Does better sleep quality always predict better work performance? A daily examination of sleep quality and task proactivity

We argue that better sleep quality might not always predict better work performance, especially when considering both activated affective pathways (positive and negative) and the level of analysis (daily within-person changes versus between-person differences). We examined the link between sleep quality and task proactivity via activated positive and negative affect for five consecutive working days (N = 149). On days with better sleep quality, participants reported higher task proactivity via higher activated positive affect; however, they also reported lower task proactivity via lower activated negative affect. Thus, at the within-person level, daily sleep quality had a null relationship with daily task proactivity when considering both activated affective pathways. However, at the between-person level, general sleep quality had a positive overall relationship with general task proactivity through both higher activated positive affect and lower activated negative affect. In summary, we find that an especially good or bad night’s sleep does not predict task proactivity the following day; however, general levels of sleep quality are positively related to general task proactivity. Theoretically, we suggest that the activated negative affect resulting from poor sleep can be conceptualised as a motivational resource at the daily within-person level, but a resource drain at the between-person level.