Navigating the Bright and Dark Sides of Work Motivation and Nonwork Recovery: A Mixed-Methods Study

We examined complementary and conflicting processes in the interplay between two key employee experiences: recovery and autonomous motivation. We draw on resource scarcity and abundance perspectives to amply contextualise how nonwork recovery and autonomous work motivation coexist and interact. We employed a sequential quantitative ➔ QUALITATIVE mixed-methods design. First, nonwork recovery and autonomous work motivation were assessed using well-validated questionnaires among 377 Norwegian university and bank employees. Next, we used extreme case sampling to interview a sub-sample of 15 employees based on extreme scores in nonwork recovery and autonomous work motivation. We used deductive thematic analysis to identify themes pertaining to research questions. Distinct complementary and conflicting patterns were found among employees grouped based on their nonwork recovery and autonomous work motivation scores, showing that recovery and autonomous motivation have a complex interplay involving both bright and dark sides. We further build four propositions based on the findings to develop theory on these key facets of optimal employee functioning.