What is it about?
We examined how working from home or in the office affects employees’ well-being from day to day. Data from 114 employees showed that working from home was associated with greater autonomy and competence, which in turn related to higher work engagement and less mental strain. However, employees felt less socially connected when working from home, which was associated with lower engagement and greater strain. When remote work was common and accepted in the organization, both its benefits and drawbacks were less pronounced. The findings suggest that effective hybrid-work arrangements should combine flexibility with deliberate support for social connection and employees’ basic psychological needs.
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Why is it important?
Hybrid work is now a routine part of working life, yet its effects are neither uniformly positive nor negative. This study shows that daily well-being depends on how the work location supports autonomy, competence, and social connection. It also demonstrates that organizational norms shape these effects. The findings can help organizations design hybrid-work practices that preserve flexibility while preventing isolation and supporting employees at both locations.
Perspectives
I was particularly interested in moving beyond the question of whether working from home is simply “better” or “worse” than office work. Our findings show a more nuanced picture: the same work location can support some psychological needs while undermining others. For me, the key message is that successful hybrid work depends less on finding one ideal location and more on creating conditions in which employees can feel autonomous, capable, and connected wherever they work.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Rigotti
Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Hybrid work and daily well-being: The role of need satisfaction and telework normativeness from a self-determination theory perspective, German Journal of Human Resource Management Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, August 2026, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/23970022261477090.
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