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Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework

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Abstract

This paper reviews empirical evidence on psychological detachment from work during nonwork time. Psychological detachment as a core recovery experience refers to refraining from job-related activities and thoughts during nonwork time; it implies to mentally disengage from one's job while being away from work. Using the stressor-detachment model as an organizing framework, we describe findings from between-person and within-person studies, relying on cross-sectional, longitudinal, and daily-diary designs. Overall, research shows that job stressors, particularly workload, predict low levels of psychological detachment. A lack of detachment in turn predicts high strain levels and poor individual well-being (e.g., burnout and lower life satisfaction). Psychological detachment seems to be both a mediator and a moderator in the relationship between job stressors on the one hand and strain and poor well-being on the other hand. We propose possible extensions of the stressor-detachment model by suggesting moderator variables grounded in the transactional stress model. We further discuss avenues for future research and offer practical implications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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... It is. While relaxation, mastery and control over leisure can also aid recovery (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2007), prior studies have identified psychological detachment as the most significant recovery experience (de Jonge et al., 2012;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). The essential role of psychological detachment in recovery and the threat to it posed by working from home (Charalampous et al., 2022) motivated the current study. ...
... People's ability to psychologically detach from work is determined by personality traits (Potok and Littman-Ovadia, 2014;Reis and Prestele, 2020), their preference for detachment (Jalonen et al., 2015;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015) and their social environment (Hahn et al., 2014;Hahn and Dormann, 2013;Sonnentag and Schiffner, 2019). At the same time, a high cognitive load and stressors at work can prevent detachment from it (Kubicek et al., 2022;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). ...
... People's ability to psychologically detach from work is determined by personality traits (Potok and Littman-Ovadia, 2014;Reis and Prestele, 2020), their preference for detachment (Jalonen et al., 2015;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015) and their social environment (Hahn et al., 2014;Hahn and Dormann, 2013;Sonnentag and Schiffner, 2019). At the same time, a high cognitive load and stressors at work can prevent detachment from it (Kubicek et al., 2022;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). Kubicek and colleagues (ibid.) ...
Article
Purpose This paper examines an employee's recovery process in the remote-working context. It explores which elements of remote work are energy-consuming for employees and what action they can take to instigate the essential recovery strategy of psychological detachment. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative research approach based on 89 semi-structured interviews with employees working from home with six large corporations from multiple industries. The data were interpreted using thematic analysis. Findings The study identifies a main theme – the energy-consuming elements of remote work – and three sub-themes: extended working hours, intensive working and reduced social support. Each theme incorporates elements controlled by individuals (internal) and those beyond their control (external). Second, the authors identified strategies that helped individuals to detach from work, and devised four sub-themes, the authors labeled cognitive controlling, physical disconnection from work, time-bound routines and non-work activities. Originality/value This is the first study to focus on recovery as a process in the context of remote working, and it contributes to the knowledge of psychological detachment and strategies for recovery and to the literature on contemporary remote working.
... In addition, we examine increasing social job resources as a form of social support that may have benefits for colleague's well-being. Resources like social support are mainly mobilized in response to challenge and hindrance stressors (Schulz et al., 2019;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). As we follow a job demand-resource perspective, theoretically, we expect that colleagues will increase their social job resources to deal with the focal employee's increase of challenge demands/decrease of hindering demands. ...
... However, after increasing challenging demands, the person may continue thinking about its implications (i.e., new project and the new associated tasks), which will hinder their psychological detachment (Bennett et al., 2018). Indeed, a low level of activation is difficult to achieve when employees are not able to bring work matters to closure (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Based on this theorizing and previous evidence, we hypothesize that Hypothesis 3a. ...
... We argue that through reducing the number of stressful tasks, employees are able to manage their energy levels because they focus their efforts only on core tasks, so it can be a strategy to reduce immediate stress (Tims et al., 2013). There is evidence that hindrance demands lead to problems to disconnect (Bennett et al., 2018;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007), whereas a reduction of job stressors is linked to a lowered stress response that facilitates recovery (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). By no means are we suggesting that "avoiding" tasks is a sustainable or recommendable strategy in the long term, but if we find evidence that decreasing the number of stressful tasks is beneficial for daily detachment, it could be a helpful stress management strategy when employees are dealing with too many tasks on a particular day/week. ...
Article
Through job crafting, employees proactively change or modify their tasks, thus reducing adverse job demands or protecting resources. There is still a lack of understanding of the impact that job crafting may have on colleagues at work (crossover effect), and how this may affect their ability to disconnect from work (spillover effect). In the present daily diary study, we examine these two processes among 82 dyads of colleagues ( N = 164 employees) over five consecutive working days ( N = 820 observations). We found a number of crossover and differential spillover effects. For example, when the focal employee starts new challenging projects, their colleague reacts by reducing the number of stressful tasks. This, in turn, affects psychological detachment from work. Specifically, whereas increasing challenging demands hinders daily detachment, decreasing hindering demands facilitates it. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the impact of job crafting goes beyond the focal employee and beyond the work domain.
... Emotional engagement makes employees more motivated to come up with new ideas, try new approaches, and actively participate in innovative activities (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2014). Emotional engagement helps to improve the quality of work and performance of employees (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). ...
... In high-tech enterprises, physical involvement is important in Job Involvement. Physical engagement enables employees to concentrate fully on their work and devote more time and energy to completing tasks (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). High-tech enterprises usually require employees to concentrate on complex work for a long time, and physical engagement can help improve work efficiency and productivity (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). ...
... Encourage employees to participate in physical activity and health promotion activities, provide fitness facilities or organize team sports. Provide health counseling and support to help employees maintain good health (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Table 3 shows the Innovative Behavior evaluation. ...
... The first category refers to "low-effort activities", such as watching TV; the second refers to "social activities", such as meeting or calling a friend; and the third refers to "physical activities", such as exercise or dancing. Apart from activities per se that can help employees to spring back from workload and work stress, Sonnentag and Fritz [39] argue that underlying psychological experiences play a vital role. All employees can recover from work by doing something different, but there are some generic experiences related to recovery from work, such as "relaxation", "control", "mastery", and "psychological detachment". ...
... These underlying work recovery experiences refer to activities individuals are engaged in to ". . .unwind and recuperate from work during leisure time" [39] (p. 204). ...
... Thinking about work during free time is not by definition harmful [36,51]. The implications of being cognitively attached to work during nonwork hours depend on the nature of the work-related thoughts one has [39]. ...
Article
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Employees often have to cope with unprecedented challenges in their working and living conditions—caused by organizational and socioeconomic changes and/or crises—by showing resourcefulness and adaptability. Especially working women who bear a heavier burden strive harder to achieve balance between their work and family lives, and build resilience to maintain their quality of life. It is, therefore, important to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms women employ to strengthen their resilience by combining different roles without compromising their quality of life. This survey research examines which coping strategies and after-work experiences contribute to women’s quality of life by improving their sense of work–life balance (WLB). Data collected from 654 women employees in Greece confirmed the positive effect of WLB on quality of life. Furthermore, being able to choose among after-work experiences, learning or doing challenging things, work disengagement, and problem solving positively influence WLB. In contrast, continuing work at home, relaxation, and avoidance coping negatively affect WLB. It appears that taking time to relax and avoidance coping come into conflict with women’s socially acceptable behavior at home. The importance of social relationships is also highlighted by the positive influence that support seeking, as a coping mechanism, has on women’s quality of life.
... However, for the other recovery experiences, we did not find these effects-neither for the next morning nor for the next afternoon. Thus, in line with the previous studies showing that psychological detachment is a core recovery experience (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015), our results highlight the special role of psychological detachment as well. ...
... For instance, the mean level of psychological detachment was only positively associated with mood in the next morning (i.e., calmness and pleasantness) but not in the afternoon. This finding is in line with previous research pointing toward the direction that some benefits of psychological detachment are relatively short-lived (i.e., last until the next morning; Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Moreover, mastery seemed to be only relevant for next-morning pleasantness supporting previous research showing that evening mastery experiences are beneficial for next-morning positive affect (Ouyang et al., 2019;Sonnentag et al., 2008). ...
... Taken together, the broader result pattern suggests that the benefits of mean evening recovery experiences are relatively short-lived as indicated by significant associations with mood in the next morning only. Thus, our findings emphasize again that psychological detachment is a core recovery experience (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) and add to literature that not only benefits of psychological detachment but also benefits of relaxation, mastery, and control seem to be rather short-lived. ...
Article
Focusing on the definition of recovery as a process, we examined how the four core recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, control, and mastery) develop during the evening. We tested whether the specific developments of recovery experiences are important for next-day favorable mood states-beyond the mean levels of recovery experiences. We collected data from 92 employees who completed daily morning and afternoon surveys over 10 workdays. In the morning surveys, we implemented the day-reconstruction method to assess detailed information about employees' recovery experiences during several episodes of the previous evening. Our final data set included 477 morning surveys with a total of 1,998 episodes and 383 afternoon surveys. Multilevel growth curve analyses showed that, in general, psychological detachment, relaxation, and control follow a positive linear trend and mastery a negative quadratic trend during the evening. Moreover, path analyses showed that the day-level increase of psychological detachment is important for next-day mood. Specifically, we found that after evenings during which employees experienced a higher increase in psychological detachment than they usually did, they had higher favorable mood states in the subsequent afternoon. Further, our results did not support associations between day-level slopes of relaxation, control, and mastery as well as next-day mood. Hence, our study demonstrates that recovery experiences systematically change during an evening and that this change is partially relevant for next-afternoon mood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
... The effect of daily work-related rumination in leisure time on fatigue in the next morning as an indicator of (un-) successful recovery and individual well-being (Meijman and Mulder, 1998;Sonnentag, 2018) is investigated. Work-related thoughts in nonwork time are shown to be a mediator between job demands and stress experience (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). The abrupt restrictions provided the opportunity to investigate the association between changed work situation and teacher-specific workload in the first weeks of the lockdown. ...
... Meta-analytic evidence supports that the effect of job demands on health-related outcomes such as fatigue is mediated by psychological detachment (Bennett et al., 2018), which is confirmed by recent diary study in the teacher sample (Aulén et al., 2022). Psychological detachment is defined as the absence of work-related thoughts in nonwork time (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). Teachers have been shown to be especially vulnerable for difficulties in detaching psychologically from work, which is related to higher psychosomatic complaints and higher risk of sickness absence (Varol et al., 2021). ...
... In line with the E-RM, job demands can lead to a negative affective response during work (Meijman and Mulder, 1998;Ganster and Rosen, 2013). Sonnentag and Fritz (2015) suggest that higher negative affect might be prolonged in nonwork time and stimulate negative ruminative thoughts about the past work day (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015;Sonnentag, 2018). This might occur Frontiers in Education 04 frontiersin.org ...
Article
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This study investigated the association of school attendance restrictions in the early stages of the coronavirus disease pandemic with teacher-specific workload, and work-related rumination of teachers in Germany. Deduced from the effort-recovery model, that assumes that work might lead to strain reactions, making recovery necessary to avoid long-term health impairments, fatigue and positive as well as negative contents of work-related rumination in nonwork time were investigated in a five-day diary study with three measurement points per day. A total of 1,697 daily measures of 174 teachers were gathered over three consecutive workdays and the weekend. Only those days were included in which the teachers worked. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that teachers during school restrictions showed lower teacher-specific workload, which was associated with lower levels of affective rumination and problem-solving pondering. The effect on fatigue was mediated only by affective rumination such that a higher affective rumination was related to a higher fatigue level on the between and within-level. There was a significant three-path mediation from group belongingness over teacher-specific workload to affective rumination and fatigue. Problem-solving pondering did not affect fatigue level. The present study provides evidence of the association of COVID-19 restrictions with teacher-specific workload and the importance of differentiating the facets of work-related rumination.
... Psychological detachment as the mediator: explicit evidence As a core recovery experience, psychological detachment means more than just being away from work physically; it is also psychological in nature, ceasing to think about work and disengaging cognitively from the job during after-work hours (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Therefore, detachment can be conceptualized as the absence of work-related thoughts, which is reflected in the most widely used Recovery Experience Questionnaire (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). ...
... Furthermore, previous studies also showed a positive relationship between psychological detachment and work engagement (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015;Sonnentag & Kühnel, 2016). Following the JD-R theory, work performance was positively and directly influenced by personal resources (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). ...
... Another daily diary study revealed that evening psychological detachment and morning reattachment positively predicted work engagement throughout the day (Sonnentag & Kühnel, 2016). Likewise, a lack of detachment contributed to poor task performance (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). In short, the relationship between WFC and work engagement may be more complicated because work-family interference may hinder employees' detachment after work, which influences the next day's job performance or engagement (Russell et al., 2020). ...
Article
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The current article explores the impact of work–family conflict (WFC) on work engagement, as well as the potential mediating role of psychological detachment and the moderating effect of gender. A total of 203 Chinese preschool teachers were randomly recruited for this experiment. Results showed that WFC has a significant negative influence on work engagement. The relationship between WFC and work engagement was mediated by psychological detachment, explicitly and implicitly. Further results revealed that gender could only moderate the relationship between WFC and explicit psychological detachment. Practical implications and recommendations for future preschool educational and vocational guidance are discussed.
... In the present study, we build on previous research that has shown the detrimental effects of ICT workload on well-being in terms of psychological detachment and emotional exhaustion (Barber & Santuzzi, 2015;Day et al., 2012). Applying the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) to the context of work-related changes due to ICT use, we propose that psychological detachment acts as a mediator for the relationship between ICT workload and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, based on boundary theory (Ashforth et al., 2000), we propose that the effects of ICT workload depend on organisational (extended work availability) and individual (workplace telepressure) factors, which amplify the relationship between ICT workload and psychological detachment, resulting in a moderated mediation effect. ...
... Our study contributes to previous research in three ways. First, our study aims to test the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) within the context of workrelated changes caused by ICT use. As ICTs are an indispensable part of today's work, it is important to replicate well-known stressor-strain relationships in this novel context. ...
... The stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) suggests that facing high levels of job stressors increases individuals' negative activation (e.g. promoting rumination about the job stressor), which in turn hinders the ability to mentally detach from work during non-work time. ...
... During recovery periods (outside working hours, weekends, and holidays), workplace stressors are usually absent, and therefore recovery may occur (Meijman & Mulder, 1998). However, ruminating on work leads to a mental representation of the stressor (even if the stressor is not present), which leads to a prolonged stress response and inhibits recovery (Brosschot et al., 2006;Meijman & Mulder, 1998;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2014). Empirical studies support this hypothesis by providing evidence that work-related rumination is linked to impaired recovery, for example, in terms of nocturnal sleep disturbances (e.g., Pereira & Elfering, 2014;Syrek & Antoni, 2014;Vahle-Hinz et al., 2014). ...
... Thinking about work outside of working hours is generally perceived as detrimental to successful recovery (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2014) because it translates job demands into the off-work domain, hindering recovery and leading to health impairments in the long run. For example, meta-analyses and studies have shown that inadequate psychological recovery and work-related rumination have been associated with a range of occupational and non-occupational problems, such as burnout and lack of well-being (Vandevala et al., 2017;Blanco-Encomienda et al., 2020;Cropley et al., , 2015Cropley et al., , 2017Querstret & Cropley, 2012;Steiner, 2020). ...
... Therefore, a profound psychological detachment from work may not be necessary or desirable (Cropley & Zijlstra, 2011). In particular, when thinking about work is undesirable and out of one's control, it can compromise the recovery process and lead to long-term poor health (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2014). Kinnunen et al. (2017) also showed that under certain conditions, a lack of mental detachment from work can be useful, especially if it is accompanied by problem-solving pondering. ...
Article
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The outbreak of Covid-19 and the rise of remote working have blurred the boundaries between home and work for many professionals, including English Foreign Language teachers (EFL). This situation has provided an opportunity for work-related thoughts to persist even after the task is over. This is the first study to investigate how work-related rumination might result in different work-related behavior patterns by jeopardizing recovery from work. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, the researchers selected 237 EFL teachers (127 female) as the study sample. The work-related rumination and work-related behaviors and patterns questionnaires were administered to collect the data. The findings indicate that different types of work-related rumination affect EFL teachers’ stress reactions and are differentially related to various aspects of their mental health and professional commitment. Specifically, the results show that affective rumination and insufficient psychological detachment from work can predict unhealthy work behavior patterns. However, problem-solving pondering can predict both some healthy and unhealthy work behavior patterns. Our results confirm that work-related rumination can have both positive and negative consequences. It is crucial that EFL teachers develop skills for better management of affective rumination and psychological detachment from work, and set boundaries between work and private life. Additionally, spending time thinking about problem-solving outside of work is an effective way to solve problems and challenges at work, which may decrease occupational impairment. However, this does not mean that EFL teachers should always use their free time for work-related issues.
... These considerations suggest that higher levels of PLO should be incompatible with workaholism, and that PLO should be associated with a lower risk of membership into profiles presenting higher global levels of workaholism (e.g., Plugged In). Given that PLO is associated with better work recovery experiences (e.g., psychological detachment; Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015), individuals high in PLO should also be less likely to display a profile characterized by high specific levels of cognitive workaholism, implying that these employees should find it easier to distance themselves from their work and to stop thinking about it (Clark et al., 2020). ...
... These employees thus tend to have a hard time mentally disengaging from work during nonwork time due to increased levels of negative activation (negative affective arousal). To relieve this negative activation, employees may attempt to immediately deal with the requests expressed in the work-related messages received during nonwork time (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). As a result, higher levels of telepressure seem to encourage the emergence of workaholism, leading us to expect telepressure to be associated with a higher probability of membership into profiles presenting higher global levels of workaholism (e.g., Plugged In). ...
... These demands interfere with their ability to meet work requirements promptly and efficiently, which is a condition to be able to switch-off from work and engage in their personal interests. Because of this negative spiral, employees who are high in PLO and who work remotely may come to have an excessive level of work involvement and experience inner compulsions to work as well as negative emotions when not working (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). In contrast, given the more natural separation between their work and personal lives, employees working onsite are more likely to satisfy their basic psychological needs, tend to be more autonomously motivated, and seem to be better able to organize their life in a way that is more fully aligned with their PLO (Gillet et al., 2022). ...
Article
This research relies on a combination of variable-and person-centered approaches to help improve our understanding of the dimensionality of the workaholism construct. Our results showed that employees' worka-holism ratings simultaneously reflected a global overarching construct co-existing with four specific dimensions (behavioral, motivational, emotional, and cognitive workaholism) among a sample of 432 workers who completed a questionnaire twice over a three-month period. We also examined the profiles taken by workaholism dimensions, and documented their stability over time as well as the associations between these profiles and theoretically-relevant predictors and outcomes. Furthermore, we examined whether these associations differ as a function of working remotely or onsite. Four profiles were identified and found to be highly stable over time: Unplugged, Plugged In, Moderately Unplugged with Externalized Workaholism, and Moderately Unplugged with Cognitive Workaholism. Personal life orientation, telepressure, and interpersonal norms regarding work-related messages were related to the likelihood of profile membership. Remote working also reinforced the positive effects of personal life orientation and the negative effects of interpersonal norms regarding work-related messages. Finally, employees’ work-to-family guilt, job satisfaction, family satisfaction, and life satisfaction also differed as a function of their profile.
... The first resting experience in the Eccles-Kazmier model involves not thinking about or being able to "switch off" from one's sport. This resting experience compares to the psychological detachment concept from the stressor-detachment model of psychological recovery from work proposed in occupational psychology (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). In this model, work-induced strain is diminished via key recovery experiences following work, including psychological detachment, which involves switching off from work-related demands after work. ...
... The model predicts that an athlete will feel more rested if they spend time on a rest day doing what they want, especially given that their time otherwise is largely externally determined by training and competition schedules. This concept is also reflected in the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) as assuming control over one's after-work schedule. The third resting experience in the Eccles-Kazmier model involves a reduction in effortful thinking more generally; that is, not just in relation to thinking about one's sport. ...
... This resting experience is consistent with obtaining a break from thinking about one's sport in the Eccles-Kazmier model. The experience also parallels the psychological detachment concept within occupational psychology, which involves "not thinking about one's job" to promote recovery after work (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). The experience is also reflected in the research on coaching (Baldock et al., 2022;Hassmen et al., 2018;Lundkvist et al., 2012). ...
Article
Objectives: To better understand the psychology of rest in coaches. Rest appears to be important for coping, recovery, and well-being in coaches, yet there is limited research on and in turn understanding of this concept in this population. Design: A qualitative description study design was employed. Method: 22 NCAA Division I coaches were interviewed about what rest means to them, key barriers to rest in coaching, and strategies employed to obtain rest in the face of these barriers. A codebook thematic analysis was undertaken to examine the analytical generalizability (Smith, 2018) to the coaching context of an extant model of the psychology of rest in athletes (Eccles & Kazmier, 2019). Results: The Eccles-Kazmier model appears to offer some analytical generalizability to the coaching context. Consistent with the model, the process of resting in coaches involves both sleep and resting while awake. Resting while awake involves (a) a break from thinking about work, (b) a break from effortful thinking generally, and (c) engaging in life outside coaching. However, departures from the model were also observed; specifically, unlike for athletes, the wakeful resting process for coaches does not appear to involve assuming control or experiencing variety. Conclusion: The findings advance the current understanding of the constituents of rest in coaches and can inform coach education about how to obtain the rest needed to perform effectively and stay healthy.
... /fvets. . relationship between job stressors, job strain and poor wellbeing (213). Overall, research demonstrates that in general occupational stressors such as workload predict low levels of psychological detachment (213). ...
... relationship between job stressors, job strain and poor wellbeing (213). Overall, research demonstrates that in general occupational stressors such as workload predict low levels of psychological detachment (213). A lack of detachment in turn predicts high occupational strain levels and poor individual wellbeing (e.g., greater burnout and lower life satisfaction) (213). ...
... Overall, research demonstrates that in general occupational stressors such as workload predict low levels of psychological detachment (213). A lack of detachment in turn predicts high occupational strain levels and poor individual wellbeing (e.g., greater burnout and lower life satisfaction) (213). This issue is likely to be particularly relevant in veterinary practice situations requiring after-hours patient management that is dependent upon clinicians maintaining on-call status for return to work, telephone consult availability, or for veterinarians who may be awoken during the . ...
Article
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Chronic workplace stress and burnout are serious problems in veterinary medicine. Although not classified as a medical condition, burnout can affect sleep patterns and contributes to chronic low grade systemic inflammation, autonomic imbalance, hormonal imbalances and immunodeficiencies, thereby increasing the risks of physical and psychological ill health in affected individuals. Cultural misconceptions in the profession often lead to perceptions of burnout as a personal failure, ideas that healthcare professionals are somehow at lower risk for suffering, and beliefs that affected individuals can or should somehow heal themselves. However, these concepts are antiquated, harmful and incorrect, preventing the design of appropriate solutions for this serious and growing challenge to the veterinary profession. Veterinarians must first correctly identify the nature of the problem and understand its causes and impacts before rational solutions can be implemented. In this first part of two companion reviews, burnout will be defined, pathophysiology discussed, and healthcare and veterinary-relevant occupational stressors that lead to burnout identified.
... To understand the underlying mechanisms linking perceived negative workplace gossip and life satisfaction together with potential boundary conditions, we integrated the social-evaluative threat literature (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004) and the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) as our main theoretical framework. Socialevaluative threats occur when "an aspect of the self (e.g., trait, ability) is or could be negatively judged by others" (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004, p. 361). ...
... According to Sonnentag and Fritz (2015), workplace stressors often hinder psychological detachment from work during non-work times and are negatively related to individual well-being. Psychological detachment refers to one's mental and emotional disengagement from work when away from the workplace (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). ...
... Psychological detachment refers to one's mental and emotional disengagement from work when away from the workplace (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). By integrating the social-evaluative threat literature (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004) with the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015), we suggest that the targeted employees would persistently experience social-evaluative threats, resulting in negative cognitive and affective states, and detachment failure, when facing negative workplace gossip. The difficulties of psychological detachment from work may engender strain reactions (e.g., sleep problems and hostility (Ng & Wang, 2019)) and impaired individual general well-being (e.g., life satisfaction (Fritz et al., 2010;Schulz et al., 2021)). ...
Article
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Gossip is ubiquitous in organizations and human life. Previous research has examined the detrimental effects of negative workplace gossip on employees’ work-related outcomes. However, less attention has been devoted to how and when perceived negative workplace gossip affects the general well-being of targeted employees. Drawing on the social-evaluative threat literature and the stressor-detachment model, this study examines the effect of perceived negative workplace gossip on life satisfaction by investigating the mediating role of psychological detachment and the moderating role of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). The results, based on a three-wave cross-lagged panel design survey, indicate that perceived negative workplace gossip is negatively related to psychological detachment, and perceived negative workplace gossip has an indirect effect on target employees’ life satisfaction through psychological detachment. Furthermore, FSSB negatively moderates the relationship between perceived negative workplace gossip and psychological detachment and the indirect effect of perceived negative workplace gossip on life satisfaction through psychological detachment. Understanding the implications of perceived negative workplace gossip and its underlying mechanisms can help organizations and employees effectively cope with this social-evaluative stressor.
... B.: Streit, soziale Isolation) sein. Mit Stressoren sind Aspekte der Arbeit gemeint, die mit einem unangenehmen Ausmaß an körperlicher Erregung, mit kognitiven Belastungen und mit physischen Beeinträchtigungen einhergehen (Kahn & Byosiere, 1992;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Es gibt bei der Arbeit unterschiedliche Formen von Stressoren, wie beispielsweise aufgabenbezogene Stressoren oder Rollenstressoren. ...
... Das mentale Abschalten von der Arbeit in der Freizeit ist ein entscheidender Faktor, wenn es um die Erholung von der Arbeit geht. So wird der Einfluss von Stressoren auf das Wohlbefinden abgeschwächt, wenn einer Person das mentale Abschalten von der Arbeit in der Freizeit gelingt (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Die Beschäftigten, denen mentales Abschalten nicht gelingt, sind nach Arbeitsende kognitiv noch in einer Art "Stand-by-Modus" -sie sind zwar nicht aktiv für die Arbeit tätig, aber eben auch nicht komplett losgelöst von der Arbeit. ...
... Selbst dann, wenn die Aspekte der Situation gar nicht mehr in der Nähe sind (Mohr et al., 2006). Wenn arbeitsbezogene Themen während der Freizeit nicht ausgeblendet werden können, ist die Erholung beeinträchtigt (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). ...
... Erholung beschreibt den Prozess, in dem es zur Rückstellung negativer Beanspruchungsfolgen nach einer Arbeits-und somit Belastungsphase kommt (GEURTS et al., 2006, SONNENTAG et al., 2017. Eine zentrale Komponente der Erholung ist das psychologische Detachment, welches definiert wird, als die mentale Distanzierung von arbeitsbezogenen Gedanken ("Abschalten-Können") während der arbeitsfreien Zeit (SONNENTAG et al., 2015). Es wird vermutet, dass ein geringes psychologisches Detachment die positive Beziehung zwischen Arbeitsbelastung und Beanspruchungsfolgen vermittelt und hohes psychologisches Detachment diese Beziehung auch (gesundheitsprotektiv) abschwächen kann (SONNENTAG et al., 2015). ...
... Eine zentrale Komponente der Erholung ist das psychologische Detachment, welches definiert wird, als die mentale Distanzierung von arbeitsbezogenen Gedanken ("Abschalten-Können") während der arbeitsfreien Zeit (SONNENTAG et al., 2015). Es wird vermutet, dass ein geringes psychologisches Detachment die positive Beziehung zwischen Arbeitsbelastung und Beanspruchungsfolgen vermittelt und hohes psychologisches Detachment diese Beziehung auch (gesundheitsprotektiv) abschwächen kann (SONNENTAG et al., 2015). Psychologisches Detachment von der Arbeit soll jedoch gerade dann schwierig sein, wenn berufliche Anforderungen hoch sind (SONNENTAG, 2018). ...
... Although certain recovery activities can increase personal resources following losses (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015), resource theories, particularly COR theory, do not imply that resource recovery occurs naturally. Instead, principle 2 of COR theory suggests that resource recovery requires resource investment. ...
... Instead, principle 2 of COR theory suggests that resource recovery requires resource investment. Research (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) suggests that resource recovery activities are less likely when resources are taxed and depleted, which suggests that, if anything, resources are less likely to be recovered through recovery activities following losses. In other words, COR theory and T A B L E 1 Resource-based theories and implications for personal resources and work-family conflict. ...
Article
Resource‐based theories specify personal resources as a central cause and outcome of work–family conflict wherein low personal resource levels beget further resource losses, in part through increased work–family conflict. Yet, adaptation and trait theories suggest chronic factors drive stability in personal resources and work–family conflict, potentially making resource loss spirals unlikely for most workers. Despite being fundamental tenets of resource‐based theories of work–family conflict, the causal relationships among personal resources and work–family conflict over the meso‐term (i.e., several months) have been unclear in previous empirical research. We test theory by examining causal relationships over the meso‐term using a general cross‐lagged panel model (GCLM), which, unlike the cross‐lagged panel model used in prior research, accounts for chronic factors and tests the persistence of changes. We tested these effects by surveying school administrators ( N = 1418) over four consecutive months. Despite finding some small reciprocal relationships, GCLM results provided no evidence for meso‐term loss spirals in which personal resource losses were followed by further losses, independent of or via work–family conflict. These findings challenge resource‐based theories of work–family conflict over the meso‐term and suggest the need to examine chronic factors and adaptation in work–family conflict research to understand meso‐term dynamics.
... B. durch berufliche Anforderungen und belastende Ereignisse bei der Arbeit verursacht werden (Meijman & Mulder, 1998). Das "Effort-recovery model" (im Deutschen Aufwand-Erholungs-Theorie) beschreibt in diesem Zusammenhang Erholung als den Prozess der Rückkehr zum psychologischen Ausgangszustand durch die Beseitigung der während des Arbeitstages initiierten psychischen Belastung (Meijman & Mulder, 1998 Denn nur in der Freizeit kann man sich körperlich und mental von der Arbeit loslösen und die eigenen Kräfte, die unter dem Stresserleben gelitten haben, erneuern (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Erholung ist also essenziell für die Gesundheit der Beschäftigten und tritt nur dann ein, wenn der Organismus nicht mehr durch Arbeit beansprucht wird (Meijman & Mulder, 1998). ...
... Da Beschäftigte im Homeoffice die Arbeit oft räumlich nicht hinter sich lassen können, bedarf es hier einer aktiven Kontrolle, um die Grenze zwischen Arbeit und Privatleben zu ziehen. Zweitens ist es erforderlich, dass Beschäftigte in ihrer Freizeit die Arbeit nicht nur physisch, sondern auch gedanklich und emotional hinter sich lassen (Ashforth et al., 2000;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Diese mentale Abgrenzung von der Arbeit in der Freizeit ist nach einem stressigen Arbeitstag, den man in aufgewühlter Stimmung beendet, gar nicht immer leicht. ...
... The four external correlates were chosen because they are relevant to teachers' psychological functioning at work, and have been examined more extensively in the literature Bartholomew et al., 2014;Granziera et al., 2022;Martin & Marsh, 2008;Türktorun et al., 2020). Whereas workplace buoyancy and psychological detachment represent positive occupational experiences related to greater well-being (Martin & Marsh, 2008;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015), the reverse is true for somatic burden and emotional exhaustion (Gierk et al., 2014;Granziera et al., 2022). ...
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This study involved examining the psychometric properties of the Tripartite Occupational Well-Being Scale (TOWBS) among a sample of 502 Australian teachers. The TOWBS (12 items) comprises three factors of subjective vitality, behavioral engagement, and professional growth. The TOWBS – Short (3 items) assesses a broad factor of occupational well-being. Results confirmed the reliability, factor structure, and longitudinal measurement invariance of the scale scores for both scales. In addition, the two forms of the scale functioned similarly across different teacher characteristics, and the well-being factors were demonstrated to be associated with four external correlates in plausible ways (workplace buoyancy, psychological detachment, somatic burden, emotional exhaustion). Combined, findings offer support for the scale as an assessment of teacher well-being. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... Work-home interference and impaired detachment, in turn, entail a host of further work-and strain-related consequences, including exhaustion (Allen et al., 2000;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015), accentuating the role of availability expectations for employees. Diaz et al. (2012), for example, found that the more work-home conflicts people experience as a consequence of ICT use, the less satisfied they are. ...
Article
In the present study, we introduce the concept of availability ambiguity and propose that it extends our understanding of the consequences of availability expectations after hours beyond the absolute level perceived by employees. Thus, we investigated how the level and ambiguity of supervisors’ availability expectations contribute to ICT communication satisfaction, detachment, work-home interference, and exhaustion. Furthermore, we test the effectiveness of a training for supervisors aimed at encouraging them to be transparent about their availability expectations by making explicit agreements with their team. In cross-sectional Study 1, data from 235 individuals showed that availability ambiguity predicted detachment and work-home interference beyond the effect of availability expectations. This finding underscores the need for clear agreements, which was addressed in an intervention tested in the two-wave Study 2. Results from 62 subordinates at T1 and 33 at T2 belonging to 17 different supervisors who participated in the training indicated an increase in explicit agreements and a decrease in availability ambiguity, but no decrease in levels of availability expectations or emotional exhaustion and no increase in ICT communication satisfaction, detachment, or work-life balance. Taken together, our studies show that the ambiguity of availability expectations is a unique stressor that needs to be and can be targeted.
... The effect of exposure to workload on previous days may linger and accumulate across days, capturing the idea that experiences can have immediate effects but that those effects can also carry forward. Accumulation across multiple days may occur due to the lack of recovery after exposure to the stressor; in effect, the resources depleted due to job stressors were not fully restored (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Reduced opportunities to recover may occur because employees facing high workload work harder and longer, which in turn impairs their ability to recover outside of work (Baethge et al., 2019). ...
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Studies investigating the stressor–strain relation using daily diary designs have been interested in within-person deviations that predict well-being outcomes on the same day. These models typically have not accounted for the possibility of short-term accumulation (i.e. previous stressor experiences having a lasting effect and affecting strain on subsequent occasions) and sensitisation (i.e. previous stressor experiences amplifying subsequent reactions to stressors) effects of stressors such as workload across days. In this study, we test immediate, accumulation, and sensitisation effects of workload on fatigue within and across days using four diary studies (mean observations = 1,406; mean N = 166). In all four studies, we observed that workload had positive concurrent effects on fatigue. In addition, we found that workload had positive effects on fatigue within one day. However, there was insufficient support for short-term accumulation or sensitisation effects, implying that higher levels of workload on previous days did not directly affect or amplify the effect of workload on fatigue on that day. We discuss implications for recovery theories and potential future avenues to refine the theoretical propositions that describe intra-individual stress and recovery processes across days.
... Eine Schlüsselrolle für die Erholung und für psychisches Wohlbefinden spielt die psychologische Distanzierung von der Arbeit ("Detachment"), die durch eine Abwesenheit von Arbeitshandeln und von gedanklicher Beschäftigung mit Arbeitsinhalten charakterisiert ist. Wenn es gelingt, sich in Gedanken und Gefühl von der Arbeit loszulösen, dann treten Erholung und verbessertes psychisches Wohlbefinden ein, was schließlich zum Erhalt von Gesundheit und dauerhafter Leistungsfähigkeit beiträgt (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Das Abschalten von der Arbeit wird dann erschwert, wenn die Distanzierung von der Arbeit nicht gelingt -weil die Arbeitsintensität hoch ist und Ruhezeiten deshalb nicht eingehalten werden, weil die erweiterte Erreichbarkeit zu Unterbrechungen der Ruhezeiten durch Anrufe oder Mails führt oder weil eine Aufgabe nicht abgeschlossen werden konnte und gedanklich weiter beschäftigt (Sonnentag & Bayer, 2005). ...
... Therefore, to survive in the market, business leaders expect maximum contribution from their employees with greater employee productivity to foster higher customer satisfaction and to ensure companies' profitability (Cooper, Paterson, Stadler, & Saks, 2014;Vandenabeele, 2014). Due to this driving notion of commercial firms, workers judge that they may work 24-7 to receive outstanding standing in the workplace (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2014). Hence, employees in contemporaneous companies endeavors to perform their best by working overtime, accepting multitudinous projects, and engaging in additional tasks, making employees stay longer in their workstations (Kohll, 2018). ...
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This study was conducted to measure the impact of work-life balance on employees' job satisfaction in public banks. The target population of this study was the Western province state bank employees. And out of the population, a sample of 381 respondents was collected. Using a convenient sampling method covering Gampaha, Colombo, and Kalutara districts. A structured questionnaire with 5 points Likert scale was used to collect data from respondents and analyzed it through the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software package. Correlation analysis, Regression analysis were used to test the relevant objectives of this research. The research findings indicate a positive relationship between job satisfaction and employees' work-life balance in the state bank.
... Predominantly, research has been focused on the effects of smartphone use during and after working hours on the employee's ability to recover. Studies have indeed found that increased use of smartphone after work has been strongly associated with inefficient recovery (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015;Zhang et al., 2021) as it leads to significant work-home interference . Taken together, it appears that there is limited evidence on the quality of the association between recovery and smartphone use while commuting from work to home. ...
... Third, the growing demand for work results in increased job-related stress among employees in modern organizations (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Prior studies have reported the inconclusive i.e., negative and positive effects of employee job-related stress on performance (Tang & Chang, 2010). ...
... Affective rumination is one component of work-related rumination and relates to reoccurring work-related thoughts that cause invasive negative thoughts and emotions during free time (Cropley & Zijlstra, 2011). On the other hand, psychological detachment refers to disconnecting work-related thoughts during free time and engaging in thoughts from other areas (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). ...
Article
Current research has explored teachers' use of expressive suppression and surface acting; however, research on these strategies, in the context of student aggression, is limited. A qualitative study was conducted to better understand female special education teachers' (SETs') use of discordant emotional (DE) strategies in student aggression. Analyses of the 16 semi-structured interviews revealed emotional distancing as a new DE strategy that consists of emotional detachment and emotional separation. Findings suggest SETs' use of emotional distancing differed by their years of teaching experience and “mental work.” Implications for professionals in practice are discussed to improve SETs’ emotional wellbeing.
... Regarding the inhibitors of WLB mentioned above, previous studies have found that acceptance helps employees to perform cognitive segmentation and draw them back from negative future thoughts to the present realities (Althammer et al., 2021;Verweij et al., 2018). Therefore, employees would retract from work-related thoughts when they were at home and retract from homerelated thoughts when at work (Althammer et al., 2021;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). As they were more attentive to their current role, they could balance their roles (Raza et al., 2018). ...
... These may differ with immediate effects typically being stronger than delayed effects occurring after a restorative night (cf. Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). In studying relations of RAC with well-being outcomes, we therefore focus on emotional exhaustion both in the evening and in the next morning. ...
Article
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Although previous research suggests that off-job activities are generally important for recovery from work stress, a profound understanding of which aspects of recovery activities benefit the recovery process and why is still lacking. In the present work, we introduce a dimensional approach toward studying recovery activities and present a taxonomy of key recovery activity dimensions (physical, mental, social, spiritual, creative, virtual, and outdoor). Across four studies (total N = 908) using cross-sectional, time-lagged, and a diary design, we develop and validate the Recovery Activity Characteristics (RAC) questionnaire, a multidimensional measure of RAC. Results demonstrate its content validity, high scale reliabilities, and a strong factor structure. With a 10-day diary study involving two daily measurement occasions, we demonstrate the role of RAC for recovery experiences and downstream well-being outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of carefully differentiating the active ingredients of recovery activities as they differentially relate to same evening and next-morning exhaustion and vigor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
... Although these relationships do not come as a surprise, they are important. Only in times when workers are not influenced by work in their actions and when rumination about work demands has stopped, can exhausted resources replenish (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). Moreover, our findings show that work extending's frequency and duration relates to a conflict between work and private life. ...
Article
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Especially in knowledge-intensive professions, workers engage in work-related communication and access digital work content outside of working hours. Scientific research on technology-based work extending has flourished in recent decades, but yielded inconclusive results about its relationship with workers' wellbeing and focused on different temporal characteristics of the behaviour. Consequently, in this article, we address the question of whether different temporal characteristics of technology-based work extending, such as the frequency and duration of the behaviour, may have different consequences for workers' wellbeing. In the course of a systematic literature review, we analyzed 78 empirical studies published between 2007 and 2021 that investigate the relationship between the self-rated frequency and the self-rated duration of work extending behaviours and 14 wellbeing indicators. Whereas most studies examined the frequency of work extending behaviours and its consequences, only 19 studies examined the effects of its duration. Based on our findings, we propose three effects: The strain effect of frequent work extending, the gain effect of sustained work extending, and the loss-of-private-time effect inherent to work extending and independent from its frequency and duration. Our findings not only provide in-depth information on a widespread contemporary behaviour and its psychological implications, we also reveal research gaps and shed light on behaviours associated with role transitions and thus contribute to boundary theory.
... Activating job-related thoughts facilitates rumination about work, which in turn makes it more difficult for employees to mentally switch off. This reasoning is in line with the stressor detachment model, which argues that engaging in WICT is a work-related stressor that impairs psychological detachment (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) and which has received considerable attention in research on WICT. In line with this theoretical rationale, numerous studies have shown that daily WICT impedes psychological detachment during non-work hours in the evening (e.g., Derks et al., 2014;Eichberger et al., 2020;Heissler et al., 2022). ...
Article
Because work-related ICT use after hours (WICT) has often been linked to negative outcomes, it is intriguing that many people still engage in this behaviour, often on a daily basis. Yet, qualitative research suggests that WICT may be less harmful when people consciously plan to engage in this behaviour. Drawing on Action-Regulation Theory, this paper tests the assumptions that WICT is sometimes a planned behaviour that people intend to engage in in response to work-related stimuli (e.g., daily unfinished tasks, daily workload) and that the outcomes of this behaviour are less detrimental when WICT is more intended or planned. We tested our hypotheses using a 5-day diary study (i.e., two measurement points a day) among 186 Flemish employees. We found that daily unfinished tasks – though not daily workload – were positively related to daily WICT via daily intentions to engage in WICT. Furthermore, daily intentions to engage in WICT were found to strengthen, rather than buffer, the negative relationship between daily WICT and psychological detachment. We found no moderation effect of daily intentions to engage in WICT in the relationship between WICT and work-to-home conflict. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
... Thirdly, the growing demand for work results in increased job-related stress among employees in modern organizations (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Prior studies have reported the inconclusive, i.e. negative and positive, effects of employee job-related stress on performance (Tang & Chang, 2010). ...
Article
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Purpose This research explores the moderating role of empowering leadership, job-related stress and workplace politics on the link between employee creativity and innovation output. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypothesized relationships, the authors used a questionnaire survey to nest the data from subordinates ( n = 388) and their supervisors ( n = 151) working for the emerging markets of Pakistan and analyzed data by using the SmartPLS-SEM technique. Findings Employee creativity is positively associated with innovation output. The moderation by empowering leadership and employee job-related stress further strengthens the association between employee creativity and innovation output. However, the creativity of employees is not directed toward innovation if they are involved in politics. Research limitations/implications The findings will help modern managers to understand the importance of enhancing employee creativity through empowering leadership. Such leadership delegates authority enables employee motivation, develops a conducive working environment by eliminating workplace politics and ensures the well-being of employees. It offers employees the confidence to unleash their creative efforts for innovation. Practical implications The managers can benefit from the findings: a) to enhance the abilities of creative employees for innovation outputs by practicing the role of empowering leadership, b) the extent to which employees display job-related stress and enhances their innovation outputs and c) to be aware of the inverse effects of creative employees' involvement in workplace politics on innovation. Originality/value Although the previous research was well established on the link between creativity and innovation, the authors knew a little about the factors that can strengthen/weaken this relationship. The authors believe that the findings are a small effort to solve the pieces of the puzzle in the literature.
... The additional time required due to interruptions creates distress because individuals need to work faster to get work done. 24,32 Working faster on the interrupting task in order to quickly return to the primary task as a compensating strategy comes at the expense of well-being. ...
Article
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Objectives: To examine the effect of automatic communication notifications on performance and strain. Because of the benefits of communication, we expected this effect to be moderated by fear of missing out (FoMO) and social norms of responsiveness, expressed in the experience of telepressure. Methods: A field experiment (N = 247) was conducted in which participants in the experimental group disabled their notification during 1 day (N = 124). Results: The findings revealed that a reduction of notification-caused interruptions is beneficial for performance and reducing strain. The moderating of FoMO and telepressure was significant for performance. Conclusions: Based on these findings, reducing the number of notifications is recommended, especially for employee's low in FoMO and medium to high telepressure. Future work needs to analyze the role of anxiety impeding cognitive performance when notifications are disabled.
... Regarding recovery processes, eight of the 21 papers included recovery-related constructs such as psychological detachment (e.g., Wang et al., 2019) or rumination (Syrek & Antoni, 2014) in their measurements. These studies applied process-based perspectives using the Effort Recovery theory (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) (n = 2), the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) (n = 1), general recovery theory (Sonnentag et al., 2022), self-regulation theory (Barnes, 2012;Baumeister & Vohs, 2003) (n = 2), and stressas-offense-to-self theory (Semmer et al., 2007) (n = 2) to include recovery processes in their EWB conceptualizations. ...
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Many current working conditions are characterized by increasing blurred boundaries between work and nonwork with spillover that impact employees’ and recovery processes and wellbeing. Research, although emerging, considers these processes in the leadership-wellbeing relationship insufficiently. The main aim of this study, therefore, was to enhance our understanding of the role of leadership on employee’s work-nonwork interface and wellbeing. To address these processes adequately, longitudinal research is most appropriate. To our best knowledge, no review exists that could inform longitudinal studies on the leadership-employee wellbeing relationship with a focus on spillover and recovery processes. Following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews, we apply a narrative synthesis of 21 identified studies to organize the research landscape. We make three main contributions: First, we adopt an integrated resource-demands based process perspective and expand the leadership-employee wellbeing relationship by including spillover and recovery. Second, we map the used theoretical approaches and analyzed research gaps. Third, we offer a list of the issues and potential remedies of applied methodologies to orient further research. Results show, that while work-nonwork research is predominantly approached from a negative conflict-based view, research focused more on positive than on negative leadership. We identify two broad categories of investigated mechanisms, namely bolstering/hampering mechanisms, and buffering/strengthening mechanisms. Findings also highlight the importance of personal energy resources and therefore call for more attention to affect-driven theories. The identified predominance of the IT and healthcare sectors and of working parents warrants more representative research. We offer recommendations to advance future research both theoretically and methodologically.
... W_ICTs makes it possible for people to work anywhere at any time by removing spatial and temporal barriers (Barley et al., 2011;Cavazotte et al., 2014), and thus, encourages the creation of an integrated boundary (Chesley, 2005;Duxbury et al., 2014). The effort-recovery model (ERM) proposes that a lack of rest for a long time causes negative cumulative effects and reduces job satisfaction (Debus et al., 2014;Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). W_ICTs interferes with employees' free time, which is supposed to be used for rest and recovery (Wright et al., 2014). ...
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The high turnover rate of kindergarten teachers has become a global problem. Job satisfaction is regarded as a contributing factor that can reduce turnover intention. We sought to examine the relationship between work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) and kindergarten teachers' job satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the link between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion. A sample of 434 participants of kindergarten teachers completed questionnaires on W_ICTs, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support and emotional exhaustion. Results indicated that kindergarten teachers' emotional exhaustion played a partial mediating role in the relationship between W_ICTs and job satisfaction. In addition, perceived organizational support moderated the association between W_ICTs and emotional exhaustion. Specifically, W_ICTs had a greater impact on emotional exhaustion for kindergarten teachers with low perceived organizational support.
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Well-being conditions at work are determined by the balance between the demands from the organizational context and the perception of people to possess resources concerning the ability to cope with such requests. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has changed working conditions, and employees have had to adapt to smart working (SW) by bringing new resources into play to meet new demands. Many organizations are questioning how to implement SW after the pandemic. According to the JD-R model, the present study considered workload during smart working and Techno-stress (the perceived stress concerning the use of technologies) as new requests (i.e., demands) coming from the organization and Psychological Detachment (the ability to create psychological distancing from work) as a personal resource. We investigated the moderator role of Psychological Detachment in the relationship between workload in SW and Well-being, mediated by Techno-stress (in its three dimensions: Techno-Overload, Techno-Invasion, and Techno-Complexity). The sample is made up of 622 Italian public administration employees who completed a questionnaire containing the following scales: Quantitative Workload Inventory, Well-being Index, Psychological Detachment, Techno-stress Creator Scale. Mediation and moderate-mediation models have been tested with PROCESS Macro. Findings showed that Techno-Invasion and Techno-Complexity fully mediate the relationship between workload in SW and well-being. Psychological detachment moderates the effect of the workload on Well-being, which in turn is mediated by Techno-Invasion. Furthermore, findings suggest the importance of identifying protective factors that can mitigate the workload effects on the employees' well-being in SW.
Article
Spillover effect theory posits that work stressors can have spillover effects into workers' home lives. Although job insecurity spillover into the home domain has been explored extensively, potential spillback effects into the work domain have not. We posit that daily job insecurity represents a negative subjective perception that can spillover into the home domain and lead to insomnia, which will damage the recovery of self‐regulatory resources and make employees unable to regulate their own behavior, ultimately resulting in next‐day counterproductive work behavior. We hypothesized that self‐compassion, as an individual trait, weakens the spillover effect of job insecurity and moderates the indirect effect of job insecurity on next‐day counterproductive work behavior via insomnia. Our analyses of data collected from 132 full‐time employees across 10 consecutive working days showed that insomnia mediates the relationship between daily job insecurity and next‐day counterproductive work behavior, and further showed that this relationship was moderated by self‐compassion. Overall, our research captures the cascading effects of daily job insecurity and contributes to a more complete understanding of the spillover effect of job insecurity.
Article
A lack of recovery like psychologically detaching from work can be detrimental to health. High cognitive demands may jeopardise detachment from work. Longitudinal studies concerning the long-term effects of cognitive demands on health and work ability via psychological detachment are understudied. Research has shown that social support may buffer the relationship between job demands and psychological detachment. However, the role of supervisor support was not examined specifically. We hypothesise psychological detachment to mediate the relationship between cognitive demands, general health, and work ability. Supportive or inconsiderate behaviours of a supervisor can further moderate the relationship between cognitive demands and psychological detachment. Statistical analyses were carried out with three-wave panel data from the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health with lags of two years (2015–2019) from 3,867 employees who took part in the survey. The results conveyed that mediation by psychological detachment was significant, while supervisor (non)support moderated the relationship between cognitive demands and psychological detachment only cross-sectionally. This study emphasises the role of supervisor in the stressor-detachment model and the positive effect of recovery experience on health. Therefore, in practice, the role of supervisor behaviour for employees’ psychological detachment should be addressed in management training courses.
Article
After the COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy is in a depression and has a high inflation rate, as the unemployment rate gets higher and higher, employment gets lower and lower, young people are very pessimistic about their prospects. Therefore, the employment has become a serious problem in society, which has also caused strong social discontent. Also, all of these factors may lead to a sense of anxiety among today's workers, and it's also accompanied by fatigue, pessimism and insecurity. The status quo of “the rat race” in all fields has become more and more intense under such social conditions. The word “quiet quitting” is widely used by people. The paper will analyze the impact of “quiet quitting” on individuals and organizations and come up with some solutions to reduce “quiet quitting” for organizations, such as job satisfaction and motivation, stress and strains, etc. In addition, this paper will adopt the form of a questionnaire to investigate the data and uses these data to help analyze people's attitudes and idea of the impact of “quiet quitting”.
Chapter
Self-employment has been suggested as a way to increase well-being, and a body of research has found evidence that self-employed individuals achieve higher levels of well-being compared to wage employees. However, while there is a general positive association between self-employment and well-being, for specific groups of self-employed/entrepreneurs (e.g., women entrepreneurs, immigrant entrepreneurs, etc.) the relationship between being independent and achieving fulfillment, personal growth, and wellness through their work is complex and multifaceted. This is due to structural limits, societal norms, and contextual limitations that can impede their ability to achieve meaningful work and well-being while being self-employed. This chapter reviews both the promise and the limits of self-employment as a path to well-being for the self-employed with a particular focus on women entrepreneurs and immigrant entrepreneurs.KeywordsWell-beingWork fulfillmentSelf-employmentWomen entrepreneursImmigrant entrepreneurs
Article
Background: Rest breaks have been shown to reduce acute fatigue, yet not all nurses who take rest breaks report lower fatigue. Psychological detachment-letting go of work-related thoughts-during rest breaks and workload may be key factors in explaining this phenomenon. Objective: To examine the mediating role of psychological detachment during rest breaks and determine how workload moderated that pathway to lower acute fatigue among hospital nurses. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 1861 12-hour shift nurses who answered an online survey between July and September 2021. The survey included measures of occupational fatigue, psychological detachment from work, workload, and questions on breaks, work, health, and demographics. Structural equation modeling was used in Mplus 8.9 software to estimate the direct and indirect effects of rest breaks on acute fatigue at 3 levels of workload. Results: Nurses, on average, reported high acute fatigue, rarely experienced psychological detachment during rest breaks, and reported heavy workloads. Around 60% were able to sit down for a break on their last shift but with patient-care responsibilities. The relationship between taking a rest break and acute fatigue was fully mediated by psychological detachment from work. However, this relationship only held in the context of manageable workloads. Conclusion: Our findings showed that within-shift recovery is possible when nurses can psychologically detach from work during rest breaks. However, this within-shift recovery mechanism was disrupted for nurses with heavy workloads.
Article
Purpose This study aims to incorporate theory on effort-recovery and stressor-detachment models to examine the roles of relaxation, mastery and types of control on the relationship between psychological detachment from work and boundary violations at home. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes data from two time points using a sample of 348 working mothers recruited from Prolific. Findings Working moms who psychologically detach from work have less work boundary violations at home. There are mixed findings on whether and when the other types of recovery experiences moderate the relationship between psychological detachment and boundary violations at home. Relaxation, control after work and job autonomy do not moderate the effect while mastery and boundary control do. Specifically, psychological detachment is more effective as reducing boundary violations at home for working moms who have (1) low levels of mastery and (2) high levels of boundary control. Practical implications Working mothers juggle multiple roles and often have increased stress and less time to manage the two domains. The findings of this study illustrate whether and when psychological detachment from work acts as a key to recovery from work-based stressors. Originality/value Much of the research on recovery experiences is based on employees without consideration of motherhood status. Further, scholars have not examined the combinative potential of recovery experiences. Finally, examining control over both domains (vs. one domain) adds precision to the literature.
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Background: It is critical to minimize nurse turnover to improve the quality of care and patient safety. In-depth investigation is required to better understand the factors related to nurses' turnover intentions. Aim: This study aimed to determine the relationships between burnout, general wellbeing, and psychological detachment with turnover intention among nurses in China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted in one hospital in China between January 2023 and March 2023. A total of 536 nurses were surveyed using the General Wellbeing Schedule (GWB), the Maslach Burnout Inventory scale (MBI), the Psychological Detachment scale, and the Turnover Intention scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 statistical software. The chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to explore the factors related to turnover intention. Results: Our data demonstrated that the turnover intention scores were 13 (10, 15.75), with 56% of nurses exhibiting a high level of turnover intention. Binary logistic regression analysis results indicated that being on a contract (OR = 4.385, 95% CI = 2.196-8.754), working in the pediatrics (OR = 2.392, 95% CI = 1.267-4.514) or obstetrics (OR = 2.423, 95% CI = 1.145-5.126) department, and experiencing burnout (OR = 1.024, 95% CI = 1.008-1.041) were associated with a heightened level of turnover intention. Conversely, organizational satisfaction (OR = 0.162, 95% CI = 0.033-0.787) and general wellbeing (OR = 0.967, 95% CI = 0.946-0.989) were identified as factors that hindered the intention to leave. Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that nurses were employed on a contract basis, working in pediatric or obstetric departments, expressing dissatisfaction with the organization, reporting low general wellbeing, and experiencing high levels of burnout that require special attention. The identification of these risk factors can inform targeted interventions and support programs aimed at improving the wellbeing and retention of nurses in these settings.
Article
Saudi Ports is one of the busiest seaports in the world and the biggest ports in the Middle East.It has the largest and most diversified economy in the Middle East with industrial exports that are internationally oriented. The Port Authority played a great role to increase the economics of the country through, cargo handling Imports and exports goods. Saudi Ports Authority has nine main ports on the two cost of the kingdom which achieved 95% of export and imports goods through the kingdom’s seaports while 55% of the cargo handled is exported. however, cargo’s over stock is the main issue that recently came up which raise the price of cargo’s handle up to 200%, which as a result of lack of job satisfaction among employees in cargo section and lack appropriate human resource practices. Therefore, our study takes a step to examine the role of human resource practice on employee’s performance and also the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between human resource practices and employee’s performance in Saudi Port Authority. Moreover, this study will validate of the assumption of Maslow theory. This study will be based on primary data (survey Questionnaire)
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Presenteeism refers to working despite ill health that might otherwise warrant sickness absence. Estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars in lost productivity, the concept has attracted the attention of different academic disciplines, policymakers, and practitioners interested in mitigating the problem. Although a topic of significant interest, the current understanding of presenteeism is compromised by a number of conceptual and methodological factors that follow from one another. We begin this introductory article by providing a brief overview on three specific challenges, namely, (1) presenteeism ill‐defined as a unitary construct, (2) narrowness of approaches to measure and study presenteeism, and (3) insufficient research on the social and relational dynamism that characterizes presenteeism. We then provide an overview of the eight articles that comprise this issue and analyze how they address the aforementioned three challenges by adopting alternative theoretical frameworks, utilizing new measurement approaches, and/or by shedding light on the dynamic nature of presenteeism. Finally, we discuss fresh perspectives and promising directions for future research endeavors on this topic, with the hope that this issue will inspire further research on the practical implications of presenteeism for promoting positive health and well‐being at the workplace.
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Bu çalışmanın amacı, sporcuların antrenman ya da müsabaka sonrasındaki psikolojik toparlanma durumlarının belirlenmesi için Sporda Psikolojik Toparlanma Ölçeği’nin (SPTÖ) geliştirilmesidir. Ölçeğin katılımcı grubunu yaşları 16-48 (Xyaş=19,41; ±4,35) aralığında olan 177’si kadın, 331’i erkek toplam 508 sporcu oluşturmaktadır. Verilerin yapı geçerliklerini test etmek için AFA ve DFA; yakınsak ve ıraksak geçerliklerini test etmek için ise CR, AVE, MSV ve ASV değerleri ile Pearson Korelasyon analiz değerleri kullanılmıştır. Güvenirliklerini test etmek için ise Cronbach Alfa ve CR değerleri incelenmiştir. AFA sonuçlarında açıklanan varyans oranı %69,88 şeklindedir. DFA sonuçları incelendiğinde ise elde edilen uyum indekslerinin iyi uyum gösterdiği; güvenirlik değerlerine bakıldığında ise alt boyutların iç tutarlık katsayılarının Zihinsel Toparlanma için 0,81; Canlılık ve Enerji için 0,94; Zihinsel Kopma için 0,83 ve İyiye Dönüş için ise 0,93 olduğu görülmüştür. Ölçeğin ve tüm alt boyutlarının yakınsak ve ıraksak geçerlik değerlerini desteklediği belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak 20 madde ve Zihinsel Toparlanma, Canlılık ve Enerji, Zihinsel Kopma, İyiye Dönüş şeklinde dört alt boyuttan oluşan Sporda Psikolojik Toparlanma Ölçeği geliştirilmiştir.
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Self‐sacrifice behaviour features in a number of well‐known management concepts such as organizational commitment, pro‐social motivation, and organizational citizenship behaviour, but is rarely acknowledged as a salient factor or examined directly. Drawing on theories of goal systems and personal resource allocation, and dyad data collected from 122 church ministers twice over 2 years and their partners, this study examines the extent to which worker self‐sacrifice behaviour is simultaneously an enabler of high work effectiveness and a cost for personal wellbeing. Findings support the ‘doubled‐edged’ nature of self‐sacrifice, showing that while worker reports of self‐sacrifice behaviour are positively related to increases in perceived role performance, they are also linked to partner ratings of worker emotional exhaustion and partner self‐sacrifice behaviour 2 years later. This study therefore validates the importance of self‐sacrifice behaviour in accounting for divergent work outcomes and its potential to spillover into the nonwork domain. The study further finds psychological detachment to partially moderate the relationship between worker self‐sacrifice and the two problematic outcomes. Therefore, psychological detachment offers a potential means of sustaining high self‐sacrifice behaviour over time and could play an effective role in related interventions.
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Purpose Based on conservation of resources theory, this study explored the relationship between multitasking and creative work involvement through the mediation of emotional exhaustion, taking regulatory focus as a first-stage moderator. Design/methodology/approach Based on a three-wave and two-source survey among a sample of 418 employees and 116 leaders, this study conducted multilevel analyses to examine the conceptual model. Findings The results showed that multitasking was negatively associated with creative work involvement and that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between multitasking and creative work involvement. Furthermore, promotion focus and prevention focus moderated the relationship between multitasking and emotional exhaustion and the indirect relationship between multitasking and creative work involvement via emotional exhaustion. Practical implications Organizations can promote creative work involvement through interventions that reduce employees' multitasking or emotional exhaustion. In addition, supervisors should be aware of the different responses to multitasking exhibited by employees with different regulatory focuses and could potentially assign multiple tasks to employees with either a high promotion focus or a low prevention focus. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on multitasking and creative work involvement by exploring whether and how multitasking is related to creative work involvement.
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Grit in leaders (and, in general, all employees) typically results in greater success and well-being but also has potential downsides. We propose that gritty leaders also need to be prudent or they may spend excessive time and resources at work, leading to greater work-to-family conflict and, as a result, lower well-being. Findings of two studies support this reasoning. Grittier and imprudent leaders experience greater work-to-family conflict and lower affective well-being, whereas grittier and prudent leaders experience lower work-to-family conflict and greater affective well-being. We therefore conclude that the agentic resource of grit in leaders may be either positively or negatively related to their affective well-being depending on their prudence. Considering that work-to-family conflict and affective well-being are important for the leader’s health and performance, which in turn may influence team/organizational performance, our study contributes to a better understanding of the routes leading to better leadership and team/organizational functioning.
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Purpose The negative effects of job stress and burnout on construction professionals (CPs) at the construction site have been widely concern in the construction industry. The purpose of this study is committed to explore the impact of job stress on CPs on the construction site, especially in the context of the widespread use of social media to express their emotions. Design/methodology/approach This study developed a job-related stress-burnout-health conditions-turnover intention (S-B-HT) framework to explore the direct and lagged effects of job stress, we also examined the moderating effects of online emotions, operationalized in terms of emotional intensity and expression pattern, on the relationship between job stress with job burnout under two evolution paths (i.e. health conditions or turnover intention). This study collected 271 samples through a survey questionnaire for empirical testing, and introduced structural equation models to validate the proposed conceptual model. Findings The results show that job stress has a significant positive effect on job burnout, and job burnout maintains a positive relationship with health conditions (or turnover intention) under the interference mechanism. Simultaneously, the online emotions expressed in social media have a positive moderating effect in two stages of the evolution path. Practical implications The findings of this study remind the project manager need to timely find and solve the job burnout characteristics of CPs due to excessive job stress, especially to prevent the accidental consequences caused by job burnout. Originality/value On this basis, this study provides an important value of using social media to express emotions for the project team to alleviate the adverse of professionals under job stress.
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In this chapter, we argue that state and trait mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices in the workplace should enhance employee outcomes. First, we review the existing literature on mindfulness, provide a brief history and definition of the construct, and discuss its beneficial effects on physical and psychological health. Second, we delineate a model of the mental and neurobiological processes by which mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices improve self-regulation of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, linking them to both performance and employee well-being in the workplace. We especially focus on the power of mindfulness, via improved self-regulation, to enhance social relationships in the workplace, make employees more resilient in the face of challenges, and increase task performance. Third, we outline controversies, questions, and challenges that surround the study of mindfulness, paying special attention to the implications of unresolved issues for understanding the effects of mindfulness at work. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our propositions for organizations and employees and offer some recommendations for future research on mindfulness in the workplace.
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The EWCS aims to measure in a comparable perspective working conditions of workers across European countries and beyond. This allows for the analysis of relationships between different aspects of working conditions together, the identification of groups at risk and issues of concern, as well as areas of progress and the monitoring of trends over time. These analyses contribute to European policy development, in particular on issues with regard to the quality of work and employment. It does so by gathering information on “real” work experience by workers. results from the 5th edition carried out in 2010, with almost 44,000 workers interviewed in their homes in the EU27, Norway, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey are presented.
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Orientation: Although work characteristics and recovery strategies are associated with work- family interference, the influence on specific types of work-nonwork interference (W-NWI) has not been investigated. Research purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of work characteristics and recovery strategies on four types of W-NWI. Motivation for the study: It is clear from the literature that job characteristics and W-NWI have adverse effects on employees’ health and well-being. It is therefore important to identify work characteristics and recovery strategies associated with W-NWI. Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. The target population was married employees with children working at a Tertiary Education Institution (TEI) in the North West Province (N = 366). Main findings: Work pressure and emotional demands significantly predicted all the work-nonwork role interference dimensions. A lack of autonomy predicted work-parent interference and work-religion and/or spirituality interference, whilst a lack of development possibilities predicted work-religion and/or spirituality interference. Relaxation and mastery recovery experiences significantly predicted lower work-parent interference. A lack of psychological detachment and relaxation were significantly associated with lower work- spouse interference. Relaxation and control significantly predicted lower work-domestic interference, whilst psychological detachment significantly predicted lower work-religion and/or spirituality interference. Practical/managerial implications: The results give managers insight into the specific work characteristics and recovery experiences that play a role in W-NWI, upon which interventions can be based to address these issues. Contribution/value-add: This study provides information on the relationship between work characteristics, recovery experiences and the effect on different types of W-NWI.
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Work stressors are related to poor psychological detachment (i.e., mentally switching off) from work during nonwork time, which in turn is related to low levels of recovery and health. This article examines two general personality orientations, attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety, and one vocation-specific personality tendency, overcommitment, as buffers of the work stressors-psychological detachment relationship. Survey data were collected from a sample of Israeli employees (N = 210) and their significant others (N = 109) to avoid same-source bias of psychological detachment assessments. Analyses showed that attachment avoidance moderated the negative association between workload and psychological detachment (self-reported), but attachment anxiety did not moderate the associations of role conflict and role ambiguity with psychological detachment. Overcommitment was a full mediator between job stressors (workload and role conflict) and psychological detachment. This study demonstrates the importance of personality, especially vocational personality, in the work stressor-psychological detachment relationship.
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We investigated the mediating versus moderating role of psychological detachment in the relationship between job stressors and psychological strain. Our sample consisted of 173 university students invested in challenging programs of advanced professional studies, who could find it difficult to detach from work. Hierarchical regression analyses of cross-sectional survey data affirmed the role of psychological detachment as a mediator in the relationship between job demands and perceived stress. Detachment also mediated the relationship between job demands and satisfaction with life, although the association disappeared when controlling for negative affectivity. Detachment did not mediate relationships between job demands and cognitive failures. Psychological detachment did not moderate any of the investigated relationships. The study contributes to a view of psychological detachment as less subject to individual differences than to the imposition of stressors in the given context.
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Work recovery research has focused mainly on how after-work break activities help employees replenish their resources and reduce fatigue. Given that employees spend a considerable amount of time at work, understanding how they can replenish their resources during the workday is critical. Drawing on ego depletion (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), we employed multi-source experience sampling methods to test the effects of a critical boundary condition, employee lunch break autonomy, on the relation between lunch break activities and end-of-workday fatigue. Although specific energy-relevant activities had a main effect on end-of-workday fatigue, each of these was moderated by the degree of autonomous choice associated with the break. Specifically, for activities that supported the psychological needs of relatedness and competence (i.e., social and work activities, respectively), as lunch break autonomy increased, effects switched from increasing fatigue to reducing fatigue. To the extent that lunch break activities involved relaxation, however, lunch break autonomy was only important when levels of relaxation were low. We conclude that lunch break autonomy plays a complex and pivotal role in conferring the potential energetic benefits of lunch break activities. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed.
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This is one of the first studies to empirically examine the relationship between wireless communications technology and work interference with family, and results shed light on the motivating factors that influence individuals to continuously engage with mobile technologies, sometimes to their personal detriment. We draw from Conservation of Resources (COR) theory to examine the relationship between using mobile communications technologies during non-work time (e.g., evenings, weekends, vacation) and psychological variables related to work-family conflict and well being, and whether this relationship is mediated by perceptions of job control and detachment from work. We collected data from 139 full-time working adults from a large media organization and analyzed it by conducting two multiple mediation regression models using bootstrapping procedures (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Results revealed that higher levels of mobile technology use during evenings, weekends and vacations were directly related to higher levels of work-family conflict, operationalized as work interference with family. Technology use was also related to both resource enhancing and resource depleting variables. Specifically, technology use was positively related to job control and negatively related to detachment from work. Job control and detachment from work, in turn, were negatively related to work interference with family. Findings suggested that the mediating effect of detachment on the relationship between technology use and work interference with family was greater than the mediating effect of job control, thus providing evidence to support the COR theory principle that resource loss is more salient than resource gain.
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Recently, Pfeffer (2010) called for a better understanding of the human dimension of sustainability. Responding to this call, we explore how individuals sustain an important human resource-their own energy-at work. Specifically, we focus on strategies that employees use at work to sustain their energy. Our findings show that the most commonly used strategies (e.g., switching to another task or browsing the Internet) are not associated with higher levels of human energy at work. Rather, strategies related to learning, to the meaning of one's work, and to positive workplace relationships were most strongly related to employees' energy.
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In 1999, van der Doef and Maes published a systematic review focusing on the Job-Demand–Control (JDC) model (Karasek, 1979) and the Job Demand–Control (-Support) (JDCS) model (Johnson & Hall, 1988) in relation to psychological well-being. Their review covered the period from 1979 to 1997. The present paper updates and extends this review. Covering research from 83 studies published between 1998 and 2007, our review revealed three major results: First, support for additive effects of demands, control, and social support on general psychological well-being is almost always found if the sample size is sufficient. Second, although there was consistent evidence for additive effects in relation to job-related well-being in cross-sectional studies, support rates were lower in longitudinal data. Thus, reciprocal or reversed causation might account for part of the association between JDC/JDCS dimensions and job-related well-being. Finally, evidence for interactive effects as predicted by the buffer hypotheses of the JDC/JDCS model was very weak overall. However, the pattern of results indicates that this is due neither to spurious evidence for such interactions nor to small effect sizes. Instead, our results suggest that buffering effects depend on whether or not demands and control are based on qualitatively identical JDC/JDCS dimensions (matching principle).
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The current study investigates workplace aggression and psychological detachment from work as possible antecedents of work-family conflict. We draw upon Conservation of Resources theory and the Effort-Recovery Model to argue that employees who fail to psychologically detach from stressful events in the workplace experience a relative lack of resources that is negatively associated with functioning in the nonwork domain. Further, we extend prior research on antecedents of work-family conflict by examining workplace aggression, a prevalent workplace stressor. Utilizing multisource data (i.e., employee, significant other, and coworker reports), our findings indicate that self-reported psychological detachment mediates the relationship between coworker-reported workplace aggression and both self- and significant other-reported work-family conflict. Findings from the current study speak to the value of combining perspectives from research on recovery from work stress and the work-family interface, and point toward implications for research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
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Lack of psychological detachment from work during off-job time contributes to the increase in employee exhaustion over time. This study examines the reverse causal path from exhaustion to lack of psychological detachment, suggesting that this reverse process may operate within a relatively short time frame. Specifically, we examine if exhaustion predicts a decrease in psychological detachment from work during off-job time within several weeks. We propose that time pressure at work intensifies and that pleasurable leisure experiences reduce this association between exhaustion and the decrease in psychological detachment. We tested our hypotheses in a short-term prospective study (time lag: 4 weeks) with a sample of 109 employees. Ordinary least square regression analysis indicates that exhaustion predicted a decrease in psychological detachment from work over the course of 4 weeks. This decrease was particularly strong for employees working under time pressure and for employees who did not engage in pleasurable leisure experiences. Our findings suggest that exhausted employees find detachment from work increasingly difficult and therefore might suffer from insufficient recovery-although they need it most. The situation is particularly severe when exhausted employees face high time pressure and a lack of pleasurable leisure experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
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Leisure is a key life domain and a core ingredient for overall well-being. Yet, within positive psychology, its definition and the psychological pathways by which it evokes happiness are elusive (Diener and Biswas-Diener 2008). In this paper, we seek to address these issues by delineating leisure and presenting a conceptual framework linking leisure to subjective well-being (SWB). Leisure is defined as a multidimensional construct, encompassing both structural and subjective aspects. Respectively, it is the amount of activity/time spent outside of obligated work time and/or perceived engagement in leisure as subjectively defined. To explain the effects of leisure on SWB, a quantitative summary of theories from 363 research articles linking leisure and SWB was conducted. Based on our findings, we propose five core psychological mechanisms that leisure potentially triggers to promote leisure SWB: detachment-recovery, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation (DRAMMA). These psychological mechanisms promote leisure SWB which leads to enhanced global SWB through a bottom-up theory of SWB. We discuss how future research can use this conceptual model for understanding the interplay between leisure and SWB.
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Research examining the relationship between work stress and well-being has flourished over the past 20 years. At the same time, research on physiological stress processes has also advanced significantly. One of the major advances in this literature has been the emergence of the Allostatic Load model as a central organizing theory for understanding the physiology of stress. In this article, the Allostatic Load model is used as an organizing framework for reviewing the vast literature that has considered health outcomes that are associated with exposure to psychosocial stressors at work. This review spans multiple disciplines and includes a critical discussion of management and applied psychology research, epidemiological studies, and recent developments in biology, neuroendocrinology, and physiology that provide insight into how workplace experiences affect well-being. The authors critically review the literature within an Allostatic Load framework, with a focus on primary (e.g., stress hormones, anxiety and tension) and secondary (e.g., resting blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index) mediators, as well as tertiary disease end points (e.g., cardiovascular disease, depression, mortality). Recommendations are provided for how future research can offer deeper insight into primary Allostatic Load processes that explain the effects of workplace experiences on mental and physical well-being.
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Most vacations seem to have strong, but rather short-lived effects on health and well-being (H&W). However, the recovery-potential of relatively long vacations and the underlying processes have been disregarded. Therefore, our study focused on vacations longer than 14 days and on the psychological processes associated with such a long respite from work. In the present study, we investigated (1) how health and well-being (H&W) develop during and after a long summer vacation, (2) whether changes in H&W during and after vacation relate to vacation activities and experiences and (3) whether changes in H&W during and after vacation relate to sleep. Fifty-four employees reported their H&W before, three or four times during and five times after vacation. Vacations lasted 23 days on average. Information on vacation experiences, work-related activities and sleep was collected during vacation. Vacation activities were assessed immediately after vacation. H&W increased quickly during vacation, peaked on the eighth vacation day and had rapidly returned to baseline level within the first week of work resumption. Vacation duration and most vacation activities were only weakly associated with H&W changes during and after vacation. Engagement in passive activities, savoring, pleasure derived from activities, relaxation, control and sleep showed strong relations with improved H&W during and to a lesser degree after vacation. In conclusion, H&W improved during long summer vacations, but this positive effect was short-lived. Vacation experiences, especially pleasure, relaxation, savoring and control, seem to be especially important for the strength and persistence of vacation (after-) effects.
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Past behavior guides future responses through 2 processes. Well-practiced behaviors in constant contexts recur because the processing that initiates and controls their performance becomes automatic. Frequency of past behavior then reflects habit strength and has a direct effect on future performance. Alternately, when behaviors are not well learned or when they are performed in unstable or difficult contexts, conscious decision making is likely to be necessary to initiate and carry out the behavior. Under these conditions, past behavior (along with attitudes and subjective norms) may contribute to intentions, and behavior is guided by intentions. These relations between past behavior and future behavior are substantiated in a meta-analytic synthesis of prior research on behavior prediction and in a primary research investigation.
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In this diary study, we tested the recovery potential of exercise activities during leisure time and examined the psychological mechanisms underlying the relation between exercise activities and affect. We hypothesized that spending time on exercise activities after work will be related to subsequent affect in the evening, and that psychological detachment from work, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions explain why exercise activities are related to subsequent affect. One-hundred and twenty-six participants from diverse occupations completed a diary twice a day over five consecutive work days. Multilevel analyses showed that exercise activities after work were related to positive, but not to negative affect in the evening. As proposed, psychological detachment, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions mediated the relation between exercise activities after work and positive affect in the evening.
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Purpose A body of research evidence has shown that job stressors are associated with lower levels of satisfaction and psychological well‐being. It has been suggested that recovery after the work day may reduce fatigue, restore mood and improve well‐being. The purpose of this paper is to examine predictors and consequences of four recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) identified by Sonnentag and Fritz, to replicate and extend their work. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 887 men and women managers and professionals working in the manufacturing sector in Turkey using anonymously completed questionnaires (a 58 percent response rate). Findings Respondents at higher organizational levels made more use of both mastery and control. Personality factors (need for achievement and workaholism components) were also positively correlated with use of mastery and control. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling both personal demographic and work situation characteristics showed generally positive relationships with use of recovery experiences and more favorable work and well‐being outcomes. Psychological detachment, however, was found to have negative relationships with some of these outcomes suggesting more complex relationships with use of this recovery experience. Research limitations/implications Questions of causality cannot be addressed since data were collected at only one point in time. Practical implications Individuals, through practice, and organizations, through training efforts, can encourage employees to practice recovery while off the job to improve their work satisfaction and individual well‐being. Originality/value The paper presents the first study of recovery experiences in Turkey.
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The aim of this chapter is to provide a literature review on daily recovery during non-work time. Specifically, next to discussing theories that help us understand the process of recovery, we will clarify how recovery and its potential outcomes have been conceptualized so far. Consequently, we present empirical findings of diary studies addressing the activities that may facilitate or hinder daily recovery. We will pay special attention to potential mechanisms that may underlie the facilitating or hindering processes. Owing to the limited research on daily recovery, we will review empirical findings on predictors and outcomes of a related construct, namely need for recovery. We conclude with an overall framework from which daily recovery during non-work time can be understood. In this framework, we claim that daily recovery is an important moderator in the process through which job characteristics and their related strain may lead to unfavorable states on a daily basis.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of matching job resources as well as matching off-job recovery (i.e., detachment from work) on the relation between corresponding job demands and psychological outcomes. Using the Demand-Induced Strain Compensation (DISC) Model as a theoretical framework, we conducted a cross-sectional survey study with 399 employees from three Dutch organizations. Results showed that (1) cognitive demands, resources, and lack of detachment are predictors of cognitive outcomes (i.e., active learning and creativity), (2) emotional demands and lack of detachment are predictors of emotional outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion), and (3) physical demands, lack of detachment, and lack of resources are predictors of physical outcomes (i.e., physical health complaints). Specifically, cognitive detachment from work might have negative effects on learning and creativity, whereas emotional and physical detachment from work might have positive effects on employees' health, and even on creativity. In conclusion, in order to cope with specific job demands, employees need corresponding job resources and detachment from work to balance health and performance-related outcomes.
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This study examined the role of partners and children for employees' psychological detachment from work during off-job time. Building on boundary theory, we hypothesized that not only employees' own work-home segmentation preference but also their partners' work-home segmentation preference is associated with employees' psychological detachment. In addition, partners' psychological detachment should influence employees' psychological detachment. We hypothesized that the presence of children in the household moderates partners' influence on employees' psychological detachment. Further, we expected both employees' and their partners' psychological detachment to contribute to employees' well-being. Participants were 114 dual-earner couples who responded to Web-based questionnaires. The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using the actor-partner interdependence model. Results confirmed our hypotheses. Employees' and their partners' work-home segmentation preferences were associated with employees' psychological detachment. The presence of children moderated the relation between partners' work-home segmentation preference and employees' psychological detachment. The relation was weaker when there were children in the household. Moreover, employees' and their partners' psychological detachment were positively associated. Again, the relation was weaker when there were children in the household. Finally, both employees' and their partners' psychological detachment contributed to employees' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
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A rigorous quasi-experiment tested the ameliorative effects of a sabbatical leave, a special case of respite from routine work. We hypothesized that (a) respite increases resource level and well-being and (b) individual differences and respite features moderate respite effects. A sample of 129 faculty members on sabbatical and 129 matched controls completed measures of resource gain, resource loss, and well-being before, during, and after the sabbatical. Among the sabbatees, resource loss declined and resource gain and well-being rose during the sabbatical. The comparison group showed no change. Moderation analysis revealed that those who reported higher respite self-efficacy and greater control, were more detached, had a more positive sabbatical experience, and spent their sabbatical outside their home country enjoyed more enhanced well-being than others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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[the terms ruminative thoughts or rumination] refer to a class of conscious thoughts that revolve around a common instrumental theme and that recur in the absence of immediate environmental demands requiring the thoughts / propose a formal definition of rumination and a theoretical model / the model addresses [goals and other] factors that initiate and terminate rumination as well as those that influence its content / the model also outlines some of the consequences of rumination for a variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioral phenomena / believe the model not only suggests a way in which to integrate what are currently separate yet related literature on ruminative phenomena (e.g., meaning analysis, daydreaming, problem solving, reminiscence, anticipation) but also suggests directions for future research / present evidence for some of the model's assumptions and then discuss some consequences of rumination varieties of conscious thought / the mechanisms of rumination / additional considerations [the relation between affect and rumination, individual differences, is the model falsifiable] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Acutely stressful job events were compared to routine work and to vacation among 29 workers measured four times. Critical job events were perceived as more stressful, and aroused greater strain, than chronic stress. Vacation was perceived as less stressful than work, but strain was as high during vacation as on the job.
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Occupational stress is a problem that can negatively impact individual workers and their employers. Fortunately, there are several interventions that can be used to combat employee stress. The current chapter provided a review of these interventions and it discussed how best to implement and study them. The focus was on treatments that have been shown to be the most successful in reducing harmful effects of stress at work. It should be noted that there are still major gaps in our knowledge about such treatments, but directions for further research are provided. Much of the best research specifically on interventions (as opposed to wholly nonexperimental studies) is relatively recent, which means the rate of progress in accumulating knowledge about the topic may increase. Furthermore, another positive note is that one recent study suggests that occupational stress interventions might have the potential to be more successful than results of the average study suggested. The typical evaluation study accepts volunteers or assigns organizational units to treatment, but it is probably more sensible and cost-efficient to focus the intervention on people who need it (based on some sort of diagnosis). The effectiveness of a treatment group versus a control group that both "need" the intervention is likely to be more apparent, as indicated in a recent study (Flaxman & Bond, 2010).
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In this chapter, we review empirical research evidence on the relationship between stressors and catecholamines (i.e., adrenaline and noradrenaline) and cortisol. With respect to acute stressors, both laboratory and field research have shown that the exposure to stressors leads to an increase in catecholamine and cortisol levels. With respect to more chronic stressors, research evidence is less consistent. Chronic mental workload was found to be related to elevated adrenaline levels. With respect to cortisol responses the interaction between workload and other variables seems to play a role. Empirical studies suggest that chronic stressors affect the responsivity to acute stressors. Research showed that after the exposure to stressors catecholamine and cortisol recovery is delayed.
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Reports an error in "Sources of social support and burnout: A meta-analytic test of the conservation of resources model" by Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben ( Journal of Applied Psychology , 2006[Sep], Vol 91[5], 1134-1145). There were errors in transcribing the ρ values from Table 2 to the results section. In the second paragraph of page 1138, the second and third sentences should read “In the present study, work-related support was more strongly related to exhaustion (ρ = -.26) than depersonalization (ρ = -.23) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .24; F (2, 111) = 24.13, p > .01). On the other hand, non-work support was more strongly related to depersonalization (ρ = -.16) and personal accomplishment (ρ = .19) than exhaustion (ρ = -.12; F(2, 38) = 3.83, p > .05).” The values in Table 2 are correct and the substantive conclusions have not changed. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-11397-012 .) The Conservation of Resources (COR) model of burnout (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993) suggests that resources are differentially related to burnout dimensions. In this paper, I provide a meta-analysis of the social support and burnout literature, finding that social support, as a resource, did not yield different relationships across the 3 burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), challenging the COR model. However, when considering the source of the social support (work vs. nonwork) as a moderator, I found that work-related sources of social support, because of their more direct relationship to work demands, were more closely associated with exhaustion than depersonalization or personal accomplishment; the opposite pattern was found with nonwork sources of support. I discuss the implications of this finding in relation to the COR model and suggest future research directions to clarify the relationship between resources and burnout dimensions.
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This three-week longitudinal field study with an experimental intervention examines the association between daily events and employee stress and health, with a specific focus on positive events. Results suggest that both naturally occurring positive work events and a positive reflection intervention are associated with reduced stress and improved health, though effects vary across momentary, lagged, daily, and day-to-evening spillover analyses. Findings are consistent with theory-based predictions: positive events, negative events, and family-to-work conflict independently contribute to perceived stress, blood pressure, physical symptoms, mental health, and work detachment, suggesting that organizations should focus not only on reducing negative events, but also on increasing positive events. These findings show that a brief, end-of-workday positive reflection led to decreased stress and improved health in the evening.
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Many major theories of organizational stress (OS) reflect basic principles of cybernetics, most notably the negative feedback loop. However, these principles are rarely examined in empirical OS research, which focuses predominantly on simple bivariate relationships embedded in OS theories. This problem may reflect an implicit rejection of cybernetic principles on conceptual grounds, the absence of specific propositions regarding these principles, methodological difficulties, or some combination of these factors. In any case, the result is a gap between theoretical and empirical OS research, which severely hinders the accumulation of knowledge in this area. This article is intended to narrow this gap by presenting an integrative cybernetic theory of stress, coping, and well-being in organizations, deriving propositions from this theory, and discussing methodological issues in testing this theory.
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This diary study examines the impact of daily recovery experiences on daily work–home interference (WHI) and daily burnout symptoms within a group of smartphone users. A total of 69 employees using smartphones on the initiative of their employer completed a diary questionnaire on five successive workdays (N = 293 data points). We hypothesised that particularly for intensive smartphone users it would be important to engage in activities fostering psychological detachment and relaxation in order to reduce the risk of WHI. We predicted that smartphone use would be positively related to WHI. Finally, we predicted that the positive relationship between WHI and state levels of burnout would be stronger for intensive smartphone users. Overall, the results of multi-level analyses supported these hypotheses. The findings emphasise the importance of a clear organisational policy regarding smartphone use during after-work hours.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to address the relation between task and relationship conflicts at work and employee well-being. It seeks to examine psychological detachment from work during off-job time as a moderator in the relation between conflicts and well-being. Design/methodology/approach – In a field study, 291 white-collar employees completed survey measures of task conflicts, relationship conflicts, psychological detachment from work during off-job time, and well-being. Control variables included workload and job control. Findings – Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that employees experiencing high levels of task conflicts and high levels of relationship conflicts report poorer well-being. As predicted, psychological detachment from work mitigated the negative relation between relationship conflicts and well-being. Contrary to expectations, psychological detachment failed to moderate the relation between task conflicts and well-being. Practical implications – The study suggests that employees should be encouraged to disengage mentally from work during leisure time. Originality/value – This study links research on workplace conflicts with research on recovery processes. It tests the moderator effect of psychological detachment from work on the association between workplace conflicts and well-being. DOI 10.1108/10444061311316780