Dysfunctional Cognition and Work-Related Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This systematic literature review synthesizes and integrates research on dysfunctional cognition (DC) in organizational settings, addressing the lack of a coherent model explaining how cognitive vulnerabilities shape work-related outcomes. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we analyzed 41 manuscripts (selected from more than 4523 initial and secondary search hits), leading to an integrative model of DC at work. Results show that DC is activated by job demands, alongside other demanding situational and contextual features. The model specifies maladaptive appraisal processes as the cognitive–affective mechanism through which DC shapes (dis)engagement in the task and relational domains at work and ultimately impacts outcomes such as well-being, stress, burnout, performance, and decision quality. It further incorporates job, personal, and social resources as buffering contingencies that promote adaptive appraisal and attenuate the detrimental role of DC. By integrating insights from clinical, cognitive–behavioral and organizational research, this review advances theory in three ways: (1) by emphasizing the role of appraisal as the cognitive–affective mechanism linking DC to work (dis)engagement, (2) by embedding DC in the job demands–resources model and identifying job demands as activating conditions and resources as regulatory factors for dysfunctional cognitive dynamics at work and (3) by differentiating between task and interpersonal (dis)engagement as domain-specific paths through which self-focused and relational schema impact work-related outcomes. The integrative DC model provides a foundation for future research using longitudinal and mixed-method designs, and for more fine-grained examinations of how specific forms of DC relate to distinct cognitive–affective pathways and work-related outcomes, while offering practical implications for developing schema-informed and resource-based interventions in organizations.