Abstract
Workplace procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon that significantly impacts employee productivity and organizational competitiveness. Drawing on cognitive–motivational–relational theory, this study adopts an emotional perspective to investigate how and when job characteristics (i.e. hindrance job demands, challenge job demands and job resources) impact employees' workplace procrastination in distinct ways. We suggest that both hindrance and challenge demands may evoke fear of tasks, eliciting an action tendency of escape and avoidance, thus indirectly leading to procrastination. Notably, challenge demands may exhibit a dual effect by simultaneously enhancing interest in tasks with an action tendency of exploration, thus negatively and indirectly influencing procrastination. Job resources may generate joy about tasks, fostering an action tendency of free activation, thereby indirectly reducing procrastination. We further investigate how psychological capital, which largely shapes employees' appraisal of job characteristics, may alter the above relationships. We conducted two studies to examine our hypotheses and delve into the potential reversed relationships between job characteristics and procrastination. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e12551 |
Number of pages | 31 |
Journal | Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology |
Volume | 98 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 7 Oct 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 7 Oct 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 The British Psychological Society.
Funding
This research was supported by the ‘National Natural Science Foundation of China’ (72302235 and 71971211).
Keywords
- emotional responses
- job characteristics
- psychological capital
- workplace procrastination