Recharging for the future: how micro-breaks shape work prospection among Chinese employees

Despite a surge of research on micro-breaks in recent years, the interactional nature of this recovery behavior during working hours still needs to be explored. Drawing on the Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, first, we found from a study that included three online vignette experiments (Study 1, N = 551) that three micro-break support conditions (management support, supervisor norms, and coworker norms) enhanced the positive relationship between micro-breaks and three affective relationships (affective organizational commitment, affective supervisor-subordinate guanxi, and friendship prevalence), respectively. Second, a two-wave time-lag survey study (Study 2, N = 208) replicated the findings of Study 1 and verified the positive relationship between micro-breaks and positive affective work prospection and the mediating role of affective relationships therein and the moderating effect of micro-break support. Furthermore, through supplementary analyses, we found possible recursive relationships among the three affective relationships; supervisor-subordinate guanxi are likely to be antecedents of organizational commitment. This study's findings provide essential theoretical contributions to promote employee recovery in the workplace from a reciprocal perspective and provide insights into best practices in human resource management. Organizations and managers must provide an environment that supports micro-breaks for employees, as these supports help employees build affective relationships in the organization, leading to resource supplementation and, ultimately, resource gain. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the study and future research directions.