Daily well-being in remote vs. in-person work: The role of personality and socio-demographic moderators

Abstract

Person-environment fit has been a subject of interest in personality psychology. In recent years, remote work has emerged as important workplace environment. This study examines the association between remote vs. in-person work and well-being, and how personality, age, and other socio-demographic factors moderate these associations. Over one month, 553 participants, who engage in both remote and in-person work, completed a daily diary. Using multilevel models, we examined intra-individual well-being differences between home and workplace days. Participants reported better mood, but greater loneliness on home-office vs. workplace days, while satisfaction levels were similar. HEXACO traits and socio-demographics accounted for some individual differences in well-being. Higher emotionality amplified loneliness on home-office days compared to workplace days. Age did not moderate well-being differences. Overall, findings indicate that work environments (remote vs. office) are related to within-individual well-being differences. Personality traits and socio-demographic characteristics, aside from living with children and working hours, played a limited role. These results suggest that well-being differences across working locations are generalizable across a large age range, different personality characteristics, and socio-demographic groups.

Plain language summary

Our goal was to understand how people feel on days when they work at home compared with days they work in the office. Over one month, 553 employees who worked both from home and in the office were asked to complete a short questionnaire each evening, indicating their well-being in terms of mood, loneliness and satisfaction.

What did we find?

- On days people worked from home, they reported a better overall mood, but felt lonelier than on office days.

- Satisfaction levels did not differ much between home and office days.

- People with higher emotionality felt lonelier on days when they worked from home.

- Living with children and total work hours also played a small role.

- Age was not related to well-being differences across working locations.

What does it mean?

Our study shows that people’s everyday well-being differs depending on whether they work at home or in the office. While some personality traits and personal situations matter a little, our findings suggest that these differences in well-being apply to many people, regardless of age and background.