Investigating Job Embeddedness, Organizational Commitment, and Work Stress Through a Stress-Reducing Mobile App in the Professional Sports Industry

Interns profoundly impact the workplace, including spaces like professional sports. Sports management internship programs are critical for interns’ academic and employability success but are also a source of skilled workers for the employer (Chang et al., 2019; Sattler & Achen, 2021). Interns bring attachments to specific teams, cultivating their work experiences through job embeddedness and organizational commitment (Hawzen et al., 2018; Mitchell et al., 2001). The interns battle role-related stressors specific to the industry, worksite, academic major, and position while finding a work-life balance (Chang et al., 2019). This study explored relationships between professional sports interns’ work stress, job embeddedness, organizational commitment, and a stress-reducing mobile app. The study measured interns' job embeddedness, commitment, and stress before and after using the app, with focus group insights providing a deeper look into their experiences. The interns’ experiences suggest that the mobile app may positively influence sports management interns’ job embeddedness, organizational commitment, and self-awareness. The implications may benefit the interns, sports management, industry, and participating shareholders. Keywords: internship, job embeddedness, organizational commitment, work stress, work-life balance, stress-reducing mobile app, mixed methods, professional sports