Psychological detachment from work during off-job time: an integrative study

• Main Author: Ramos, Mariana Leonardo
• Publication Date: 2018
• Format: Master thesis
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/17924
• topic: Workload; Psychological detachment; Work engagement; Burnout; Gestão do stress; Comportamento organizacional

Previous studies have perceived psychological detachment from work during off-job time as an important recovery strategy allowing employees to recover from job stressors. Psychological detachment is defined as an individual’s sense of mentally disengaging from work while physically absent from it. Increasing levels of workload contribute to a lack of psychological detachment from work during off-job time. Therefore, this study examines an integrative view of how a moderation of supervisor support, and a mediation of work engagement – which in turn is influenced by indirect sets of effects of moderations of emotion regulation and neuroticism – help predict psychological detachment. In addition, we examine the outcome of burnout from employees’ ability to psychologically detach from work. We tested our hypotheses in a cross-sectional study with a sample of 546 employees from a public service organization. Multiple regression analysis showed that workload, supervisor support, and work engagement were significant predictors of psychological detachment. Additionally, psychological detachment from work is significant to explain employee’s burnout and it decreases in the presence of high levels of work engagement. Moreover, concerning practical implications, it is crucial to provide adequate supervisor support, carefully understand if it is imperative to reduce or increase work engagement, and promote interventions that facilitate employees’ detachment from work.