Authors : Kuznetsova Iuliia

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 1 - January

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/56sa5exs

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/3cpbksru

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26jan707

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : This study investigates the relationship between workplace anxiety and work-life balance, proposing a motivational pathway through the lens of Regulatory Focus Theory. We argue that workplace anxiety triggers a state-level prevention focus—a vigilant, loss-avoidant regulatory strategy. While adaptive in the short term, this focus creates a mismatch with the flexible demands of managing personal life, thereby depleting energy and harming work-life balance. Furthermore, we hypothesize that this detrimental process is contingent upon managerial boundary preferences. Using a two-wave, time-lagged survey of 329 Chinese employees, results support a moderated mediation model. Workplace anxiety indirectly impairs work-life balance by increasing prevention focus. Crucially, this negative indirect effect is significant only when managers prefer work-life integration, but is buffered when they prefer segmentation. The findings reveal that the erosion of work-life balance by anxiety is a motivated process, which can be mitigated by leadership that fosters clear boundaries.

References :

1. Brockner, J., & Higgins, E. T. (2001). Regulatory focus theory: Implications for the study of emotions at work. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86 (1), 35–66. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2001.2972
2. Brough, P., Timms, C., O'Driscoll, M. P., Kalliath, T., Siu, O. L., Sit, C., & Lo, D. (2014). Work–life balance: A longitudinal evaluation of a new measure across Australia and New Zealand workers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(19), 2724–2744. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.899262
3. Fritz, M. S., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2007). Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychological Science, 18(3), 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01882.x
4. Gorman, C. A., Meriac, J. P., Overstreet, B. L., Apodaca, S., McIntyre, A. L., Park, P., & Godbey, J. N. (2012). A meta-analysis of the regulatory focus nomological network: Work-related antecedents and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80 (1), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.07.005
5. Greenhaus, J. H., & Allen, T. D. (2011). Work–family balance: A review and extension of the literature. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (2nd ed., pp. 165–183). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10474-008
6. Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52(12), 1280–1300. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.12.1280
7. Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: Value from fit. American Psychologist, 55(11), 1217–1230. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.11.1217
8. Higgins, E. T. (2005). Value from regulatory fit. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 (4), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00366.x
9. Higgins, E. T. (2006). Value from hedonic experience and engagement. Psychological Review, 113 (3), 439–460. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.113.3.439
10. Kark, R., & Van Dijk, D. (2007). Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: The role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership processes. Academy of Management Review, 32 (2), 500–528. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24351846
11. Klenk, M. M., Strauman, T. J., & Higgins, E. T. (2011). Regulatory focus and anxiety: A self-regulatory model of GAD-depression comorbidity. Personality and individual differences, 50(7), 935-943.
12. Kreiner, G. E. (2006). Consequences of work-home segmentation or integration: A person-environment fit perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27 (4), 485–507. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.386
13. Lanaj, K., Chang, C.-H., & Johnson, R. E. (2012). Regulatory focus and work-related outcomes: A review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(5), 998–1034. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027723
14. McCarthy, J. M., Trougakos, J. P., & Cheng, B. H. (2016). Are anxious workers less productive workers? It depends on the quality of social exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(2), 279–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000044
15. Park, Y., Fritz, C., & Jex, S. M. (2011). Relationships between work-home segmentation and psychological detachment from work: The role of communication technology use at home. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16 (4), 457–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023594
16. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63 (1), 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452
17. Sonnentag, S. (2012). Psychological detachment from work during leisure time: The benefits of mentally disengaging from work. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21 (2), 114–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411434979
18. ten Brummelhuis, L. L., & Bakker, A. B. (2012). A resource perspective on the work–home interface: The work–home resources model. American Psychologist, 67 (7), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027974
19. Wallace, J. C., & Chen, G. (2006). A multilevel integration of personality, climate, self-regulation, and performance. Personnel Psychology, 59(3), 529–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2006.00046.x
20. Zhang, C., Zhang, M., Ng, T. W. H., & Lam, S. S. K. (2019). Unethical pro-organizational behavior and employee well-being: The moderating effect of regulatory focus. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(4), 969–984. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3727-8