New research by the University of Rochester suggests that employers can improve their work-life balance initiatives by studying the moods of their workers during the weekend.

In the study, which focused on workers’ physical and mental well-being during Friday evenings to Sunday afternoons, researchers found that employed adults experience better moods, greater vitality and fewer aches and pains during the weekend.

“Workers, even those with interesting, high status jobs, really are happier on the weekend,” says Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. “Our findings highlight just how important free time is to an individual's well-being," Ryan adds. “Far from frivolous, the relatively unfettered time on weekends provides critical opportunities for bonding with others, exploring interests and relaxing -- basic psychological needs that people should be careful not to crowd out with overwork.” 

Participants in the study were paged three times a day, the morning, the afternoon and the evening, to complete a brief questionnaire. They had to rank, using a seven-point scale, positive and negative feelings and physical symptoms associated with weekend activities.

The survey involved 74 adults, aged 18 to 62, who worked at least 30 hours per week. The research also reveals that workers felt more competent during the weekend than during the work week.

This analysis “offers one of the first substantive and theory-based explanations for why well-being tends to be more favorable on the weekends: People experience greater autonomy and relatedness, which are, in turn, related to higher wellness,” the researchers write. By contrast, the work week “is replete with activities involving external controls, time pressures, and demands on behavior related to work, child care and other constraints.”

The findings also prompt a broader discussion on how the workplace can support workers’ psychological needs. “To the extent that daily life, including work, affords a sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, well-being may be higher and more stable, rather than regularly rising and falling,” the researchers observe.

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