The effect of positive work reflection during leisure time on affective well‐being: Results from three diary studies

• Author: Eunae Cho,Laurenz L. Meier,Soner Dumani
• Date: 01 February 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2039
• Published date: 01 February 2016

The effect of positive work reflection during leisure

time on affective well-being: Results from three

diary studies

LAURENZ L. MEIER

1

*, EUNAE CHO

2

AND SONER DUMANI

3

1

Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

2

Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

3

Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, U.S.A

Summary Previous research showed that psychological detachment from work during leisure time is beneficial and that

reflecting on negative aspects of work is detrimental for employees’well-being. However, little is known

about the role of positive reflection about work during leisure time. In the present research, we examined

the effects of positive work reflection on affective well-being. Additionally, we tested the effectiveness of

an intervention to increase positive work reflection and to improve well-being with a randomized controlled

field experiment. Findings from three diary studies showed that positive work reflection was related to an

increase in affective well-being with regard to both positive and negative moods. The results further indicated

that the benefits of positive work reflection were incremental to that of psychological detachment and the

absence of negative work reflection. Contrary to our expectation, no evidence was found for the effectiveness

of the intervention. Theoretical implications of main findings as well as supplementary findings are further

discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: work reflection; psychological detachment; well-being; diary study; intervention

For many employees, work is not over when they leave the workplace in the evening. Instead, they keep thinking

about work-related events at home, not only while they are finishing some work but also while watching television

or spending time with family members. According to a recent report, about one out of every two employees either

engages in work-related activities or reflects about work during their off time (American Psychological Association,

2013). Given the high prevalence of work reflection during leisure time, it is important to understand how work-

related thoughts affect employee well-being. Cumulative evidence indicates that lack of psychological detachment

from work has a negative impact on employees’well-being (e.g., Sonnentag, 2012a). Taken together, research to

date suggests that reflecting about work during leisure time is common but thinking about work during off time

might be detrimental for employee well-being.

Several studies have further explored the role of work-related thoughts in employee health by investigating the

valence of work-related thoughts. Considering the valence of thoughts is important because the impact of positive

and negative work reflections on well-being is likely to differ. On the one hand, cross-sectional studies (e.g., Berset,

Elfering, Lüthy, Lüthi, & Semmer, 2011; Querstret & Cropley, 2012) and diary studies (e.g., Cropley, Rydstedt,

Devereux, & Middleton, 2015; Wang et al., 2013) have consistently demonstrated that negative work reflection is

harmful for well-being. On the other hand, only a handful of studies have investigated positive work reflection

(e.g., Daniel & Sonnentag, 2014; Fritz & Sonnentag, 2005, 2006), although scholars noted that positive work reflec-

tion is likely to have beneficial effects (e.g., Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). Furthermore, findings from previous studies

have been mixed, and most of the studies have focused on between-individual differences using cross-sectional or

longitudinal designs. As an exception, Sonnentag and Grant (2012) examined whether daily fluctuations of positive

*Correspondence to: Laurenz L. Meier, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Rue de Faucigny 2, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.

E-mail: laurenz.meier@unifr.ch

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 27 June 2014

Revised 26 May 2015, Accepted 09 June 2015

Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 255–278 (2016)

Published online 4 August 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.2039

Research Article

work reflection are related to fluctuations of positive mood. This study demonstrated intriguing results such that

positive work reflection increased only certain types of positive affect (e.g., enthusiasm and joviality), highlighting

the need to study further the different aspects of positive affect. In sum, more research about the impact of positive

work reflection on well-being is warranted.

The goal of the present research is to examine the effect of positive work reflection during leisure time on well-

being. We focused on affective well-being because affective experiences serve as key mechanisms by which the

work and nonwork domains are linked (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006) and have implications for various work

behaviors (Grandey, 2008). Furthermore, we sought to examine the effectiveness of an intervention that facilitates

well-being via promoting positive work reflection during leisure time given the potential benefit of positive work

reflection.

Our research makes four key contributions to the literature. First, we advance the knowledge on the impact of

positive work reflection during leisure time on well-being by conducting a series of diary study, focusing on

intraindividual variations of work reflection and well-being. Various scholars have argued that most psychological

processes and mechanisms reflect intraindividual fluctuations of states (e.g., cognition and affect) rather than inter-

individual differences in chronic conditions or traits (e.g., Curran & Bauer, 2011; Dalal, Bhave, & Fiset, 2014;

Hamaker, 2012). Furthermore, daily diary approach links different states closely in time because of relatively shorter

time intervals that it adopts (e.g., a few hours to a day), which helps to show the unfolding of a temporal process

(Bolger & Laurenceau, 2013). Such an examination of the microprocesses related to positive work reflection

complements prior studies that have focused on interindividual differences in positive work reflection (e.g., Daniel

& Sonnentag, 2014; Fritz & Sonnentag, 2005, 2006), thereby providing us with a more holistic picture of the

relationship between positive work reflection and well-being. Second, the current study extends our understanding

on the potential consequences of positive work reflections by examining a wider range of affective experiences than

did previous studies. Previous studies on affective outcomes of positive work reflection have mainly focused on

positive affect (Daniel & Sonnentag, 2014; Sonnentag & Grant, 2012), although research suggests that affective

experiences represent an integral blend of two primary attributes (e.g., Russell, 2003; Warr, Bindl, Parker, &

Inceoglu, 2014), namely pleasure and arousal. Pleasure reflects affective valence and differentiates positive and

negative affects; arousal concerns the degree of readiness for action or energy expenditure and differentiates low-

activation and high-activation affects. In the present study, we consider affective experiences that encompass the

four quadrants: serenity as low-activation positive affect, joviality as high-activation positive affect, depressive

mode as low-activation negative affect, and anger as high-activation negative affect. Third, we address the call to

study the temporal dynamics in organizational research (e.g., Sonnentag, 2012b) by examining the duration of the

effect with various time lags. Specifically, we test whether positive work reflection during leisure time impacts

well-being in the evening of the same day as well as the next morning. Finally, we examine the effectiveness of

an intervention to promote positive work reflection during leisure time by conducting a randomized controlled ex-

periment, which helps elucidate the effect of interventions (Goldenhar, LaMontagne, Katz, Heaney, & Landsbergis,

2001). Furthermore, our study on the positive work reflection intervention expands the extant literature given that

the majority of previous intervention research in the field of occupational health has focused on job stressors and

strain (e.g., stress intervention programs; Semmer, 2011).

Positive Work Reflection and Affective Well-Being

Positive work reflection refers to thinking about the positive aspects of one’s job and may include thoughts about

pleasurable events such as successful task accomplishment and supportive work relationships. A number of theories

substantiate the benefits of positive work reflection on well-being. Recalling positive events triggers positive

emotions (Morris, 1989) and prolongs and amplifies positive consequences of the event (i.e., savoring; Bryant,

1989). Positive emotions are also known to accelerate recovery from negative emotional arousal (Fredrickson &

256 L. L. MEIER ET AL.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 255–278 (2016)

DOI: 10.1002/job