Hiking, Haiku, or Happy Hour After Hours: The Effects of Need Satisfaction and Proactive Personality on the Recovery-Strain Relationship

The primary purpose of the current study was to improve understanding of the process of recovery from work stress by examining need satisfaction as a mediator of the recovery experience-strain relationship and by examining proactive personality as a moderator of the recovery experience-strain relationship. Study findings provided support for the mediating role of need satisfaction and the moderating role of proactive personality; however, these relationships appeared to depend on the type of recovery experience. Mediation analysis of survey data from a sample of professionals (N=123) revealed that the need for competence and need for autonomy fully mediated the mastery-strain relationship for the gastrointestinal problems strain outcome variable. Both needs partially mediated this relationship for perceived stress while need for autonomy also partially mediated for headaches and respiratory infection variables. Moderation multiple regression analyses (N=123) revealed a significant interaction between proactive personality and detachment predicting perceived stress and headaches. It appears that proactive employees should be encouraged to spend their evening hours seeking learning opportunities that provide insightful challenges and not forced to detach. Their passive counterparts should attempt to leave work at work.