Happy, healthy, and productive: The role of detachment from work during nonwork time.

Mentally distancing oneself from work during nonwork time can help restore resources lost because of work demands. In this study, we examined possible outcomes of such psychological detachment from work, specifically well-being and job performance. Although employees may need to mentally detach from work to restore their well-being, high levels of detachment may require a longer time to get back into “working mode,” which may be negatively associated with job performance. Our results indicate that higher levels of self-reported detachment were associated with higher levels of significant other-reported life satisfaction as well as lower levels of emotional exhaustion. In addition, we found curvilinear relationships between psychological detachment and coworker reported job performance (task performance and proactive behavior). Thus, although high psychological detachment may enhance employee well-being, it seems that medium levels of detachment are most beneficial for job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job characteristics and off-job activities as predictors of need for recovery, well-being, and fatigue.

Two empirical studies examined need for recovery (i.e., a person's desire to be temporarily relieved from demands in order to restore his or her resources) as a mediator in the relationship between poor job characteristics (high job demands, low job control) and high off-job demands, on the one hand, and fatigue and poor individual well-being, on the other hand. Multilevel data from a daily survey study in the health service sector (Study 1) showed that high job demands, low job control, and unfavorable off-job activities predicted a high need for recovery. Need for recovery in turn was negatively related to individual well-being. A large-scale survey with a representative sample of the Dutch working population (Study 2) confirmed these findings for fatigue. In both studies, need for recovery mediated the effects of job characteristics and off-job activities on fatigue and poor well-being, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Switching Off Mentally: Predictors and Consequences of Psychological Detachment From Work During Off-Job Time.

Psychological detachment from work refers to the off-job experience of "switching off" mentally. It is hypothesized that a high degree of workload encountered during the work day has a negative impact on subsequent detachment processes and that psychological detachment from work is positively related to well-being. Eighty-seven individuals from various occupations provided questionnaire and daily survey measures over a period of 3 working days. Multilevel analysis showed that workload was negatively related to psychological detachment from work during evening hours. Psychological detachment from work was associated with positive mood and low fatigue. The negative relationship between psychological detachment and fatigue was particularly strong on days with high time pressure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning how to recover from job stress: Effects of a recovery training program on recovery, recovery-related self-efficacy, and well-being.

This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effects of a recovery training program on recovery experiences (psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences, and control during off-job time), recovery-related self-efficacy, and well-being outcomes. The training comprised two sessions held one week apart. Recovery experiences, recovery-related self-efficacy, and well-being outcomes were measured before the training (T1) and one week (T2) and three weeks (T3) after the training. A training group consisting of 48 individuals and a waitlist control group of 47 individuals were compared (N = 95). Analyses of covariance revealed an increase in recovery experiences at T2 and T3 (for mastery only at T2). Recovery-related self-efficacy and sleep quality increased at T2 and T3, perceived stress and state negative affect decreased at T3. No training effects were found for emotional exhaustion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of personal resources in the job demands-resources model.

This study examined the role of three personal resources (self-efficacy, organizational-based self-esteem, and optimism) in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The authors hypothesized that personal resources (1) moderate the relationship between job demands and exhaustion, (2) mediate the relationship between job resources and work engagement, and (3) relate to how employees perceive their work environment and well-being. Hypotheses were tested among 714 Dutch employees. Results showed that personal resources did not offset the relationship between job demands and exhaustion. Instead, personal resources mediated the relationship between job resources and engagement/exhaustion and influenced the perception of job resources. The implications of these findings for the JD-R model are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flight Attendants' Daily Recovery From Work: Is There No Place Like Home?

This article builds on earlier work on recovery from work during off-job time and specifically addresses recovery in flight attendants, a group of employees whose work is characterized by a high degree of emotion work demands. Forty-seven flight attendants completed daily surveys on a total of 4 evenings when they stayed at home or when they stayed in a hotel. Multilevel analysis showed staying in a hotel did not impair well-being at bedtime. Spending time on work-related activities during off-job time decreased well-being, whereas spending time on physical activities (i.e., sports) and experiencing off-job time activities as recovery improved well-being, also when initial well-being immediately after work was controlled. Time spent on social activities increased depression during the evening. As a whole, this study largely confirms findings from previous research with other professional groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time devoted to job and off-job activities, interrole conflict, and affective experiences.

Employed persons (N?=?120) were surveyed to examine the demands on their time from both work and nonwork activities and the degree of interrole conflict they experienced. Job interference with off-job activities and off-job interference with job commitments were separate but interrelated components of conflict. On-job time was associated with job interference, but off-job time was not linked with off-job interference. Job interference mediated the effect of time demands on satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological strain, whereas satisfaction linked interrole conflict and affective experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between work-home segmentation and psychological detachment from work: The role of communication technology use at home.

Employees can have difficulty mentally distancing themselves from work during off-job time due to increasing use of communication technologies (e.g., e-mail, cell phone, etc.). However, psychological detachment from work during nonwork time is important for employee recovery and health. This study examined several antecedents of psychological detachment: work-home segmentation preference, perceived segmentation norm, and the use of communication technology at home. Results indicate that segmentation preference and segmentation norm were positively associated with psychological detachment. Further, technology use at home partially mediated these relationships. Findings indicate that segmenting work and nonwork roles can help employees detach and recover from work demands. In addition, findings show that the segmentation norm within a work group is associated with employee experiences outside of work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantitative Versus Emotional Demands Among Swedish Human Service Employees: Moderating Effects of Job Control and Social Support.

The purpose of the current study was to conduct a longitudinal test of the moderating effect of both job control and social support on the relation between job demands and burnout in human service work. To adapt the study to human service work, quantitative as well as emotional demands were examined. A longitudinal survey with a 1-year time interval yielded a panel group encompassing 2,255 employees from the Social Insurance Organization in Sweden. Hierarchical regression analyses were used, controlling for demographic variables and the related dependent variable at Time 1. The analyses were conducted for quantitative and emotional demands separately and revealed main effects. Slightly more main effects were found for emotional demands. In addition, 1 interaction effect was found between emotional demands and job control with regard to emotional exhaustion. In conclusion, the present study shows that emotional demands are as important as, and sometimes more important than, quantitative demands in human service work. Some practical implications and suggestions regarding future research are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and health outcomes among police officers: The mediating role of police cynicism and engagement.

This study examined the relationship between personality variables (Type A), job demands and job resources, and police cynicism and engagement, and also examined the mediating role of cynicism and work engagement in predicting both work and health related outcomes among police officers. The participants were 150 Norwegian police officers, and data were collected using questionnaires. Results showed that Type A behavior was related to both cynicism and engagement. As predicted, both job demands and lack of job resources were related to cynicism, and job resources were positively related to engagement. A series of regression analyses indicated direct relationships between Type A behavior, job demands and health complaints with no mediating effect of cynicism. Work engagement partially mediated the effects of individual characteristics, job demands and job resources on organizational commitment and self-efficacy. However, direct links between demands and resources and organizational commitment were also found, as well as direct links between Type A behavior, work demands and self-efficacy. The implications of work engagement for organizations were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' occupational well-being and quality of instruction: The important role of self-regulatory patterns.

Teachers' occupational well-being (level of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction) and quality of instruction are two key aspects of research on teaching that have rarely been studied together. The role of occupational engagement and resilience as two important work-related self-regulatory dimensions that predict occupational well-being and teachers' instructional performance in the classroom was investigated. In Part 1 of the study, self-regulatory data from 1,789 German mathematics teachers were subjected to a latent profile analysis, yielding four self-regulatory types (healthy-ambitious, unambitious, excessively ambitious, and resigned) that differed significantly on emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. In Part 2, the association between teachers' self-regulatory type and instructional performance was examined in a subsample of 318 teachers. Results showed that teachers' self-regulatory type predicted the quality of instruction in three of the four aspects of instructional performance examined. Moreover, teachers' self-regulatory type was systematically linked to differences in students' motivation. No association was found between teacher self-regulation and student achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job Resources Buffer the Impact of Job Demands on Burnout.

This study tested and refined the job demands-resources model, demonstrating that several job resources play a role in buffering the impact of several job demands on burnout. A total of 1,012 employees of a large institute for higher education participated in the study. Four demanding aspects of the job (e.g., work overload, emotional demands) and 4 job resources (e.g., autonomy, performance feedback) were used to test the central hypothesis that the interaction between (high) demands and (low) resources produces the highest levels of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, reduced professional efficacy). The hypothesis was rejected for (reduced) professional efficacy but confirmed for exhaustion and cynicism regarding 18 out of 32 possible 2-way interactions (i.e., combinations of specific job demands and resources). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time Management Behavior as a Moderator for the Job Demand-Control Interaction.

The interaction effects of time management, work demands, and autonomy on burnout were investigated in a survey study of 123 elementary teachers. A 3-way interaction between time management, work demands, and autonomy was hypothesized: The combination of high work demands and low autonomy was predicted to lead to burnout for teachers low in time management and not, or to a lesser extent, for those high in time management. This hypothesis is confirmed for emotional exhaustion, the most predictive dimension of teacher burnout, and partly confirmed for the personal accomplishment dimension. Generalizability to other contactual occupations is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress at work and psychosomatic complaints: A causal interpretation.

Examined the correlation between stress at work and psychosomatic complaints in 3 studies involving 1,047 German male blue-collar workers from 10 factories. In Study 1, 206 Ss were interviewed to measure psychological stress at work, psychosomatic complaints, and possible 3rd variables (e.g., job insecurity, leisure-time stress, lack of support from wife, political exaggeration, SES, and overrating or underrating stress at work). Ss represented 3–4 workers at each work place observed. In Study 2, 841 Ss were interviewed and 407 work places were observed. In Study 3, 90 Ss from Study 2 were reinterviewed and their work places reobserved. Results show that the correlation between physical stress and psychosomatic complaints can be explained by some 3rd variable, while the correlation between psychological stress and psychosomatic complaints cannot be explained by any of the alternative hypotheses. Objective conditions of work stress influenced the development of subjective stress and psychosomatic complaints. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories of job stress and the role of traditional values: A longitudinal study in China.

This study examines how traditionality influences the relationships between job stressors and health. A sample of 496 Chinese employees provided longitudinal questionnaire data, and their health was assessed by collecting blood samples and monitoring blood pressure. The results indicated that the positive relationship between job control and health was stronger among the less traditional workers, whereas the positive relationship between distributive justice and health was stronger among the more traditional workers. Furthermore, traditionality moderated the interactive effects of job demands and perceived control/justice on health. Perceiving higher control mitigated the effects of job demands on upper respiratory infections among low traditionalists, but it exacerbated the effects among the high traditionalists. Perceptions of higher justice mitigated the effects of job demands on emotional exhaustion and immunoglobulin A for high traditionalists but not for low traditionalists. These results suggest that, in the relationship between job demands and psychological and physiological health, concern for equity is an important moderator for individuals with more traditional values, whereas perceived personal control is salutary for health primarily among people with less traditional values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being.

We examined the influence of goal conflict and ambivalence on psychological and physical well-being through the personal striving framework. Eighty-eight undergraduates in two studies listed 15 of their personal strivings and rated them on the amount of conflict experienced between them and ambivalence experienced about each. Diary and experience sampling methods were used to assess positive and negative affect and physical symptomatology. Conflict and ambivalence were associated with high levels of negative affect, depression, neuroticism, and psychosomatic complaints. Conflict was also associated with health center visits and illnesses over the past year. A 1-year follow-up demonstrated that conflict and ambivalence ratings were stable and that these ratings predicted psychosomatic complaints over time. In a third study, undergraduates' thoughts and activities were randomly sampled over a 3-week period. Subjects were less likely to act on conflictful and ambivalent strivings but to spend more time thinking about these strivings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Did you have a nice evening?" A day-level study on recovery experiences, sleep, and affect.

In this study, the authors used a within-person design to examine the relation between recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery experiences) during leisure time, sleep, and affect in the next morning. Daily survey data gathered over the course of 1 work week from 166 public administration employees analyzed with a hierarchical linear modeling approach showed that low psychological detachment from work during the evening predicted negative activation and fatigue, whereas mastery experiences during the evening predicted positive activation and relaxation predicted serenity. Sleep quality showed relations with all affective states variables. This study adds to research on job-stress recovery and affect regulation by showing which specific experiences from the nonwork domain may improve affect before the start of the next working day. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Turnover intention and emotional exhaustion "at the top": Adapting the job demands-resources model to leaders of addiction treatment organizations.

Compared with the large literature on subordinate employees, there are few studies of emotional exhaustion and turnover intention for organizational leaders. There is little research that has extended the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of emotional exhaustion to leaders. In this study, the authors adapted the JD-R framework to analyze data collected from a sample of 410 leaders of addiction treatment organizations. The authors considered whether two job demands (performance demands and centralization) and two job resources (innovation in decision making and long-range strategic planning) were associated with emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. The authors also examined whether emotional exhaustion fully or partially mediated the associations between the job-related measures and turnover intention. The results supported the partially mediated model. Both job demands were positively associated with emotional exhaustion, and the association for long-range strategic planning was negative. Emotional exhaustion was positively associated with turnover intention. Centralization and innovation in decision making were also directly associated with turnover intention. Future research should continue to examine this theoretical framework among leaders of other types of organizations using more refined measures of demands and resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in job strain, social support at work, and psychological distress.

Using the demand-control-support model of job strain, the authors examined gender differences in the relationship between psychosocial work exposures and psychological distress in a cross-sectional sample of 7,484 employed Canadians. Compared with low-strain work, high-strain and active work were associated with a significantly higher level of distress in both men and women. Differences in psychological distress in relation to psychosocial work exposures were greater for men than for women. Low social support was associated with higher distress across all categories of job strain, and the combined effect of low social support and high job strain was associated with the greatest increase in distress. This pattern was similar in men and women. This study suggests that psychosocial work exposures may be a more significant determinant of psychological well-being in male workers compared with female workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of psychological hardiness, job demands, and job control on sickness absence: A prospective study.

This study prospectively investigated the effects of psychological hardiness, job control, and job demands on medically certified sickness absence. Data from a questionnaire survey were combined with archival data for sickness absence among 7,239 civilian and military employees of the Norwegian Armed Forces (84.3% male, 69.8% military). A 2-component hurdle regression was used in the statistical analyses of the sickness absence data. After controlling for age, sex, and baseline absence, hardiness predicted both the likelihood of having any sickness absence (odds ratio = 0.97) and the number of absence spells (a 6.5% decrease in the expected count for 1 standard deviation change in hardiness). In addition, an interaction was found among hardiness, job control, and psychological demands. When demands were high, high job control was associated with more absence among employees with low levels of hardiness. Together, these findings point to hardiness as an important individual resource in relation to health, and that it is necessary to consider individual differences when examining the effects of work characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)