A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY ACTIVITIES

Abstract

Recovery activities—such as physical, social, and low effort activities—play a vital role in mitigating the impact of work demands on health and in enhancing workplace functioning (Sonnentag, 2001; Sonnentag et al., 2022). Yet, understanding of the complex relationship between recovery activities and their outcomes, along with the mechanisms underlying this interplay, remains underdeveloped. This dissertation aims to structure and increase the existing knowledge on recovery activities by focusing on three primary objectives. The first objective is to develop an effective conceptual framework and measurement approach for recovery activities. This involves identifying and defining the dimensions that capture the spectrum of activities individuals engage in to recover from work-related stress and examining how these dimensions were differentially related to recovery experiences and recovery outcomes. The second objective is to identify the evening profiles —a mixture of different characteristics of recovery activities that a person participates in during their off-job time—and to explore how these profiles relate to recovery experiences and recovery outcomes such as work engagement and emotional exhaustion. The final objective is to investigate the reciprocal relations between recovery activities and employee well-being by examining how these variables influence each other on a weekly and bi-weekly basis. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction, highlighting the importance of regular recovery from work-related stress to alleviate its detrimental effects on health and well-being. This chapter discusses the rich history of recovery activities in the work and organization literature, the psychological mechanisms underlying their benefits, and the significant gaps in understanding the diversity of recovery activities and their specific impacts. It emphasizes the need for a differentiated approach to conceptualizing recovery activities and outlines the aims and research questions of the dissertation. Chapter 2 introduces the Recovery Activity Characteristics (RAC) framework, identifying seven dimensions of recovery activities—physical, social, creative, mental, spiritual, virtual, and outdoor. This chapter describes the development and validation of the RAC questionnaire and demonstrated how different dimensions of recovery activities uniquely influence recovery experiences and recovery outcomes within individuals. For instance, physical, mental, and creative dimensions were positively related to mastery experiences and morning vigor, while social and outdoor activities were related to enhancing psychological detachment and reducing emotional exhaustion. Chapter 3 explores profiles of evening recovery activity engagement using a multilevel latent profile analysis across different cultural samples and timeframes. Using data from a 10-day diary study and an 8-week weekly survey, distinct profiles (e.g., virtual-mental, outdoor-physical) were identified, which associated with specific recovery experiences and outcomes. For example, on evenings that employees fell into the "virtual-mental" profile, they experienced low psychological detachment and relaxation. Additionally, when they fell into the "outdoor-physical" profile, they showed high psychological detachment and low emotional exhaustion. The findings revealed that the impact of recovery activities on well-being depended on the unique combination of activity characteristics, highlighting the importance of considering the holistic context of recovery activities. Chapter 4 examines the reciprocal and temporal relationships between recovery activities and well-being indicators using the Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM). The shortitudinal study, which spanned eight weeks, showed that creative engagement in one week predicts an increase in work engagement the following week. However, not all hypothesized relations were significant, suggesting complex dynamics that need further investigation. Chapter 5 synthesizes the main findings, discussing their theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. This chapter highlights the importance of a multidimensional approach in studying recovery activities for promoting employee well-being and shows how different activity dimensions and profiles (i.e., a combination of dimensions) affect recovery experiences and outcomes. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research to further explore the causal pathways and practical applications of recovery activities in diverse organizational settings. In conclusion, this dissertation advances the understanding of recovery activities by introducing a novel dimensional framework and exploring the complex interactions of recovery activities and employee well-being. It offered valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for enhancing employee health and productivity. Future research should continue to investigate the causal pathways and practical applications of recovery activities to foster healthier and more productive organizational environments.