Thriving at work: an investigation of the independent and joint effects of vitality and learning on employee health

Abstract

Thriving at work has been defined as employees’ joint sense of vitality and learning. Based on the socially embedded model of thriving at work, we examine several competing operationalizations of thriving at work. We hypothesize effects of (a) composite thriving, (b) separate vitality and learning scores, and (c) the interaction between vitality and learning, and we explore effects of (d) the congruence between vitality and learning on self-rated physical and mental health. Data came from n = 1,064 employees who participated in a four-wave study with one-month time lags. Results of multilevel linear and polynomial regression analyses showed that composite thriving was positively related to physical health, and composite thriving and vitality were positively related to mental health at the within-person level. We found no support for interaction or congruence effects. The findings provide limited support for the assumed beneficial health effects of thriving on employees’ health. Implications for theory development include the need to revise the role of vitality and learning aspredictors of physical and mental health in the model of thriving at work.