Lunch break recovery as a predictor of work engagement and well-being: The within-person moderating influence of harmony

Abstract

Although prior research has demonstrated that extended recovery periods (e.g., weekends or vacations) promote employee well-being and engagement, less attention has been given to short daily recovery experiences, such as lunch breaks. This study examined whether recovery during lunch breaks is associated with daily well-being through work engagement and whether daily harmony moderated this indirect relationship. A five-day diary study was conducted with 40 hospitality employees (N = 200 day-level observations). Multilevel analyses were used to test within-person variations in recovery, work engagement, and well-being across days. As hypothesized, recovery during lunch breaks showed a significant indirect effect on daily well-being through work engagement (? = 0.17, 95% CI [0.05, 0.34]). When work engagement was included in the model, the direct effect of lunch break recovery on well-being became non-significant (? = −0.04, p > 0.47), indicating full mediation. Moreover, daily harmony moderated this indirect pathway (? = −0.03, 95% CI [−0.08, −0.01]), such that the association between work engagement and well-being were stronger on days of lower harmony. This study extends recovery and self-regulation theories by showing that brief, routine recovery opportunities, such as lunch breaks, can sustain daily work engagement and well-being, especially under conditions of reduced harmony.