Abstract

Recovery paradox (Sonnentag, 2018) shows the paradoxical results from job stress, even though the higher the level of job stress, the greater recovery is required. The current study explores the relationship between job stressors and psychological detachment as a recovery-enhancing process to examine the paradoxical phenomenon. It specifically examined whether there was a differential impact on psychological detachment depending on the type of job stressors (challenge, hindrance). Additionally, the effects of the two mediators were investigated based on the negative activation hypothesis and the energy resource depletion hypothesis. Ninety-four employees participated in a daily survey. As a result of multilevel path analysis, the workload had a detrimental impact on psychological detachment. Also, only the mediating effect of negative emotion was significant in the link between role conflict and psychological detachment; the mediating effect of energy resource depletion was not. The significance and practical implications of understanding the recovery paradox phenomenon and its mechanism are discussed.