A key to recovery for working mothers? Psychological detachment and the roles of relaxation, mastery and control on boundary violations

PurposeThis study aims to incorporate theory on effort-recovery and stressor-detachment models to examine the roles of relaxation, mastery and types of control on the relationship between psychological detachment from work and boundary violations at home.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes data from two time points using a sample of 348 working mothers recruited from Prolific.FindingsWorking moms who psychologically detach from work have less work boundary violations at home. There are mixed findings on whether and when the other types of recovery experiences moderate the relationship between psychological detachment and boundary violations at home. Relaxation, control after work and job autonomy do not moderate the effect while mastery and boundary control do. Specifically, psychological detachment is more effective as reducing boundary violations at home for working moms who have (1) low levels of mastery and (2) high levels of boundary control.Practical implicationsWorking mothers juggle multiple roles and often have increased stress and less time to manage the two domains. The findings of this study illustrate whether and when psychological detachment from work acts as a key to recovery from work-based stressors.Originality/valueMuch of the research on recovery experiences is based on employees without consideration of motherhood status. Further, scholars have not examined the combinative potential of recovery experiences. Finally, examining control over both domains (vs. one domain) adds precision to the literature.