Gender and Work Experience as Moderators of Relations between Management Level, Physical Activity, Eating Attitudes, and Social Skills of Managers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Being employed in a managerial position is often associated with maintaining high standards in many aspects of life. Many leaders pay attention to their physical activity, eating habits, and social skills. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought additional difficulties to the already-demanding job of managing people and forced managers to make many changes to their daily functioning at work. The main goal of this study was to establish whether Gender, Experience, and Management Level influenced respondents’ healthy behaviors (eating attitudes and physical activity) or soft skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic with a sample of 348 managers from a variety of companies (n = 222 women, n = 126 men) with different levels of experience and responsibility. The authors used the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), four questions from the Physical Activity Objectives Questionnaire, and a self-authored soft skills questionnaire. The results showed that, compared to females, males were characterized by lower levels on all three EAT-26 scales: Bulimia and Food Preoccupation, Oral Control, and Dieting. On the other hand, male respondents who held high managerial positions were characterized by high levels of Dieting, Oral Control, Bulimia, and Food Preoccupation. This analysis provides insights that may help improve the quality of life of employees; however, further research is needed to investigate the direct influence of managers on employees in different industries.


Introduction
During the worldwide crisis caused by the pandemic, almost all workplaces had to make significant changes quickly-in particular; switching to remote working [1]. For a variety of reasons, managers are a professional group that may have been particularly vulnerable to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The feeling of a real threat to their health, considerable distress about their work, and the need for a sudden reorganization of the workplace for subordinates could have been sources of significant anxiety for this group, in addition to the more typical demands of the role of manager. Holding a managerial position is often associated with maintaining high standards of appearance, diet, physical activity (PA), and social skills. A manager often wishes to set a good example as part of their management of human resources. For this reason, physical fitness is considered an excellent way to build physical, psychological, and social resiliency among managers and is therefore important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Another significant motivation for undertaking PA is that physically fit leaders have been found to have increased stamina and mental focus [2][3][4][5]. Moreover, leaders who exercise regularly might benefit such as personality traits, social competence, communication, language, personal habits, interpersonal skills, managing people, and leadership [15]. Cimatii adds that the term "soft skills" is an indicator of all the competencies not directly connected to a specific task that pertains to relationships with other people in the organization. The whole quality of an enterprise depends strongly on the soft skills possessed by personnel at every level [16].
This paper sought to describe managers of different levels and experiences and their cooperation with employees during the pandemic. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate whether gender, management level, and experience were associated with a manager's soft skills and PA levels. Therefore, we formulated the following research questions: (1) How does gender affect the eating attitudes and PA of managers? (2) Are experience and management level mediators of managers' PA levels and soft skills?

Sample
This study group consisted of managers from Polish companies invited to participate in this study using the snowball sampling procedure. Prior to the start of this study, participants gave their written consent to participate. Data were collected in 2022, during the fourth and fifth waves of the pandemic. This study was conducted using an online questionnaire.

Instruments
The research survey began with a questionnaire constructed by the authors of this study, consisting of seven questions concerning managers' soft skills, three questions regarding PA, and five questions collecting information about the attitude of managers towards COVID-19. Below are the specific elements of the researched social skills, together with sample questions.
(a) Emotional Interest ('Do you have more interest in your subordinates' emotional lives during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it?') (b) Motivation ('Do you motivate your subordinates with words, e.g., "You can do this," "I believe in you", more often during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it?') (c) Supporting ('Do you ask your subordinates questions such as "What is your biggest fear?" or "How can I help you?" more often during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it?') (d) Health Interest ('Has the COVID-19 pandemic increased your interest in the health of your subordinates?') We used four questions from the Physical Activity Objectives Questionnaire, in its Polish version by Lipowski and Zaleski [17], to assess PA over the course of a month. Participants responded to the following questions: (1) 'Do you participate in classes (e.g., in a fitness club/gym)?'-yes/no response; (2) 'How many times a month?'-open question; (3) 'Do you engage in physical activity on your own?'-yes/no response; (4) 'How many times a month?'-open question.
We used the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), in its Polish version by Rogoza, Brytek-Matera, and Garner [18], to assess the eating behaviors of the participants. The test consists of three subscales concerning: Dieting (e.g., 'I am preoccupied with a desire to be thinner'), Bulimia and Food Preoccupation (e.g., 'I feel that food controls my life'), and Oral Control (e.g., 'I cut food into small pieces'). The participants responded to 26 items on a five-point Likert scale (1-always; 5-never). Cronbach's alpha for the Polish version of the EAT-26 was relatively good (0.85).
The online survey took place from January 2022 to December 2022. All the questionnaires used for the purpose of this online study are attached in Appendix C.

Statistical Analysis
All statistical analysis, tables, and figures were generated in R [19] using the kableExtra [20], ggplot [21], and jtools [22] packages. We performed a series of regression models with Gender and Experience as moderators (divided by median split Me = 24 years for Short and Long Experience groups). The analysis is divided into two sections: the first pertains to the Gender moderator and the second to the Management Level moderator. Furthermore, an analysis of the collected COVID-19-related variables was performed: Previous COVID-19 disease; Opinion of Diagnosis Against COVID, Being Vaccinated, and Opinion of Mandatory Vaccinations (variable characteristics are presented in Appendix A). To check the robustness of the tested models, we conducted a series of additional regression analyses, controlling for the moderating effects of the aforementioned COVID-19-related information. These analyses showed that the introduction of these variables into the models had almost no effect on the analyzed moderation effects. These results are presented in Appendix B.

Results
Below, Table 1 shows sample characteristics, descriptive statistics, and frequencies for the variables used in the analyses in gender subgroups. The table indicates that females had a lower diet score and BMI than males. BMI by category division showed that females had a rather normal weight, but males were rather overweight. There were also significant effects of education. Females often had a higher master's degree than males, but males often had a higher PhD than females. Further, analysis of the rows of the table indicates that females had higher scores in terms of supporting, emotional, health interest, and motivating. There were no other significant differences between males and females.

Analysis of Gender
Regression analysis for Bulimia and Food Preoccupation showed significant results: F(3, 342) = 3.54, p < 0.05: R 2 = 0.03, adj. R 2 = 0.02. The analysis showed that males had lower Bulimia and Food Preoccupation than females. There was also a significant interaction between Gender and Management Level.
The last regression model related to the Gender moderator. The supporting social skill as a dependent variable had a significant result: F(3, 342) = 5.20, p < 0.01, R 2 = 0.04, adj. R 2 = 0.04. The analysis showed that males had lower Supporting than females. There was also a significant interaction between Gender and Management Level.     There was also a model for PA level; however, this model was not significant: F(3, 342) = 2.10, p > 0.05. Results are presented in Figure 5. There was also a model for PA level; however, this model was not significant: F(3, 342) = 2.10, p > 0.05. Results are presented in Figure 5. There was also a model for PA level; however, this model was not significant: F(3, 342) = 2.10, p > 0.05. Results are presented in Figure 5.
The model for PA level was significant, F(3, 342) = 3.28, p < 0.05, but only for the intercept term, a = 1.04, t = 5.33, p < 0.001. The predictors and interaction terms were not significant. Results are presented in Figure 10. The model for PA level was significant, F(3, 342) = 3.28, p < 0.05, but only for the intercept term, a = 1.04, t = 5.33, p < 0.001. The predictors and interaction terms were not significant. Results are presented in Figure 10. The model for PA level was significant, F(3, 342) = 3.28, p < 0.05, but only for the intercept term, a = 1.04, t = 5.33, p < 0.001. The predictors and interaction terms were not significant. Results are presented in Figure 10. All regression model estimates with two main effects and interactions are presented in Table 2.

Discussion
Taking care of the mental and physical health of both one's employees and oneself should be an important element in the life of every manager and, indeed, everybody in general. Employers have been increasingly focusing on supporting the mental health of employees, even before the pandemic [23]. Therefore, the main aim of this paper was to determine whether variables such as Gender, Experience, and Management Level influenced managers' healthy behaviors (eating attitudes and physical activity; PA) and soft skills during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study showed some significant results. First, there were gender differences in eating attitudes and certain social skills. Males were characterized by lower levels of all three scales of EAT-26 (Bulimia and Food Preoccupation, Oral Control, and Dieting) compared to females. It is important to note that neither the women nor the men who participated in this study were found to exhibit symptoms of eating disorders. However, it is crucial to emphasize that eating attitudes in this study were evaluated using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), originally designed for clinical samples to assess the propensity toward eating disorders. Therefore, exercising caution when interpreting the results is imperative [18]. Nonetheless, male respondents who held high managerial positions were characterized by high levels of Dieting, Oral Control, Bulimia, and Food Preoccupation. This particular group of respondents indicated concerns about body weight, body shape, and eating that are stereotypically expressed by women because women's overall self-esteem is highly dependent on positive body image [24]. Though it should be noted that nowadays men attach greater importance to their appearance, which is also particularly emphasized in the corporate world, Taking care of oneself physically sets a good example for employees and is an indicator of self-control and success. On the other hand, the increasing emphasis on appearance in the corporate world, particularly among men, poses a range of challenges and concerns related to mental health, workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, productivity, and sustainability. These issues warrant careful consideration and proactive measures to ensure a balanced and equitable work environment [25,26]. Van der Put and Ellwardt [27] confirmed in their studies that healthy behaviors among both employers and colleagues can contribute to creating a culture of health in the workplace and support all employees in making healthy choices. Nickson's [28] description of the workplace environment emphasizes that today's society seems to be obsessed with physical attractiveness. In certain organizational contexts, the way you look can make the difference between being hired or fired. Upon contrasting the findings of our present study with those of other investigations that have delved into people's dietary behaviors amid the pandemic, a notable deduction emerges: the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to trigger favorable transformations in individuals' eating habits. This supposition finds validation in data collected from a cohort of approximately 900 adults in the United States. Particularly noteworthy is the observation that individuals of younger age and higher educational attainment, with a heightened emphasis on health considerations, display a heightened likelihood of adopting positive dietary modifications [29]. Moreover, an examination of parental healthy eating behaviors uncovers a substantial gender disparity: Fathers and males exhibit significantly greater involvement in health-conscious dietary practices. This discrepancy highlights the pandemic's overarching constructive impact on the assimilation of health-oriented dietary behaviors. This influence is encapsulated by its comprehensive effect on perceptions and behavioral patterns pertaining to dietary choices [30].
We also assumed that PA would differ between female and male respondents. However, men and women in the group of managers studied had the same levels of PA. This could be due to the current social trend of women and men having similar levels of PA and possibly dietary restrictions, as well as interventions and programs that increase PA and decrease sedentary time at work. A study by Pronk [31] points out that the workplace provides a range of opportunities for PA, using a social-ecological framework with five broad levels: personal, social, communication (including information technologies), physical, and political. The author suggests the workplace is a communal setting where these five broad levels intersect and where effective strategies and tactics work with women and men alike. On the contrary, the majority of studies indicate that there were differences between women and men in terms of their level of physical activity during COVID-19. It was found that males were more active than females and had distinct motivations for engaging in physical activity [32][33][34].
With regard to Experience and Management Level, there were a number of important observations in the current analysis. Managers with more experience and in higher positions had the strongest social skills, such as emotional and health concerns, as well as supportive and motivational attitudes toward their employees. This could be explained by their having developed a significant body of knowledge and strategies to help employees over the course of their careers be effective in difficult or crisis situations. Begtrup et al. [35], analyzing the impact of a manager-oriented intervention on the well-being of hospital and daycare workers, suggested that training managers in implementing an explicit and positive supportive approach would result in a better work environment and employee well-being. Herr et al. [36] found that ambivalent supervisor-employee relationships had an overall impact on depression, anxiety, vitality, and exhaustion among workers. At the individual and group levels, there was a consistent relationship between ambivalent leadership and higher levels of psychological distress. However, our assumptions were not confirmed: we found no effects of Experience and Management Level on PA levels. The participants in this study seemed very similar in this regard. Companies are putting more and more effort and focus into PA and exercise interventions in the workplace in order to improve work outcomes. The systematic review of White et al. [37] concluded that short and simple exercise and fitness programs, in particular, have an impact on absenteeism from work, work productivity, and financial outcomes.
This study has some limitations. There is no data concerning the character of the corporations the respondents were working for or their place of residence, which could have provided meaningful context and thereby revealed other significant correlations. This study may also have been limited by the fact that the data on PA were not very detailed; future research should look more closely at the exercise habits of the participants. Further research is needed to increase our knowledge of the relationships between these factors among managers in different industries. In particular, future research should focus on younger managers, who are understudied in the context of PA, social skills, and eating attitudes. For the quality of life of employees, this research has many benefits: improving the effectiveness and efficiency of managers can, in turn, improve employees' professional and domestic lives.

Conclusions
This study aimed to investigate the influence of Gender, Experience, and Management Level on managers' healthy behaviors and soft skills in the challenging context of the COVID-  19 pandemic. The findings revealed noteworthy insights. Gender differences were evident, with males exhibiting lower scores across various scales of eating attitudes, though without indicating any presence of eating disorders. Interestingly, male managers in high-ranking positions displayed higher levels of specific eating attitudes, raising concerns deserving of further exploration. Surprisingly, no significant gender disparities were detected in physical activity levels among the managers studied. Examining Experience and Management Level revealed significant patterns, as more experienced and higher-ranking managers demonstrated stronger social skills, including emotional support, health concerns, and motivational attitudes towards their employees. These insights can guide strategies to promote healthy behaviors and enhance soft skills among managers, fostering resilient and effective leadership in challenging times. However, further research is encouraged to deepen our understanding of these dynamics and their implications for workplace well-being.

Data Availability Statement:
The data is available by contacting the second co-author of the study.

Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Appendix B
The tables below present regression models for moderation effects controlling for COVID-19-related variables.