THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF COMMUTE PREDICTABILITY AND ENJOYMENT ON IN-COMMUTE ACTIVITIES AND RECOVERY

Abstract

Recovery has quickly gained importance in the organizational health and psychology literature. It has been promoted as an important process that maintains an individual’s well-being and job performance despite functioning in a demanding environment (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015). Scholars have examined breaks such as vacations, weekends, and lunch-time, and their role in daily recovery. Premised upon the recovery research, this thesis proposes that the daily commute to work and back home present additional opportunities for breaks and, in turn, recovery. Also, using the ego depletion theory as an organizing framework, this paper reviews the literature on activities that promote recovery. Consequently, a typology comprising four in-commute activities, namely (i) pleasurable leisure activities, (ii) social activities, (iii) vacuous activities, and (iv) work activities, was proposed. This study examines the contributions of these four in-commute activities towards the recovery process, namely (i) psychological detachment, (ii) relaxation, and (iii) mastery. In addition, the moderating effects of commute predictability and commute enjoyment on the relationships between in-commute activities and recovery relationships were examined. For example, commute predictability was found to buffer the relationship between pleasurable leisure activities and psychological detachment during the morning commute. Implications of these findings are discussed.