The Impact of Working Models (WFH/Hybrid) on Emotional Intimacy, Ego Resilience and Grit of IT Professionals in India: A Post COVID Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous change in the work culture of IT employees, by introducing the WFH and Hybrid models. The present study aims to find the influence of these working models on the emotional intimacy, ego resilience, and grit of people working in IT post-COVID. The study gathered data from 120 participants, aged 26 – 45 years, with 60 in both working models using a Google form having different sections for informed consent, socio-demographic details, and self-reported questionnaires (Emotional Intimacy Scale, The Ego Resilience Scale, and Grit Scale). The responses collected were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s Correlation. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the two groups (WFH/Hybrid) and to find the linkage between the variables under study, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used. The findings of the study revealed that these working models do not have any effect on the variables under study. The empirical findings show that emotional intimacy shares a positive relationship with ego resilience. In other words, a person with high emotional intimacy is also more likely to be high on ego resilience. Likewise, ego resilience indicated a positive correlation with grit. This implies that people with a strong ability to manage their emotions and adapt to difficult situations are more likely to show perseverance in the face of challenges. Surprisingly, the study failed to find any specific connection between emotional intimacy and that of grit.