Too stressed to be psychologically present at work? Employee job stress and psychological withdrawal behaviours in organisations

Abstract

Although previous studies have examined the effects of employee job stress on their workplace behaviours, the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions in this relationship remain largely elusive in Human Resource Development literature. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, this study examined the mediating role of self-efficacy and the moderating role of leader narcissism in the relationship between employee job stress and their psychological withdrawal behaviours. Using two-wave data from 358 Nigerian employees from various organisations, we found that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between job stress and psychological withdrawal behaviours. Our study also found that the indirect relationship between job stress and psychological withdrawal behaviours was stronger when leader narcissism was high. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study for human resources development practitioners.