Active or passive? an examination of the relationship between the valence of work experiences and choice of recovery strategy

Regular work days place a strain on employees, depleting precious resources which must be recovered. Recovery results from either passive or active activities. Little research has examined the effect of positive and negative experiences at work and their impact on recovery. The present study investigated how positive or negative experiences at work impact one’s choice of recovery strategy outside of work. I hypothesized that positive experiences at work are positively correlated with a person’s likelihood of engaging in active recovery due to gained resources, and vice versa. The sample for this study consisted of full-time employees with a regular working schedule. The results showed that regardless of experiences, employees chose active recovery over passive. Although the hypotheses weren’t statistically significant, the findings from this study contribute to the developing literature on occupational stress and recovery, probing questions about how and why employees choose certain forms of recovery over others.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Keating, Ashley

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cunningham, Christopher J. L.; O'Leary, Brian J.
• Biderman, Michael D.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Stress management
• Work-life balance
• Work -- Psychological aspects

Licence

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/460

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1600