Exercise after work, psychological mediators, and affect: A day-level study

Abstract

In this diary study, we tested the recovery potential of exercise activities during leisure time and examined the psychological mechanisms underlying the relation between exercise activities and affect. We hypothesized that spending time on exercise activities after work will be related to subsequent affect in the evening, and that psychological detachment from work, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions explain why exercise activities are related to subsequent affect. One-hundred and twenty-six participants from diverse occupations completed a diary twice a day over five consecutive work days. Multilevel analyses showed that exercise activities after work were related to positive, but not to negative affect in the evening. As proposed, psychological detachment, sense of belonging, and physical self-perceptions mediated the relation between exercise activities after work and positive affect in the evening.

Keywords:

• Affect
• Diary study
• Exercise activities
• Mediators
• Multilevel analysis
• Recovery

Notes

¹Because there is a controversial debate about the inclusion of negative affectivity as a control variable, and some authors have criticized it (e.g., Spector, Zapf, Chen, & Frese, 2000), we re-ran all our analyses without negative affectivity as a control variable. Results did not change.