Job Demands, Time Use and Retirement: Results from a Pilot Survey

This study explores the feasibility and validity of collecting ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data to characterize job demands and time use using data from a pilot survey administered through the Understanding America Study (UAS). We collected detailed real-time data on cognitive, physical, and social job demands alongside positive and negative affects at different times during the day, and over three days of the week, to capture differences in how people feel during work-related and non-work-related activities. To examine the concurrent validity of our EMA measures, we combined this data with a standard time diary approach. Our analysis reveals that an EMA approach is highly feasible and valid, as demonstrated by high response rates to the survey and a high degree of consistency in the activities reported between our EMA and time diary surveys. We also find significant differences in demands and emotional affects between work-related and nonwork-related activities, with work-related activities generally perceived as more socially and cognitively (but not physically) demanding, as well as associated with higher levels of stress, frustration, and boredom, and lower levels of happiness. These differences are particularly more salient for respondents who are currently working.