Enrichment Between Leisure and Work via Psychological Resources: A Daily Diary

Abstract

Although leisure is an increasingly valued life domain among employees, it has received little attention in the enrichment and work-life interface literature. This paper seeks to address the lack of work in this area by examining the enriching effects of leisure on work performance. We distinguish between different approaches an individual may take to their leisure activity by considering the effects of both serious and casual leisure. Drawing on enrichment theory, we examine whether day-level episodes of serious and casual leisure improve work performance through generating resources, specifically self-efficacy and positive affect. We collected daily survey data from 86 employees from a range of occupations over 10 working days. Results obtained via multilevel path analyses models supported our hypothesis that time spent on serious leisure predicted work performance on the following day via its effects on self- efficacy. In contrast, time spent in casual leisure did not have enriching effects on next-day work performance. These findings indicate that leisure is an influential non-work activity for work- life enrichment and highlight the importance of considering individuals’ approach to the pursuit of leisure when examining its effect on the work domain.