Lunch Breaks Unpacked: The Role of Autonomy as a Moderator of Recovery during Lunch

Abstract

Work recovery research has focused mainly on how after-work break activities help employees replenish their resources and reduce fatigue. Given that employees spend a considerable amount of time at work, understanding how they can replenish their resources during the workday is critical. Drawing on ego depletion (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), we employed multi-source experience sampling methods to test the effects of a critical boundary condition, employee lunch break autonomy, on the relation between lunch break activities and end-of-workday fatigue. Although specific energy-relevant activities had a main effect on end-of-workday fatigue, each of these was moderated by the degree of autonomous choice associated with the break. Specifically, for activities that supported the psychological needs of relatedness and competence (i.e., social and work activities, respectively), as lunch break autonomy increased, effects switched from increasing fatigue to reducing fatigue. To the extent that lunch break activities involved relaxation, however, lunch break autonomy was only important when levels of relaxation were low. We conclude that lunch break autonomy plays a complex and pivotal role in conferring the potential energetic benefits of lunch break activities. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed. 2008-0505.

When regulating emotions at work pays off: A diary and an intervention study on emotion regulation and customer tips in service jobs.

“…This response rate is considerably lower than the mean response rate of 52% which Anseel, Lievens, Scholleart, and Choragwicka (2010) found as a result of a meta-analysis on response rates in organizational survey research. Yet, while studies included in this meta-analysis relied predominantly on one-time surveys, finding lower response rates in diary studies is not unusual (e.g., Schreurs et al, 2014;Trougakos, Hideg, Cheng, & Beal, 2014). In diary studies participants have to invest considerably more effort and time than in traditional one-time survey studies.…”

Enhancing daily well-being at work through lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises: Recovery experiences as mediators.

“…We also recommend that future studies take more carefully into account how participants spend their lunch breaks on the days when they do not complete the intervention exercise. Future intervention studies should also pay more attention to the autonomous choice of the recovery activity, as self-chosen break activities have been shown to relate to greater well-being (Trougakos et al, 2014). This could mean, for example, including one intervention group where the participants can choose their intervention activity according to their own preferences.…”

“…Additionally, as our participants were randomized to the intervention groups, they were not able to choose the lunchtime activities according to their own preferences. In practice the effects might be even greater if the employees are free to choose their preferred activities (Trougakos et al, 2014).…”

Recovery during Lunch Breaks: Testing Long-Term Relations with Energy Levels at Work

“…Concerning break activities, earlier studies on internal recovery have associated relaxing, physical, and social activities with positive recovery outcomes (Coffeng et al, 2015;Krajewski et al, 2010;Trougakos et al, 2014). Of these, we focused on social activities.…”

“…For example, organizations may encourage regular lunch breaks and provide restorative environments (e.g., quiet rooms for relaxation). The question of how to recover successfully during lunch breaks has recently gained some research attention (Brown, Barton, Pretty, & Gladwell, 2014;Krajewski, Wieland, & Sauerland, 2010;Trougakos, Hideg, Cheng, & Beal, 2014). Nevertheless, research on internal recovery is still scarce (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015).…”