Disengagement demystified: Unveiling the appraisal processes of frontline hospitality employee withdrawal behaviors

Abstract

This study explores how frontline hospitality employees appraise work stressors and how these assessments lead to withdrawal behaviors, drawing upon protection motivation theory and cognitive appraisal theory. Using PLS-SEM, results from 419 respondents reveal that, in stressful work situations, perceived coping efficacy, perceived vulnerability, perceived severity, and perceived costs influence withdrawal behaviors via two distinct psychological mechanisms. Lower coping efficacy under conditions of perceived higher vulnerability, severity, and costs induces helplessness, prompting withdrawal behaviors. Conversely, higher coping efficacy with perceived higher costs triggers inspiration, driving withdrawal behaviors to pursue personal gain and avoid harm from work stressors. Optimistic employees tend to experience inspiration with higher coping efficacy but become susceptible to helplessness in severely stressful situations where coping efficacy fails. This study uniquely explores the appraisal processes that elucidate frontline hospitality employees’ withdrawal behaviors toward work stressors, shifting from the traditional approach of classifying stressors based on assumed perceptions.