Acknowledging the critical role that occupational factors play in employee health, researchers have tried to understand ways to reduce the harmful effects of work on employee health. As the process by which individuals recharge resources that have been depleted, recovery has been recognized as important due to its potential to mitigate the negative effects of work on employee well-being. Although the recovery literature has continued to grow, many questions remain unanswered. The purpose of the present study was to expand our knowledge of recovery by examining situational (job characteristics) and individual (trait guilt) predictors of recovery and investigating psychological attributes of off-job activities. An experience sampling design was used to understand relationships among focal variables at day level. Hypotheses were tested using the data from 99 full-time employees living with a full-time working spouse and at least one dependent. The results suggest that daily job characteristics serve an important role in recovery such that they relate to recovery experiences of psychological detachment and relaxation. However, job characteristics did not have significant relationships with the choice of off-job activities. With regard to subjective experiences of off-job activities, findings demonstrated considerable variance across individuals. Further, psychological attributes of off-job activities were found to relate to recovery experiences although the results were not always consistent with expectation. Next, little support was found for the moderating role of trait guilt in the relationship between job characteristics and off-job activities. Finally, consistent with previous research, recovery experiences related to better well-being outcomes.

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L’objectif général de ce travail doctoral était d’identifier des leviers d’action permettant de préserver la santé psychologique des travailleurs, de réduire certaines de leurs attitudes et comportements néfastes pour les organisations de santé, et de comprendre les mécanismes explicatifs de ces relations. La première étude a démontré que le climat de sécurité psychosociale (i.e., PSC) était négativement associé au conflit travail-famille (i.e., WFC) et aux intentions de turnover des soignants via la frustration des besoins psychologiques. La seconde étude a mis en évidence que le PSC, via son influence sur la frustration des besoins, était associé à une réduction du burnout des soignants trois mois plus tard qui expliquait à son tour une augmentation du WFC et des intentions de turnover. La troisième étude a démontré que la dissonance émotionnelle et les ressources organisationnelles influençaient le manque de détachement psychologique et l’engagement au travail des professionnels d’encadrement au terme d’une période de trois mois, via leurs effets sur la frustration et la satisfaction des besoins. Ces trois études enrichissent la littérature scientifique sur la théorie de l’autodétermination en contexte de travail et alimentent la réflexion sur les pratiques organisationnelles susceptibles de modifier durablement l’expérience professionnelle des salariés du secteur / The general purpose of this doctoral dissertation was to contribute to identify triggers to preserve workers’ psychological health and reduce some of their negative attitudes and behaviors which appear to be harmful to healthcare organizations. Moreover, we aimed to understand the mechanisms underlying such effects. Study 1 used a cross-sectional design to demonstrate that psychosocial safety climate (i.e., PSC) was negatively related to nursing staff’s work-family conflict (i.e., WFC) and turnover intentions, through the mediation of psychological need thwarting. Study 2 developed these results by showing how PSC, through its influence on psychological need thwarting, related to a decrease in burnout three months later. Burnout itself explained an increase in WFC and turnover intentions. Study 3 focused on managers’ psychological health and found that emotional dissonance and organizational resources influenced managers lack of psychological detachment and work engagement three months later, through psychological need thwarting and satisfaction. Altogether, these studies contribute to self-determination theory in the work setting and offer some perspectives on organizational practices that could lastingly alter healthcare employees’ professional experience