Biohacking For a Better Day? An Experimental ESM Study of Noninvasive Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Anxiety-Mediated Daily Workplace Outcomes

Research Seminar

Management & Human Resources

Speaker: Keith Leavitt

Oregon State University, USA

room Bernard Ramanantsoa 

Summary: This talk will introduce a relatively novel approach to organizational research, involving use of an investigational device intervention embedded within a daily experience sampling study. In doing so, I will "tell the story" of how this project was launched and a corporate partnership managed, with the goal of encouraging others to consider how methods and study designs developed within Organizational Behavior may be especially well-suited for other research domains. Work Anxiety impacts over 40% of Americans during their workday (APA, 2009), with implications for job performance (McCarthy et al., 2016) and turnover (Rodell & Judge, 2009). Despite significant evidence for a profound negative impact on worker wellbeing, research to date has largely overlooked potential in-situ interventions that might attenuate daily workplace anxiety. Drawing from the Neurovisceral Integration Model (Thayer & Lane,  2000) and research on workplace anxiety (Cheng & McCarthy, 2018), we leverage an experimental experience sampling (ESM) design to provide a test of the efficacy of noninvasive transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) for reducing daily workplace anxiety. Specifically, 127 professional employees completed an entry survey, were issued investigational tVNS devices, used the devices in the morning and completed twice daily surveys over the course of four work weeks. Unbeknownst to participants, the devices operated in a sham (placebic) mode for half of the study period. Analyses demonstrate a that active (versus sham) use of the device led to a significant decrease in reported mid-day workplace anxiety for participants high (but not low) in dispositional stress reactivity. Mid-day workplace anxiety in turn mediated significant effects on end-of-day reported workplace anxiety, aversive physical symptoms, daily job engagement, and daily job performance. Moreover, latent growth analysis suggests a cumulative growth trajectory for tVNS usage. I will conclude by discussing ongoing and planned research leveraging the tVNS devices for organizational research, including implications for work-life spillover, leader behavior, and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.