I get a kick out of scholarship about fun and relaxation. Today I ran across an abstract for research about the impact of going out to lunch on workplace fatigue. I didn’t shell out for the full article, but here’s the takeaway. Turns out that having lunch with a friend or a colleague can reduce how drained you are at the end of the day — but only if you have a choice in the matter. If the goal of the lunch is simply a relaxing break, “lunch break autonomy” is less essential. It matters more to people who are highly stressed out, and less to people who are already pretty chill. Here’s where to find the article:
https://psycnet.apa.org/
As a person who just took a raincheck on a lunch invitation to get more work done, this tracks with me.
