Abstract

Recovery from work refers to a process during which individuals recuperate from work demands. This process is imperative not only for employees' health and well-being but also for their job performance at work. Although the recovery literature has established that recovery, often operationalized as the time spent on leisure activities or the psychological experiences of psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery, and control, is beneficial, little attention has been given to whether engaging in each of these forms of recovery is a solitary process or it can be shared with other individuals. Building upon the previous research on recovery from work and positive social interaction, the present dissertation introduces two new conceptualizations of recovery: shared recovery activities and companionship experiences. I propose that recovery activities during leisure time can be shared with others, and doing so will result in a psychological experience, companionship experiences, that is further related to employee well-being. To support this argument, I review the literature on the stressor-strain relationship, recovery from work, and social support. One hundred sixty-five full-time non-faculty employees affiliated with the University of Central Florida participated in the two-weekend main study. Participant responses on weekend activities were recorded on Sundays and Mondays using the day reconstruction method. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel path analyses while controlling for the between-person effects. The results suggest that shared recovery activities and companionship experiences influence well-being outcomes. However, their effects were mostly observed at the between-person level, and the effects were not observed for all the types of well-being indicators. In addition, there was a lack of evidence for the incremental validity above and beyond traditional types of recovery experiences. The companionship experiences also did not explain variance beyond perceived social support. Theoretical implications and limitations are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Jex, Steve

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology; Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008864; DP0026143

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026143

Language

English

Release Date

December 2024

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

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