Buffering and Boosting Effects of the Home Environment on Daily Work Engagement

This study examines how home demands and home resources jointly shape employees’ work engagement under working-from-home conditions. Based on the work–home resources (WH-R) model and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we investigate whether home resources buffer the negative relationship between home demands and work engagement and whether home demands strengthen (boost) the positive relationship between home resources and work engagement. We also examine the direct effects of home demands and home resources on work engagement, given that working from home makes home-based conditions more proximal to employees’ work-related states. Using a daily diary design, data were collected from 102 university teaching staff in China over five consecutive workdays (510 daily observations). Multilevel analyses revealed that home demands were negatively related to daily work engagement, whereas home resources were positively related to work engagement. Moreover, home resources buffered the negative effects of home demands on work engagement, and high home demands amplified the positive effects of home resources. These interaction effects were observed for home physical demands but not for home emotional demands. Our findings demonstrate the contingent, cross-domain resource dynamics through which home environments influence daily work engagement and stress the importance of considering home-based demands and resources in sustaining engagement in remote work contexts. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.