Do new ways of work mean new ways of work- nonwork interface? Using a demands-resources approach for understanding satisfaction with work and nonwork life among location independent and traditional workers.

Abstract: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) become more advanced and more accessible which leads to new ways of work. A rather new phenomenon is that of location independent workers (LIWs), who are enabled by these technologies to work while traveling the world. New ways of working assumingly lead to changes in the work-nonwork interface. This study takes a demands and resources approach to examine antecedents of satisfaction with work and nonwork life among LIWs and compares them to a group of traditional workers. Ninety-four LIWs and 68 traditional workers responded to a self-report questionnaire assessing their work-related experiences (job control, task quality ambiguity, task completion ambiguity), recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, control during leisure time), ICT usage, and satisfaction with their work and nonwork life. LIWs showed higher levels of satisfaction with their work life, job control, and control during leisure time as well as feeling less ambiguous about the quality of their work than the comparison group. Hierarchical regression analyses showed different models explaining work and nonwork satisfaction for the two groups. For LIWs job control and control during leisure time predicted satisfaction with work life, while job control and relaxation were predictors for satisfaction for the comparison group. When explaining satisfaction with nonwork life, control during leisure time was a predictor among LIWs, whereas relaxation was a predictor among members of the comparison group. This study emphasizes that people differ in their work and nonwork experiences and how these experiences are related due to their way of working.