Feeling Recovered and Thinking About the Good Sides of One's Work

Consistent with a positive psychology perspective, this longitudinal study investigated relations between positive and negative nonwork experiences (i.e., feeling recovered, thinking about the positive and negative aspects of one's work during leisure time) with different job performance dimensions. In total, 358 employees working with persons with special needs responded to two questionnaires at an interval of 6 months. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that feeling recovered during leisure time predicted an increase in task performance after 6 months. This relation was mediated by occupational self-efficacy. Positive work reflection was found to predict an increase in proactive behavior (personal initiative, creativity) and organizational citizenship behavior. Negative work reflection was unrelated to job performance. Our results emphasize the role of positive nonwork experiences for employees' job performance.