Work

Detach to Thrive: Psychological Detachment from Work and Employee Well-Being

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Psychological detachment from work implies mentally disconnecting from work during off-job time. Using representative longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we identify psychological detachment from work as a key driver of employee well-being. This finding holds for a broad set of well-being indicators, including emotional responses, job satisfaction, life domain satisfactions, and global life satisfaction. Importantly, heterogeneity analyses reveal that detachment affects different subgroups of employees to a similar extent, indicating that the impact of detachment on employee well-being is universal. We further find that detachment mattered for employee well-being before as well as during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, organizations and policy makers could foster psychological detachment to increase employee well-being. Given that employees nowadays search for happiness at work, ensuring psychological detachment becomes also relevant in the war for talent.

Source: Journal of Happiness Studies

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-025-00883-7

Authors: Mehrzad B. Baktash, Lisa Pütz

Institutions: Universität Trier, RWTH Aachen University

Language: English

Topic: Workaholism, burnout, and well-being

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,490