Understanding the dark and bright sides of anxiety: A theory of workplace anxiety.

Abstract

Researchers have uncovered inconsistent relations between anxiety and performance. Although the prominent view is a "dark side," where anxiety has a negative relation with performance, a "bright side" of anxiety has also been suggested. We reconcile past findings by presenting a comprehensive multilevel, multiprocess model of workplace anxiety called the theory of workplace anxiety (TWA). This model highlights the processes and conditions through which workplace anxiety may lead to debilitative and facilitative job performance and includes 19 theoretical propositions. Drawing on past theories of anxiety, resource depletion, cognitive-motivational processing, and performance, we uncover the debilitative and facilitative nature of dispositional and situational workplace anxiety by positioning emotional exhaustion, self-regulatory processing, and cognitive interference as distinct contrasting processes underlying the relationship between workplace anxiety and job performance. Extending our theoretical model, we pinpoint motivation, ability, and emotional intelligence as critical conditions that shape when workplace anxiety will debilitate and facilitate job performance. We also identify the unique employee, job, and situational characteristics that serve as antecedents of dispositional and situational workplace anxiety. The TWA offers a nuanced perspective on workplace anxiety and serves as a foundation for future work. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study of Moderated Mediation between Perceptions of Politics and Employee Turnover Intentions: The Role of Job Anxiety and Political Skills

“…POP put job demands on employees' valued resources such as time and energy (Crawford, LePine, & Rich, 2010), and the amounts of these resources used to confront politics are considered "as wasted resources, either in the effort used to engage in political behavior or through expenditure of effort on projects inappropriately given priority through political actions" (Madison et al, 1980, p. 93). Such organizational demands are likely to trigger employees' intentions to leave due to higher levels of experienced anxiety derived from depletion or over-demand of resources (Astrachan, 2004;Chang et al, 2009;Cheng & McCarthy, 2018). This point is consistent with job demands-resource model of work stress which posits that imbalance between employees' available resources and demands put on them creates anxiety (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007).…”

“…POP is a well-recognized organizational stressor because it creates uncertainty and ambiguity regarding organizational processes and outcomes (Chang et al, 2009;Ferris, Frink, Gilmore, & Kacmar, 1994;Vigoda, 2002), and depletes employees' valued resources such as time, energy, and focus (Cheng & McCarthy, 2018;Harris et al, 2009;Madison et al, 1980). The COR theory implies that organizational politics is a process during which ongoing perceptions of uncertainty and ambiguity deplete employee resources.…”

“…In addition, social astuteness and greater adaptability of politically skilled individuals provide them with social competence which helps them better meet the demands that emerge from an organization's political environment (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1987;Ferris et al, 2007). This competence allows them to avoid feelings of anxiety derived from the loss of resources due to political environment (Cheng & McCarthy, 2018;Ferris et al, 2007). So, employees' political skills, when they interact with their POP, reduce their feelings of anxiety and subsequent outcomes (i.e., turnover intentions).…”

“…First, this study sought to examine the mediating role of job anxiety in POP-turnover intentions relationship. Based on the conservation of resources theory (COR theory) (Hobfoll, 1989), this study posited that POP, as an organizational stressor, tends to deplete employees' valued resources such as time, energy, and focus (Cheng & McCarthy, 2018;Harris, Harvey, & Kacmar, 2009;Madison, Allen, Porter, Renwick, & Mayes, 1980). This resource depletion leads to emotional exhaustion and anxiety (Freedy & Hobfoll, 1994), which result in adverse employee outcomes such as job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions (Harris et al, 2009;McCarthy et al, 2016;Wright & Cropanzano, 1998).…”

How and When Do Leaders Influence Employees’ Well-Being? Moderated Mediation Models for Job Demands and Resources

“…Contrastingly, PAL does not increase resources (Barling and Frone, 2017). We chose state anxiety to be an important negative aspect of subjective well-being (Rajgopal, 2010;Skakon et al, 2010;Cheng and McCarthy, 2018). It describes the proximal and internally directed response to perceived stressors (Glazer and Kruse, 2008;Pyc et al, 2016) and is known to be positively related to RA (Glazer and Beehr, 2005).…”