Psychological Detachment Research Articles

What Predicts Psychological Detachment from Work? A Literature Review and Agenda for Future Research

Contemporary work environments are characterized by increasing job demands, extensive use of communication technologies, blurred boundaries between work and private lives, and growing uncertainty. Under these conditions, employee health and well-being are among the central topics studied by organizational researchers. Extant research has shown that psychological detachment from work is a key recovery experience that is essential for employees’ health, well-being, and work performance. This systematic qualitative review aims to advance our understanding of what facilitates or inhibits detachment. First, our paper evaluates the conceptualization of detachment and develops greater conceptual clarity on what detachment from work is (and is not). Next, we review 159 empirical studies and evaluate the accumulated knowledge on predictors of detachment. In addition, our review contributes to the ongoing debate about whether detachment and work-related thoughts are distinct constructs by reviewing studies on predictors of select work-related thoughts in a supplemental manner and comparing them with predictors of detachment. Our review offers valuable directions for future advancements of this line of research and provides recommendations to practitioners on how to facilitate this important recovery experience in their organizations.

Benefits of Engaging in Work and School: The Dual Roles of Resilience and Detachment

A significant proportion of full time college students have jobs, and an increasing number of full-time workers pursue academic degrees on the side. Despite the prevalence of individuals engaging in both school and work, the affective and behavioral outcomes of participation in these dual roles remains an understudied phenomenon. We draw on insights from the work-life enrichment literature and the conservation of resources theory to develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between work and study. Using survey data collected from two sets of traditional college students and a longitudinal survey of full-time working adults, we find strong support for the enrichment perspective: engagement in one domain (school/work) is positively associated with engagement in another (work/school), and this relationship is partially mediated by the acquisition of new resources (via increased resilience) but not by the protection of resource loss (via psychological detachment from primary role). Employees’ work identity plays an important moderating role in the school-to-work interface. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

How and When Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality Increased Employee Work-Family Conflict

Beyond perspectives proposed in past studies, we offer a new account based on a stressor-detachment perspective and propose the negative effect of supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) on employees' work-family conflict through psychological detachment. We then contend that employee trait optimism as a boundary condition on this relationship. Using multi-wave survey data, we found empirical evidence on our moderated mediated model. This study highlights the importance of considering the cross-domain effects of supervisor BLM. Our research extends the existing BLM literature and offer implications on the practical interventions that organizations can take to buffer the detrimental effects of supervisor BLM.

Deliberate Bedtime Procrastination Can Have Surprising Recovery Effects

As a society that romanticizes busyness and working long hours, we do not have sufficient time to get enough sleep and engage in leisure activities which help us detach psychologically from work. In this paper, we explore the possibility that people can deliberately procrastinate their bedtimes to create more time for themselves. We propose that this can potentially increase the experience of psychological detachment, leading to positive outcomes despite a reduction in sleep. In an archival study (Study 1), we apply modern topic modelling techniques to Twitter data to demonstrate that deliberate bedtime procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon which differs from traditional conceptualizations of mindless bedtime procrastination. We then developed a theoretical model to examine possible benefits associated with deliberate bedtime procrastination and tested it with an experience sampling study (Study 2). Controlling for objective sleep hours, results suggest that deliberate bedtime procrastination increases the experience of psychological detachment and reduces cyberloafing. Combined, our results extend the literatures on sleep and work recovery by providing empirical evidence for the existence of deliberate forms of bedtime procrastination and showing that sleeping less does not always lead to negative outcomes if it means that people can create a temporal barrier between their work and personal time.

Laissez-faire Leadership and Turnover: The Role of Employee’s Organizational Identity Threat

While research has largely explored the effects of leadership on employee turnover, the mechanisms explaining the effects of passive forms of leadership, such as laissez-faire leadership, on turnover remain unexplored. As agent of liaison between employees and the organization, leaders have an important role in fostering the meaning of their employee’s membership in the organization. According to social identity theory, employees develop a sense of organizational identity based on their membership to the organization. When laissez-faire leaders do not interact with their employees and neglect them, they may threaten the value of employees’ membership in the organization, and as such their organizational identity. Thus, we introduce the construct of organizational identity threat to explain how laissez-faire leadership enhances turnover among subordinates. We specifically posited that laissez-faire leadership would relate to reduced employee psychological attachment (i.e., affective organizational commitment) to the organization, increased psychological detachment (i.e., turnover intentions), and increased likelihood of voluntary turnover through organizational identity threat. These predictions were tested in two studies using three-wave time-lagged designs. Study 1 (N = 757) found that organizational identity threat mediated the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and turnover intentions and affective organizational commitment. Study 2 (N = 731) replicated these results, while controlling for the effect of workplace isolation. Moreover, we found that laissez-faire leadership had positive indirect effect on employee actual turnover through organizational identity threat. The implications of these results for laissez-faire leadership and turnover research are discussed.

How empowering leadership influences medical workers' work-family conflict in the post-pandemic era: A moderated mediation model of leadership "black box".

After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, the status and mechanisms of leadership, and the challenges for medical workers in terms of family–work conflicts, have caused widespread concern. In the post-pandemic era, based on role theory and the stressor-detachment model, this paper seeks to break the “black box” of negative effects that can be caused by leadership, research the mechanism and boundary conditions of those negative effects, and explore factors to reduce those negative effects. We recruited 1,010 Chinese medical workers fighting COVID-19 on the frontline. Our study results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between empowering leadership and work–family conflict, and this relationship was completely mediated by role stress, while psychological detachment moderated the relationship between role stress and work–family conflict. Moreover, psychological detachment moderated the mediating effect of empowering leadership on work–family conflict through role stress. Therefore, higher levels of psychological detachment were less conducive to medical workers' family–work conflict. This study has important theoretical significance and practical value for revealing the negative effects and mechanisms of empowering leadership and for medical workers to better deal with work–family relations.

Daily work pressure and task performance: The moderating role of recovery and sleep.

Whereas previous research has focused on the link between (mental and physical) workload and task performance, less is known about the intervening mechanisms influencing this relationship. In the present study, we test the moderating roles of daily recovery and total sleep time in the relationship between work pressure and daily task performance. Using performance and recovery theories, we hypothesized that (a) work pressure relates positively to daily task performance, and that both (b) daily recovery in the form of psychological detachment and relaxation, and (c) total sleep time independently enhance this relationship. Our hypotheses were tested in a 30-day diary study with 110 officer cadets on a cross-Atlantic voyage on a Naval sail ship. The results of multilevel modeling lend support to all three hypotheses. Taken together, our findings suggest that recovery and sleep duration between shifts play a key role in the relationship between daily work pressure and task performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the stressor-detachment model.

How employees leverage psychological capital and perform, even in the presence of rude co-workers: an empirical study from Pakistan

PurposeThis study aims to unpack the link between co-worker incivility and job performance, by detailing a mediating role of psychological detachment and a moderating role of psychological capital.Design/methodology/approachThe research hypotheses are tested with three-wave, time-lagged data collected from Pakistani-based employees and their supervisors.FindingsAn important reason that disrespectful co-worker treatment curtails job performance, with respect to both in-role and extra-role work efforts, is that employees detach from their work environment. This mediating role of psychological detachment is less salient to the extent that employees possess high levels of psychological capital.Practical implicationsFor organizations, this study pinpoints a key mechanism, a propensity to distance oneself from work, by which convictions that co-workers do not show respect direct employees away from productive work activities. This study also shows how this mechanism can be subdued by ensuring that employees exhibit energy-enhancing personal resources.Originality/valueThis study expands extant research on the dark side of interpersonal co-worker relationships by revealing pertinent factors that explain why and when co-worker incivility can escalate into diminished performance-enhancing activities.

Availability Expectations and Psychological Detachment: The Role of Workrelated Smartphone Use during Non-work Hours and Segmentation Preference

This study examined the associations among availability expectations, work-related smartphone use during non-work hours, and psychological detachment from work. In addition, we studied the role of segmentation preference in these associations. A total of 223 employees completed an online questionnaire. We hypothesized that smartphone use during non-work hours partially mediates the negative relationship between availability expectations and psychological detachment. We expected that segmentation preference would moderate this mediation effect. Finally, we examined the direction of this abovementioned moderating effect. The results supported our hypotheses and revealed a weak mediating effect of smartphone use during non-work hours on the relationship between availability expectations and psychological detachment. Moreover, the mediating effect is more substantial for people with low segmentation preferences. Furthermore, the practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Bottom-line pursuits invade your family: the spillover effect of supervisor bottom-line mentality on employee work-to-family conflict

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) and employee work-to-family conflict (WFC) through employee psychological detachment, and the moderating role of employee trait optimism.Design/methodology/approachThe research model was empirically tested using a sample of 225 two-wave data gathered from five Chinese companies.FindingsThe results revealed that employee psychological detachment mediated the impact of supervisor BLM on employee WFC. Moreover, employee trait optimism buffered the negative relationship between supervisor BLM and employee psychological detachment and the indirect effect of supervisor BLM on employee WFC through employee psychological detachment.Practical implicationsSupervisors should pay more attention to the spillover effect of supervisor BLM on employees’ family life and take some training measures to help employees effectively psychological detach from supervisor BLM.Originality/valueThe findings, therefore, provide a more comprehensive understanding of the adverse effects of supervisor BLM beyond the work domain and the buffering role of employee trait optimism on work–family intervention.

Dark personality in dark times: How Dark Triad personality interacts with injustice and politics to influence detachment and discretionary behaviours

AbstractUsing two‐wave time‐lagged multi‐source data in two studies, we examine how Dark Triad personality (DTP) interacts with contextual variables to influence psychological detachment and discretionary behaviours. In Study 1 (N = 288), we examine the combined effects of DTP and perceived injustice on psychological detachment and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). In Study 2 (N = 461), we examine the combined effects of DTP and perceived organizational politics (POP) on counterproductive work behaviours (CWB) and psychological detachment. We found that Dark Triad personality was positively related to psychological detachment and CWBs and negatively related to OCBs. The effects of the DTP on psychological detachment, OCBs, and CWBs were stronger when perceived injustice and POP was high.

The dark side of creativity: its connection to work-family conflict

ABSTRACT Creativity has its ‘dark side.’ This study investigated the relationship between employee creativity and work-family conflict drawing on boundary theory. Data were collected from 1074 participants who were full-time employees. By employing PROCESS macro, we found the relationship between employee creativity and work-family conflict is fully mediated by psychological detachment difficulty. We also found that family-work conflict moderates the effect of creativity on psychological detachment difficulty such that for those who experience lower family-work conflict, the effect of creativity on the mediator (i.e. psychological detachment difficulty) is stronger than for those who experience higher family-work conflict.

Workaholism and work–family conflict: a moderated mediation model of psychological detachment from work and family-supportive supervisor behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the workaholism on work–family conflict via the mediator of psychological detachment from work and the moderator of family-supportive supervisor behavior.Design/methodology/approachTo avoid common method bias, the authors adopted a three-wave data collection with a one-month lagged design. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 322 usable questionnaires were collected. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was applied to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsFindings demonstrated that workaholism is positively related to work–family conflict; psychological detachment from work mediates the relationship between workaholism and work–family conflict. Moreover, family-supportive supervisor behavior moderates the relationship between workaholism and work–family conflict and between workaholism and psychological detachment from work, respectively. Finally, family-supportive supervisor behavior moderates the indirect effect of workaholism and work–family conflict via psychological detachment from work, such that the indirect effect was weaker when family-supportive supervisor behavior was high.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that it is necessary for organizations to be responsible for employee well-being in different domains because the impact of workaholism on physical and mental health may bring unexpected consequences because of the lack of recovery and the loss of resources. This study not only shows the importance for individuals to look for ways to disengage from workplace but addresses the significance of supervisory support from organizational aspects.Originality/valueThis study includes psychological detachment from work as mediator and family-supportive supervisor behavior as moderator to investigate the moderated mediation relationship in the current highly demanding workplace. By applying conservation of resource and role scarcity hypothesis regarding individual resource allocation, the results may shed lights on facilitating individuals distancing from obsessively and excessively working mentality and behaviors that further lessen incompatibility in both work and family domains.

Implementation of Computer-Aided Piano Music Automatic Notation Algorithm in Psychological Detoxification.

This paper analyzes the modeling of a computer-aided piano music automatic notation algorithm, combines the influence of music on psychological detachment, and designs the piano music automatic notation algorithm in psychological detachment model construction. This paper investigates the multiresolution time-frequency representation constant Q-transform (CQT), which is common in music signal analysis, and finds that although CQT has higher frequency resolution at low frequencies, it also leads to lower temporal resolution. The variable Q-transform is introduced as a tool for multibasic frequency estimation of the time-frequency representation of music signals, which has better temporal resolution than CQT at the exact frequency resolution and efficient coefficient calculation. The short-time Fourier transform and constant Q-transform time-frequency analysis methods are implemented, respectively, and note onset detection and multibasic tone detection are implemented based on CNN models. The network structure, training method, and postprocessing method of CNN are optimized. This paper proposes a temporal structure model for maintaining music coherence to avoid manual input and ensure interdependence between tracks in music generation. This paper also investigates and implements a method for generating discrete music events based on multiple channels, including a multitrack correlation model and a discretization process. In this paper, the automatic piano music notation algorithm can play an influential role in significantly enhancing the actual effect of psychological detoxification.

자연경관 화면이 우울증상 피험자의 심리적 개선에 미치는 효과

First, as a result of the pre- and post-surveys of the experimental group that experienced depression, the anti-stress effect was found in the experimental group that watched natural landscape image on screen. Second, the effect of psychological detachment improvement was found in the experimental group that watched natural landscape image on screen. Third, the effect of optimism enhancement was found in the experimental group that watched natural landscape image on screen. Lastly, improvement in psychological happiness was found in the experimental group that watched natural landscape image on screen.

Decent work housebound: Recovery experiences of parents during the pandemic

The International Labor Organization considers that gender equality and hours for free time and adequate rest are part of the essential dimensions of decent work. This work aims to analyze parents' reinvigorating experiences in the situation of mandatory telework, controlled by job satisfaction. The research has been developed in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the extension of the confinement entailing from political and economic decisions that have worsened the health crisis. The survey was responded to by 535 respondents, of which 286 were parents. Results show higher means between parents in experiences of relaxation, mastery, control, and psychological detachment. Although considered a high-protective strategy, the latter is little used by both parents. Another tendency found in the results is that children's presence at home negatively affects mothers more than fathers regarding job satisfaction with mandatory telework entailing from the pandemic. Balancing work and family is not an easy equation. It is even worse in a society where women, mainly mothers, blame themselves when they want to relax or decide to take on challenging activities. In the social light, it seems unsustainable to have more responsibility for family care, and this responsibility is not followed by recovery.

Psychological Detachment as a Mediator Between Successive Days' Job Stress and Negative Affect of Teachers

The study investigated the mediating role of teachers' psychological detachment between successive days' job stress and negative affect. Fifty-seven Finnish teachers answered to a mobile diary four times a day on two successive workdays assessing their negative affect, three times a day assessing their job stress and once a day after work assessing their psychological detachment from work. Two-level modeling on both the between individual level and within day level was used to test the mediational model. The data supported the mediational model where teachers' job stress hinders their psychological detachment, which again increases their negative affect and job stress on the subsequent day. On the basis of our results teachers' occupational health interventions intended to reduce their job stress and support their psychological detachment from work are desirable. In addition, robust work-home segmentation norms within schools are suggested to support teachers' psychological detachment from work.

Grooving, moving, and stretching out of the box! The role of recovery experiences in the relation between physical activity and creativity

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment and relaxation) in the relation between physical activity and creativity, operationalized through divergent thinking using a randomized controlled trial experiment with 155 graduate business management students. The treatment group performed 20-min of either dance or Hatha yoga, while the control group performed a sedentary case-study task. The originality component of divergent thinking was measured before and after the interventions, and the recovery experience after the intervention. The results show that dance significantly improves originality vis-à-vis case-study. Psychological detachment mediates this relationship. Implications of results on ego-depletion theory and the concept of recovery experience are discussed.

A Latent Profile Analysis of Work Engagement, Workaholism and Psychological Detachment

This study identified the latent profile of two types of heavy work investment, namely workaholism and work engagement, by adding psychological detachment from work. Additionally, it was examined whether there were differences in well-being after work by each profile type. For this purpose, Latent Profile Analysis(LPA) was conducted using data of 548 korean employees in various occupations, and three types(workaholic, heavy work investors, disenaged) were confirmed as a result. There was a significant difference in all the well-being variables by type. The heavy work investors type showed the best well-being among the three types with the lowest emotional exhaustion, the highest positive affect, the middle level negative affect and the sleep quality. Our findings indicate that psychological detachment is an important factor that alleviates the detrimental effects of heavy work investment on employees’well-being and that work engagement can play a protecting role for employees’well-being even in absence of significant levels of psychological detachment.

The Work-Home Border Accounting System: A Function of Psychological Detachment

COVID-19 transformed work arrangements by increasing the adoption of the work-from-home format. Work-from-home employees are susceptible to continuous job stressors and the permeability of the work-to-home border. Psychological detachment serves as the pathway to recovery from job stressors and for preventing the carryover of work thoughts into the home domain during non-work time. Therefore, this review presents theoretical and practical implications for work-to-home border management by integrating literature about psychological detachment and work-from-home. Work-home border accounting involves examining and minimizing conditions that inhibit psychological detachment, e.g., ICTs demand, overtime, telepressure, interruptions, etc., which are withdrawals from employees' energy or resource accounts, while facilitating psychological detachment through deposits which are non-work activities such as leisure, social support, exercises, etc. This article proposes the work-home border accounting system for managing the work-to-home border. The review suggests the resources employees accumulate through psychological detachment, e.g., wellbeing, life satisfaction, and work-life balance, and the deficits employees accrue if there is a shortfall of deposits required for psychological detachment, e.g., stress, low productivity, work-family conflict, etc. Hence, this article provides a coherent understanding of the processes necessary for psychological detachment during work-from-home.