The double-edged sword effect of performance pressure on public employees: The mediation role of mission valence

Abstract

Performance pressure is a unique stressor in the public sector. Prior studies revealed that it could be a challenge that stimulates functional behavior (i.e., vigor and dedication) or a threat that leads to dysfunctional consequences (i.e., exhaustion and depersonalization). But these articles failed to provide an integrated theoretical model to explain both phenomena simultaneously. We introduced the double-edged sword effect (also called the “too-much-of-good-thing” effect) of performance pressure to fill this theoretical gap. Furthermore, the mediation role of mission valence was examined to explore the buffet mechanism toward this nonlinear relationship. We collected 1,464 valid questionnaire data from snowball sampling to test the research model. Our results revealed that: (1) performance pressure had an inverted U-shaped relationship with dedication and mission valence; (2) performance pressure hurt vigor rather than the curvilinear relationship; (3) mission valence can mediate the inverted U-shaped relationship between performance pressure and dedication. These empirical findings give theoretical contributions and practical insights to public personnel management.

Leaders’ ambition and followers’ cheating behavior: The role of performance pressure and leader identification

“…Performance pressure is defined as the factors that increase the magnitude of performing well at workplaces ( Baumeister, 1984 ). The employees who feel performance pressure at their workplaces believe that high performance is required at work and the efforts to perform high will be linked to their distal consequences and that their efforts to perform workplace tasks will be scrutinized in a high-stakes manner ( Gutnick et al, 2012 ; Sheng and Fan, 2022 ). Meeting high demands will lead to enhanced standing of the individuals; however, failure to meet the workplace’s high demands may put him/her in danger at work.…”

“…Previous studies on leaders’ ambition suggest that the motivational process of aspiration energizes individuals to evaluate their own competence and set progressive goals to achieve desired results with high growth strategies ( Gundry and Welsch, 2001 ; Judge et al, 2002 ; Hogan et al, 2007 ). Leaders are considered to be a continuous source of pressure for the employees ( Kamran et al, 2022 ; Sheng and Fan, 2022 ). Ambitious leaders require high performance from their subordinates, thereby employees may feel more performance pressure.…”