A recovery‐activities spiral: From enjoying lunch meals to engaging in social interactions

Abstract We developed and tested a recovery‐activities spiral in which having a high‐quality lunch meal predicts social interactions via work engagement. We further advanced recovery research by investigating whether (1) emotional expressivity moderates the relationship between having a high‐quality lunch meal and work engagement and (2) extraversion moderates the association between work engagement and social interactions. We conducted two independent studies using a daily diary research design (experience sampling method) such that 166 female nurses were recruited and completed surveys for 10 days in Study 1 ( n ₁ = 1328 daily observations), and 149 male construction field workers participated in Study 2 and completed daily questionnaires for 10 workdays ( n ₂ = 1319 daily observations). Studies 1 and 2 consistently revealed that work engagement mediates the association between lunch meal quality and social interactions. Further, in Study 2, results showed that although extraversion moderated the recovery processes, emotional expressivity did not.