{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T05:05:53Z","timestamp":1789707953134,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Rotational shift work is a defining feature of 24\/7 industries, yet its psychological consequences remain poorly understood, particularly outside Western healthcare contexts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework, this qualitative phenomenological study examined how rotational shift schedules shape the psychological well-being, work-life balance, and occupational outcomes of 16 shift workers in Saudi Arabia\u2019s petrochemical sector, selected through purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews; data were analyzed using\n                      <jats:xref>Braun and Clarke\u2019s (2019)<\/jats:xref>\n                      six-phase reflexive thematic analysis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Three overarching themes emerged: significant health effects including chronic sleep disruption, circadian rhythm misalignment, physical exhaustion, and erosion of healthy behavioral routines; complex work-life balance negotiations shaped by financial necessity, personal flexibility, social isolation, and uniquely in this cultural context, disruption to religious obligations including prayer schedules and Ramadan practices; and mixed occupational outcomes whereby rotational shifts enhanced decision-making autonomy and experiential learning while simultaneously constraining career progression, undermining professional visibility, and creating tension in workplace relationships.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings extend JD-R theory into a non-Western, non-healthcare shift work context, revealing that culturally specific demands, particularly religious and social obligations, constitute a distinct and underexamined category of psychosocial burden, with implications for organizational policies addressing sleep hygiene, religious accommodation, and structured career development for shift workers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1871679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T04:36:30Z","timestamp":1789706190000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The double-edged sword of rotational shift work: a qualitative study of worker perceptions in Saudi Arabia"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mohammad A.","family":"Algarni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Resources, King Abdulaziz University","place":["Jeddah, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Omar A.","family":"Maash","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management Science, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Yanbu Industrial College","place":["Yanbu, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.5923\/j.ijap.20190903.03","article-title":"Job satisfaction among police officers in Osun state commands: influence of perceived occupational stress and shift work","volume":"9","author":"Aderemi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. 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