Stressor-detachment Model Research Articles

Workload and procrastination: The roles of psychological detachment and fatigue.

In the present study, the self-control and recovery/detachment research literatures are integrated to explore the connection between workload and procrastination. We tested a conceptual model that draws heavily from the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag, 2011), and represents one of the first empirical tests of this model. We hypothesized that psychological detachment would both mediate and moderate the relationship between workload and fatigue and that fatigue would mediate the relationship between psychological detachment and procrastination. We tested the hypothesized model by surveying 547 working adults at 3 points in time over a 2-month period. Psychological detachment fully mediated the relationship between workload and fatigue; psychological detachment did not moderate this relationship. Fatigue partially mediated the relationship between psychological detachment and procrastination. Further, workload was indirectly related to procrastination 2 months later through relationships with psychological detachment and fatigue. These findings suggest that occupational stressors are related to procrastination and that this relationship can be partially explained by psychological detachment and fatigue.

Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework

Summary This paper reviews empirical evidence on psychological detachment from work during nonwork time. Psychological detachment as a core recovery experience refers to refraining from job-related activities and thoughts during nonwork time; it implies to mentally disengage from one's job while being away from work. Using the stressor-detachment model as an organizing framework, we describe findings from between-person and within-person studies, relying on cross-sectional, longitudinal, and daily-diary designs. Overall, research shows that job stressors, particularly workload, predict low levels of psychological detachment. A lack of detachment in turn predicts high strain levels and poor individual well-being (e.g., burnout and lower life satisfaction). Psychological detachment seems to be both a mediator and a moderator in the relationship between job stressors on the one hand and strain and poor well-being on the other hand. We propose possible extensions of the stressor-detachment model by suggesting moderator variables grounded in the transactional stress model. We further discuss avenues for future research and offer practical implications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.