Interpersonal Conflict and Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Recovery Experiences

• Main Author: Demsky, Caitlin Ann
• Format: Others
• Published: PDXScholar 2012
• Subjects: Employee well-being; Interpersonal conflict; Recovery from work; Work > Psychological aspects; Job stress > Prevention; Employees > Mental health
• Online Access: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/766; https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1765&context=open_access_etds

Recovery during nonwork time is essential for restoring resources that have been lost throughout the working day. Recent research has begun to explore the nature of recovery experiences as boundary conditions between various job stressors and employee well-being. Interpersonal conflict is an important work stressor that has been associated with several negative employee outcomes, such as higher levels of psychosomatic complaints, anxiety, depression, and frustration. This study contributes to recovery research by examining the moderating role of recovery experiences on the relationship between workplace interpersonal conflict and employee well-being. Specifically, it was hypothesized that recovery experiences (e.g., psychological detachment, mastery, control, relaxation, negative work reflection, positive work reflection, and social activities) would moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict and employee well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, burnout, life satisfaction, and general health complaints). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the hypotheses. Relaxation was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between self-reported interpersonal conflict and employee exhaustion. Additional analyses found mastery experiences to be a significant moderator of the relationship between coworker reported interpersonal conflict and both dimensions of burnout (exhaustion and disengagement). Several main relationships between recovery experiences and employee well-being were found that support and extend earlier research on recovery from work. Practical implications for future research are discussed.