Abstract: Recovery from work is not only an important guarantee for employees to cope with various work demands continuously and effectively, but also a key mechanism of resource replenishment to support employees to work better. Researchers have been seeking to shed light on the factors and mechanism that facilitate recovery. This paper focuses on the definition, influencing factors, and mechanism of recover from work. In addition, the future direction of recovery related research is prospected. Recovery refers to unwinding and restoration processes during which a person’s strain level that has increased as a reaction to a stressor or any other demand returns to its pre-stressor level. There are three representative views on the definition of recovery from work. One is to regard recovery as a life setting opposed to work, such as evening breaks, weekend life, vacations, etc. The second is to regard recovery as a process that refers to the activities and experiences beyond work. The basic recovery methods include passive recovery and active recovery. The former refers to the spontaneous recovery of resources through means of rest (sleeping) and relaxation; the latter refers to the reconstruction of resources by engaging in leisure, sports, social and other activities that can bring new resources. The third is to regard recovery as an outcome. It refers a person’s psychological or physiological state that is reached after a recovery period (e.g., at the end of a work break or in the morning before going to work). These three views on the definition of recovery are not conflicting, but with different focus. Conditions that contribute to recovery from work include sufficient recovery opportunities, good recovery environments, autonomous recovery activities, and effective self-regulation. Specifically, sufficient recovery opportunities mean that individuals have sufficient time to participate in recovery activities. Good recovery environments include both home environment and work environment that support individuals for recovery. Autonomous recovery activities refer to recovery activities driven by autonomous motivation rather than controlled motivation. Effective self-regulation means that individuals can focus on recovery activities during non-working hours. Conversely, work stressors, work related tele-pressure during non-work time, work centrality and work-related rumination after work are obstacles to recovery from work. The mechanism of recovery from work can be explained from different theoretical perspectives. The resource perspective (including the Effort-Recovery model and the Conservation of Resources theory) is cited most when discussing the mechanism of recovery. According to the resource perspective, the motivation for recovery comes from the need for individuals to alleviate and eliminate the stress response caused by the consumption of resources. And, any activities that can help prevent resources from being consumed and gain new resources are beneficial to recovery. The process perspective of recovery suggests that the ideal recovery process includes three phases: pre-recovery, passive recovery, and active recovery. The motivation perspective with the core of Self-Determination theory assumes that, only the autonomous motivation-driven recovery activities (such as hobby activities) can play the role of repairing and reconstructing the consumed resources, while the controlled motivation-driven activities are not beneficial to recovery. Work-family boundary/border theory believes that successfully recovery from work requires good recovery environments to provide protection, and the establishment of good recovery environments depends on the creation and maintenance of non-working areas (such as family) boundaries. Last, this paper also prospects the future research direction of recovery from work.

Key words: recovery from work, passive recovery, active recovery, mechanism

摘要： 工作恢复是保障员工持续有效应对工作要求，支撑员工“更好地工作”的资源补充机制，也是近年来职业健康心理学研究中的一个热点主题。本文在澄清工作恢复概念的界定和梳理工作恢复影响因素的基础上，着重围绕工作恢复的实现机制进行了分析和探讨。最后，围绕工作恢复相关研究的现状及未来方向进行了总结和展望。

关键词: 工作恢复, 被动恢复, 主动恢复, 实现机制