Project Coordinators: Ulla Kinnunen ja Kalevi Korpela
Funding: Academy of Finland
The objective of this research project is to shed new light on work stress recovery from two perspectives. First, there has been a lack of longitudinal studies, and therefore recovery as a process as well as its consequences is not yet well-understood. Second, although recovery during lunch breaks is the most relevant within-workday break, it has received only minor research attention. In studying these two main issues we approach recovery by combining the theoretical frameworks of work and environmental psychology.
The objective of this study is to examine work stress recovery emphasizing long-term consequences and within-day work recovery interventions. From the long-term perspective, the main aim is to examine whether a) poor recovery from job demands (during workdays, evenings, weekends, vacations) and b) poor recovery processes (related to psychological processes and free-time activities) have negative long-term outcomes for well-being, health and job performance.
From the within-day recovery and intervention perspective, our aim is to study whether within-day lunch breaks including a relaxation session or a walk in a park have more favorable outcomes for a) well-being and job performance, and b) psychological recovery processes, compared to lunch breaks spent the usual way.