Abstract: Distractions are common in modern workplaces with noisy open-plan offices and constant digital interruptions. I use an incentivized laboratory experiment to study the effects of auditory and task-switching distractions on performance and mental well-being and to elicit willingness to pay to avoid distractions. I also elicit attitudes towards working under distractions in the lab and a Dutch survey panel. I obtain three main results. First, while working under distractions does not have a strong impact on performance in the lab, both types of distractions are detrimental to individuals' self-reported mental well-being. Second, on average, individuals are willing to pay to avoid distractions and this willingness to pay is negatively correlated with the change in mental well-being but not in performance. Lastly, the heterogeneity in the impact on mental well-being can be captured by survey questions on attitudes towards working under distractions. These questions are also correlated with income and job satisfaction in the survey data.
with Thomas Buser and Roel van Veldhuizen
Management Science, forthcoming
Abstract: Many professional and educational settings require individuals to be willing and able to perform under time pressure. We use a lab experiment to elicit preferences for working under time pressure in an incentivized way by eliciting the minimum additional payment participants require to complete a cognitive task under various levels of time pressure versus completing it without pressure. We make three main contributions. First, we document that participants are averse to working under time pressure on aggregate. Second, we show that there is substantial heterogeneity in the degree of time pressure aversion across individuals and that these individual preferences can be partially captured by simple survey questions. Third, we elicit these questions in a survey of bachelor students and show that time pressure preferences correlate with future career plans. Our results indicate that individual differences in time pressure aversion could be an influential factor in determining labor market outcomes.