Objectives: The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate to what extent vacation has positive effects on health and well-being, how long such effects endure after work resumption, and how specific ...vacation activities and experiences affect these relationships. Methods: Based on a systematic literature search (Psyclnfo, Medline) and methodological exclusion criteria, in a stepwise approach, 7 studies were selected and reviewed. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated i) for every outcome variable within every study, ii) for every study by averaging the effect sizes per study, and iii) for homogeneous categories of outcome variables (exhaustion, health complaints, life satisfaction). Results: The results suggest that vacation has positive effects on health and well-being (small effect, d=+0.43), but that these effects soon fade out after work resumption (small effect, d=-0.38). Our research further demonstrated that vacation activities and experiences have hardly been studied. Therefore, their contribution to vacation effect and fade out remains unclear. Discussion: Progress in future vacation research will depend on strong research designs that incorporate repeated measurements pre-, inter- and post-vacation.
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in psychological need satisfaction and its role in promoting optimal functioning. The DRAMMA model integrates existing need and recovery models ...to explain why leisure is connected to optimal functioning (i.e., high well-being and low ill-being). It encompasses six psychological needs: detachment, relaxation, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation (DRAMMA). While the individual needs of the DRAMMA model have been previously shown to relate to different aspects of optimal functioning, a longitudinal study examining the entire model has not been conducted before. In this longitudinal field study covering leisure and work episodes, we tested the within-person reliability and (construct and criterion) validity of the operationalization of the DRAMMA model in a sample of 279 German employees. Participants filled out measures of DRAMMA need satisfaction and optimal functioning at five measurement times before, during, and after vacation periods in 2016 and 2017. The six-factor model showed good fit to the data. In the multilevel models, relaxation, detachment, autonomy, and mastery had the most consistent within-person effects on optimal functioning, while the relationships between optimal functioning, meaning, and affiliation were considerably weaker. In conclusion, DRAMMA need satisfaction can aid and nurture employees’ optimal functioning.
Only few studies so far have examined recovery from work during workday breaks. In this intervention study, based on the effort-recovery model and the conservation of resources theory, we examined ...how to enhance recovery during lunch breaks. More specifically, we examined the within-person effects of lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises on employees' levels of concentration, strain, and fatigue experienced at the end of a working day. We moreover tested whether detachment from work and enjoyment experienced during lunch breaks transmitted the effects of these activities to well-being outcomes. Participants in the park walk (n = 51) and relaxation (n = 46) groups were asked to complete a 15-min exercise during their lunch break on 10 consecutive working days. Afternoon well-being, lunchtime detachment, and lunchtime enjoyment were assessed twice a week before, during, and after the intervention, altogether for 5 weeks. Multilevel analysis results showed that park walks at lunchtime were related to better concentration and less fatigue in the afternoon through enjoyment. Relaxation exercises were related to better concentration in the afternoon via detachment. In addition, relaxation exercises were directly linked to lower levels of strain and fatigue in the afternoon. Our study suggests that on days on which employees engage in recovering activities during lunch breaks, they experience higher levels of well-being at the end of a working day. These results add to the theory-based knowledge on recovery during workday breaks and highlight the importance of breaks for organizational practices.
This study explored the relationship between cultural leisure activities, recovery experiences and two outcomes among hospital workers. The differences in recovery experiences (detachment, ...relaxation, mastery and control) and outcomes (work engagement and subjective recovery state) among hospital personnel (N=769) were analysed by the type (receptive or creative) and frequency of cultural activities. The cross-sectional data were collected by a digital questionnaire. Employees who reported both receptive and creative cultural leisure activities on a weekly basis had the highest relaxation, mastery and control experiences during off-job time. In addition, those with weekly creative activities had beneficial mastery experiences. There were no differences in recovery outcomes after adjustment for age, except in work engagement. Cultural leisure activities, and creative activities in particular, play an important role in certain aspects of recovery.
Self-initiated and proactive changes in working conditions through crafting are essential for shaping work and improving work-related well-being. Recently, the research stream of job crafting has ...been extended to other life domains. The present paper aims to study a novel crafting concept-work-nonwork balance crafting-investigating the role of its antecedents and identifying relevant outcomes. Work-nonwork balance crafting is defined as individuals' unofficial techniques and activities to shape their work-nonwork balance, here considering their life domain boundary preferences.
In the study, 1,060 employees in three European countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) were surveyed in a longitudinal three-wave study with three-month intervals. We explored the influences of job/home demands and resources as antecedents of work-nonwork balance crafting. Important constructs for employee health and well-being (i.e., work engagement, work-related burnout, mental well-being and detachment from work) were investigated as outcomes.
The findings suggest that resources and demands in the context of work or home are key antecedents of work-nonwork balance crafting. Work-nonwork balance crafting was also predictive for important employee health and well-being outcomes over three months, mainly in a positive and health-promoting way.
This study provides insights into the antecedents of proactive efforts to balance the complex interplay of life domains. By studying work-nonwork balance crafting, we provide a new perspective on crafting beyond job crafting, which may help maintain or improve employees' mental health and well-being.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The aim of this study was to investigate employees' self-reported creativity before and after vacation and to examine the impact of recovery experiences (detachment, relaxation, mastery, meaning, ...autonomy, affiliation) on changes in creativity. The DRAMMA model of Newman et al. provides the theoretical background of our approach. Longitudinal data was assessed with four repeated measurements. The study encompassed data from 274 white-collar workers. Analyses showed that employees subjectively perceive their creativity to benefit not immediately after their vacation but 2 weeks later. Detachment was significantly related to lower creativity within persons, while mastery experiences explained differences in creativity between persons. This study provides a detailed picture of changes in creativity around vacations.
Purpose
The study had three aims. We investigated, first, how six recovery experiences (i.e., detachment, relaxation, control, mastery, meaning, and affiliation) during off-job time suggested by the ...DRAMMA model (Newman et al. in J Happiness Stud 15(3):555–578.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9435-x
, 2014) are related to well-being (i.e., vitality, life satisfaction, and work ability). Second, we examined how age related to these outcomes, and third, we investigated whether age moderated the relationships between recovery experiences and well-being outcomes.
Methods
A sample of 909 Finnish teachers responded to an electronic questionnaire (78% women, average age 51 years). The data were analyzed with moderated hierarchical regression analyses.
Results
Detachment from work, relaxation, control, and mastery were associated with higher vitality. Detachment, relaxation, meaning, and affiliation were related to higher life satisfaction. Older age was related to lower work ability, but not to vitality or life satisfaction. Older teachers benefited more from control and mastery during off-job time than did younger teachers in terms of vitality, whereas younger teachers benefited more from relaxation in terms of all well-being outcomes.
Conclusions
Detachment, relaxation, control, mastery, meaning, and affiliation during off-job time were related to higher well-being, supporting the DRAMMA model. Age moderated the relationships between control, mastery, and relaxation and vitality and life satisfaction. The role of aging in recovery from work needs further research.
This 1-year follow-up study (N = 841) investigated the relationship between boundary crossing behavior from work to nonwork and work-related rumination (i.e., affective rumination, problem-solving ...pondering, and lack of psychological detachment from work during off-job time). This relationship is important to examine as work-related rumination is a risk factor for poor recovery and ill-health over time. The aims were twofold: first, to examine these relationships in terms of temporal ordering, and, second, to show how individual differences regarding stability and change of boundaries from work to nonwork are reflected in work-related rumination across time. The structural equation modeling analyses lent support to the hypothesized normal causation model compared with the reversed causation and reciprocal models. However, only the cross-lagged relationship between high boundary crossing behavior at T1 and lack of psychological detachment at T2 was significant. Through latent profile analysis, 6 subgroups of boundary crossing behavior across time were identified. Over 70% of the employees belonged to the stable (low, moderate, high) and about one-third to the changing (mostly increasing) boundary crossing subgroups. Employees in the 2 stable (high and moderate) boundary crossing subgroups reported less psychological detachment and more problem-solving pondering during off-job time than did those in the low boundary crossing subgroup. Employees in the change groups reported simultaneous expected changes, especially in their problem-solving pondering. No effects on affective rumination were found. Thus frequent boundary crossing behavior from work to nonwork plays a different role regarding the various forms of work-related rumination during nonwork.
The COVID-19 pandemic and remote working challenge employees' possibilities to recover from work during their off-job time. We examined the relationship between off-job crafting and burnout across ...the COVID-19 crisis. We used a longitudinal research design, comprising one wave collected before the onset of the pandemic, in March 2019 (T1), and one wave collected during the first lockdown of the crisis in April 2020 (T2). We measured the six off-job crafting dimensions (Crafting for Detachment, Relaxation, Autonomy, Mastery, Meaning, and Affiliation) and burnout (fatigue/exhaustion) via a questionnaire among German and Swiss employees (
= 658; Age
= 47; 55% male). We found that both burnout levels and crafting for affiliation significantly decreased at T2 compared to T1. All off-job crafting dimensions and burnout correlated negatively cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Regression analyses showed that employees who crafted in their off-job time before and during the crisis experienced fewer burnout complaints during the crisis. Looking more closely at the subdimensions of off-job crafting, employees who crafted for detachment before and during, and for affiliation before the crisis, reported less burnout during the crisis. We conclude that off-job crafting may act as a buffer mechanism against burnout during the COVID-19 crisis.
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