A recent study by researchers from Sheffield University & ESSEC Business School, attempted to understand the notion of qwork-hobby balance by ficusing on the theory of Conservation of Resources (CoR). The study investigates whether time spent on leisure activities affects career sustainability and whether it depeletes or generates resources. Two major factors affect the impact of leisure activities; 1) the seriousness of the leisure activity & 2) similarities between work-leisure activities. It was found that leisure activities positively affected work-related self-efficacy when the leisure activity was serious & similarities with work acitviities were low. The same positive effect is seen if seriousness is low but similarity is high. However, negative self-efficacy is developed when seriousness of the activity as well the similarities with work are high. One of the researchers, Dr. Kelly, from Sheffield University states, “consider a scientist who is an avid rock climber. Since climbing is so far removed from their day-to-day work activities, they can still recover from the demands of their job and replenish their resources.” The data, however, does not indicate the direction of the effect. It is possible, for example, that the time spent on hobbies is influenced by factors in the workplace. For practice, the research suggests that organisations encourage employees to allocate time to hobbies and other interests of theirs.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103340
