Freedom or bondage? The double-edged sword effect of work connectivity behavior after-hours on employee occupational mental health

作者：Fuyun Zhu, Ying Gao, Xiaotun Chen · 发表于：Chinese Management Studies · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1108/cms-01-2022-0008 · 被引用次数：18 · 研究领域：Work-Family Balance Challenges、Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior、Workaholism, burnout, and well-being

Purpose This study aims to explore the double-edged sword effect of work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA) on employees’ occupational mental health. Drawing on job demand-resource theory, the authors examined the double mediating mechanism of work autonomy and work-family conflict on the relationship of WCBA, work engagement and work burnout. At the same time, the authors examined the moderating role of responsiveness from superiors, hoping to clarify how WCBA brings employees positive experiences (engagement) or negative experiences (burnout). Design/methodology/approach Under the mediating mechanism of work autonomy and work-family conflict, the authors built a dual-path model and moderated mediation model to examine the effect of WCBA on work engagement and burnout. Two-stage paired data were collected from various industries in China by distributing questionnaires to employees. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equation model and the bootstrap test method. Findings The results showed that WCBA positively affects work engagement and burnout. Work autonomy plays a mediating role both in the relationship between WCBA and work engagement and in the relationship between WCBA and work burnout. In addition, work-family conflict plays a mediating role both in the relationship between WCBA and work burnout and in the relationship between WCBA and work engagement. Responsiveness from superiors not only moderated the relationship between WCBA and work autonomy a...