Psychological Detachment in the Relationship between Job Stressors and Strain.
We investigated the mediating versus moderating role of psychological detachment in the relationship between job stressors and psychological strain. Our sample consisted of 173 university students invested in challenging programs of advanced professional studies, who could find it difficult to detach from work. Hierarchical regression analyses of cross-sectional survey data affirmed the role of psychological detachment as a mediator in the relationship between job demands and perceived stress. Detachment also mediated the relationship between job demands and satisfaction with life, although the association disappeared when controlling for negative affectivity. Detachment did not mediate relationships between job demands and cognitive failures. Psychological detachment did not moderate any of the investigated relationships. The study contributes to a view of psychological detachment as less subject to individual differences than to the imposition of stressors in the given context.
Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, Uppsala SE-75142, Sweden.
My
M
Safstrom
Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, Box 514, Uppsala SE-75120, Sweden.
Terry
T
Hartig
Sweden; job demands; post-work recovery; psychological detachment; restorative environments