In times of long work hours and increasing work intensification (Kelliher & Anderson, 2010; OECD, 2018), recovery from job-related stress is of crucial importance for employees. Recovery is the process of psychophysiological unwinding that counteracts the strain process triggered by demands, and is important to sustain employees’ health, well-being, and performance (Sonnentag, Venz, & Casper, 2017). The current symposium consists of diverse studies investigating the relevance of both off-the-job and on-the-job recovery for work-related well-being and performance, and brings together researchers from six different countries.

Employing a diverse set of longitudinal and diary designs, the six studies in this symposium will reveal how employees’ recovery activities and recovery experiences promote work-related well-being and performance. More specifically, the studies draw attention to sleep as a crucial recovery activity, to vacations and short breaks from work as important recovery opportunities, and to psychological detachment as important recovery experience. By looking on the importance of sleep, recovery opportunities, and recovery experiences for diverse indicators of well-being and performance, the authors of the studies show that recovery matters not only for well-being during non-work time, but also for on-the-job experiences and behaviors.

The first study in this symposium is from Christine Syrek and colleagues. In a longitudinal study with 274 white-collar workers, they investigated whether vacations are related to changes in creativity, and whether recovery experiences during vacations modify vacations’ effect.

The second study is from Wladislaw Rivkin and Stefan Diestel. In a daily diary study with 51 participants over ten workdays, they investigated the day-specific energetic and motivational mechanisms that link sleep duration to work engagement.

The third study in this symposium is from Despoina Xanthopoulou and colleagues. In their daily diary study, they focused on social media use during work breaks – an activity that has become very popular. In a sample of 41 employees who answered questionnaires during one workweek, they tested whether social media use is related to subsequent recovery and well-being during and after work.

The forth study in this symposium – authored by Stefan Diestel and Elvira Radaca – looks on sleep quality, creativity, and work-related well-being. In a daily diary study with 119 employees and four measurement occasions during each workday, they focused on how sleep quality is related to flow experiences and vitality during the day and subsequent creativity at work.

The fifth study in this symposium is from Jana Kühnel and colleagues. In a longitudinal study with 155 employees, they investigated whether the shift to daylight saving time is related to impairments in employees’ sleep and work engagement, and whether effects are more severe for later chronotypes.

Angela Kuonath and colleagues author the sixth study in this symposium. In a longitudinal study with 713 judges, they investigated whether surface acting is a risk factor for judges that threatens their workability in terms of increased emotional exhaustion and decreased work engagement, and whether psychological detachment serves as a protective factor.

The chair of this symposium will encourage participation of the audience by inviting questions after each presentation.

CHAIR
Jana Kühnel
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

IN THIS SYMPOSIUM

Do vacations affect creativity? A longitudinal study
Christine Syrek, Jessica de Bloom, Dirk Lehr
University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Rheinbach, Germany.
University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Leuphana Universität, Lüneburg, Germany

The flow of energy from daily sleep to work engagement: The role of positive affect, basic needs satisfaction and trait self-control
Wladislaw Rivkin, Stefan Diestel
Aston Business School, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany

Work- and non-work-related social media use during work breaks: Effects on daily employee well-being and recovery
Despoina Xanthopoulou, Konstantina Foti, Savvas Papagiannidis
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle, United Kingdom

How does daily sleep quality shape vitality and creativity throughout the working day? The mediating role of flow-experience and the moderating role of mindfulness
Stefan Diestel, Elvira Radaca
Bergische University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany

Does the shift to daylight saving time impair employees’ sleep and their work engagement?
Jana Kühnel, Jette Völker, Franziska Feinäugle
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

The role of surface acting and detachment for changes in judges’ employability
Angela Kuonath, Irmgard Mausz, Alexandra Hauser, Dieter Frey
LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
TU Munich, Munich, Germany