulated” since such levels match their “characteristic” levels of activation, and employees are optimally in wellbeing; by contrast, lower or higher levels of working time pressure and activation are deviating from employees' characteristic levels, resulting in suboptimal stimulation and lower wellbeing.(2) Basic psychological need satisfaction plays a partial mediating role in the association of working time pressure with subjective wellbeing.