I keep seeing an article getting posted to antiwork, so I thought it's best to debunk this article.
The headline of the article is: You need to detach and ‘psychologically recover’ from work, professors say. The solution: commuting
DEBUNK:
This title and article are very disingenuous, as the papers which are claiming that the commuting time is psychologically beneficial were written in 2010 and in 2014. These papers do not consider the phycology of the pandemic, or the fact that we shifted to a work from home model. The article knows this and is using the science outside its original context. AKA cherry-picking.
Here are the titles, dates, links, and abstract for the psychology papers quoted:
2010 – Happy, healthy, and productive: The role of detachment from work during nonwork time.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/job.1924
Mentally distancing oneself from work during nonwork time can help restore resources lost because of work demands. In this study, we examined possible outcomes of such psychological detachment from work, specifically well-being and job performance. Although employees may need to mentally detach from work to restore their well-being, high levels of detachment may require a longer time to get back into “working mode,” which may be negatively associated with job performance. Our results indicate that higher levels of self-reported detachment were associated with higher levels of significant other-reported life satisfaction as well as lower levels of emotional exhaustion. In addition, we found curvilinear relationships between psychological detachment and coworker reported job performance (task performance and proactive behavior). Thus, although high psychological detachment may enhance employee well-being, it seems that medium levels of detachment are most beneficial for job performance
2014 – Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment
model as an integrative framework
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0019462
This paper reviews empirical evidence on psychological detachment from work during nonwork time. Psycho-
logical detachment as a core recovery experience refers to refraining from job-related activities and thoughts
during nonwork time; it implies to mentally disengage from one’s job while being away from work. Using the
stressor-detachment model as an organizing framework, we describe findings from between-person and within-
person studies, relying on cross-sectional, longitudinal, and daily-diary designs. Overall, research shows that
job stressors, particularly workload, predict low levels of psychological detachment. A lack of detachment in turn
predicts high strain levels and poor individual well-being (e.g., burnout and lower life satisfaction). Psychological
detachment seems to be both a mediator and a moderator in the relationship between job stressors on the one hand
and strain and poor well-being on the other hand. We propose possible extensions of the stressor-detachment
model by suggesting moderator variables grounded in the transactional stress model. We further discuss avenues
for future research and offer practical implications.
PS. these papers are paywalled, so you may need to have institutional access or a VPN to use scihub to read them