Ability to Recover From Work Affects Next Day Mood

TOPLINE:

The quality of recovery from work in the evening hours may affect employees' level of wakefulness, calmness, and pleasantness on the job the next day.

METHODOLOGY:

The study included 124 non-shift full-time employees in various occupations. They were aged 21–65 years (median, 36–40 years), almost two thirds (63.4%) women, and more than two thirds (67.5%) had a university degree

In addition to a general survey that collected demographics and background information, participants completed five online daily surveys over 2 work weeks that assessed sleep quality and recovery experiences from the previous night. These included not thinking about work, seeking intellectual challenges outside of work, relaxation, and having control over their schedule. The investigators also assessed mood, including, wakefulness, calmness and pleasantness, work events, and breaks during the workday.

Researchers examined employees' daily recovery from work as a predictor of their mood trajectories during the day.

The study controlled for work events (positive and negative task-related events, and positive and negative interpersonal events) and for work breaks (which could provide the opportunity for recovery) and day of the week.

TAKEAWAY:

Multilevel growth curve models showed that wakefulness and calmness, but not pleasantness, generally declined during the workday, whereas pleasantness remained relatively stable, possibly because it depends more on external factors, such as experiencing success at work.

Daily psychological detachment, shown indirectly via improved sleep quality, and direct effects of relaxation and mastery experiences (for example, higher positive mood at the start of work) partly predicted these trajectories.

After experiencing evenings with impaired recovery (for example, lower than usual levels of psychological detachment, relaxation, or mastery experiences), employees had lower levels of wakefulness and calmness, while after experiencing evenings with good recovery, they had higher wakefulness and calmness, but these declined more strongly as the workday progressed.

IN PRACTICE:

Since psychological detachment and relaxation were especially beneficial for start-of-work mood, organizations/employers might foster a culture in which workers don't have to be available after hours, and they might investigate measures such as progressive muscle relaxation training for employees, the investigators note.

STUDY DETAILS:

The study was conducted by Maike Arnold and Sabine Sonnentag, Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany. It was published online June 7 in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

LIMITATIONS:

Recovery experiences, sleep quality, and employees' initial mood states were simultaneously assessed at the first daily measurement, which might have inflated the relationships between the various variables assessed in the morning. Participants provided self-report data only, which might raise concern about common method bias, although the authors note that employees' experiences are best captured by self-reports, and they took steps to minimize this bias. Also, the researchers could not test the assumption that employees want to shield their low positive moods from further declining in a strategic effort to protect remaining resources.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). The authors report no relevant financial relationships.

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