Weekend recovery’s effect on Monday morning exhaustion and engagement: The role of workaholism

Abstract

Work recovery is the process by which employees rebuild their lost resources and acquire new resources, such as energy or time (Barber et al., 2019; Ginoux et al., 2021; Sonnentag, 2001; Sonnentag et al., 2012). This accumulation of resources helps employees to be productive during their next work period (Casper et al., 2018; Sonnentag et al., 2012). To better understand the recovery process, the current study examined each of the four main recovery experiences (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) as they occur over the weekend and their relationships with Monday morning exhaustion and engagement. Additionally, this study examined how workaholism moderates the relationships between weekend recovery experiences and their relationship with Monday morning exhaustion and engagement. Data were analyzed from 209 participants. The results suggest that mastery and control experiences over the weekend are most beneficial for recovery and led to reduced exhaustion and increased engagement levels on Monday morning. Moreover, the results indicate that the positive relationship between weekend control experiences and Monday morning engagement is moderated by workaholism. These findings demonstrate the restorative power of control experiences over the weekend when workaholic tendencies are high.