Can't erase it from my mind: How and when daily illegitimate tasks shape employee after-work rumination and downstream behavioural consequences

Abstract

While research on illegitimate tasks has predominantly highlighted their detrimental effects on employees, emerging studies suggest these tasks may also have temporary, complex impacts on non-work domains —though empirical evidence remains limited. Integrating cognitive theories of rumination and the dynamic self-regulation perspective, our study develops and tests a novel model that delineates employees' rumination and subsequent coping behaviours in response to daily illegitimate tasks. We propose that illegitimate tasks experienced during the workday trigger after-work affect-focused rumination, leading to increased cyberloafing the following day. Conversely, these tasks may also evoke after-work problem-solving pondering, fostering next-day task crafting. We identify state resilience as a key moderator, explaining why the same employee may respond differently to illegitimate tasks. Using data collected thrice daily from 235 employees over five consecutive days (daily reports = 912), our findings reveal that state resilience buffers the positive link between daily illegitimate tasks and next-day cyberloafing via affect-focused rumination while amplifying the positive effect on next-day task crafting via problem-solving pondering. Our study advances understanding of the dual cognitive and behavioural pathways through which illegitimate tasks influence employees and offers practical insights for organizations aiming to mitigate the risks of these tasks while unlocking their adaptive potential.