The impact of rumination on life satisfaction of hotel employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of fear of COVID-19 and the moderating role of sedentary lifestyle

Abstract

BackgroundIt is important to determine the individual factors that cause the differentiation of negative reactions of individuals due to epidemics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating role of a sedentary lifestyle and the me-diating role of fear of COVID-19 on the relationship between rumination and life satisfaction. Intense rumination is known to have a negative impact on individuals’ life satisfaction levels. Very little is known about variables that may mediate and moderate this relationship.Participants and procedureThe study was conducted with staff members of five-star accommodation establishments in Turkey. Data were col-lected with a quantitative research method via questionnaires, completed by 386 full-time employees.ResultsThe results show that rumination negatively affects life satisfaction, and fear of COVID-19 has a mediating role be-tween rumination and life satisfaction. In addition, the study concluded that a sedentary lifestyle moderated the indi-rect effect of rumination on life satisfaction through fear of COVID-19. This finding indicates that the negative impact of rumination on life satisfaction, mediated by fear of COVID-19, decreased, as the active lifestyle level of employees increased.ConclusionsThe results indicate the importance of active lifestyles in reducing negative impacts of the fear of being infected with a disease during times of crisis such as outbreaks and ruminative thoughts on lifestyle. The findings of this study provide substantial contributions with respect to how outbreak-related negative reactions occur and differ.