Extending the Boundaries of Illegitimate Tasks: The Role of Resources.

We replicate several studies that have shown illegitimate tasks to be related to strain above and beyond job demands, but extend previous work by addressing (i) whether they are when accounting for job demands and resources and (ii) whether resources mitigate strain relationships. We separately examine unreasonable and unnecessary task subdimensions. Using hierarchical regression analyses, results show that unreasonable tasks account for additional variance in anxiety (9.9%) and depressive symptoms (7.3%) beyond both main and multiplicative effects of job demands and resources of control, and support from supervisors and coworkers, in 214 early-career employees. In addition, unreasonable tasks, control, and supervisor support interact, such that task unreasonableness is less strongly tied to depressive symptoms for those perceiving high supervisor support; and high levels of control and supervisory support resources buffer links between unreasonable tasks and both outcomes. Unexpectedly, task unreasonableness is unrelated to anxiety for those perceiving low control and supervisor support, suggesting a possible habituation effect under undesirable workplace conditions. No interactive effects are found for unnecessary tasks or for coworker support. Our findings offer new understanding of the construct domain space and dimensionality of illegitimate tasks, and address several important practical and theoretical implications surrounding the role of resources.

Extending knowledge of illegitimate tasks: Student satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion.

Illegitimate tasks represent assignments that individuals feels they "should not have to do" because they are not appropriate given their role. The primary aim of this study was to broaden existing knowledge on illegitimate tasks beyond workplace contexts by exploring whether this stressor was also negatively related to psychological well-being in higher education students. This study examined illegitimate tasks in relation to student satisfaction, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion in a college student setting through the demand-control-support framework. Reports from 473 college students indicated that illegitimate tasks may be important in student populations, as they were linked to student satisfaction and both psychological strain markers. In addition, perceptions of control over how to complete illegitimate tasks did not moderate relationships between illegitimate tasks and these outcomes, but perceptions of instructor support did. Specifically, instructor support buffered the negative effects of illegitimate tasks on anxiety and emotional exhaustion, such that the relationship between perceived task illegitimacy and both outcomes was less pronounced for students perceiving higher levels of support. However, an unexpected pattern emerged for the moderating effect of instructor support such that satisfaction deteriorated with high support, which underscores the need to further explore the function of social support in relation to illegitimate tasks.

Illegitimate Tasks as an Impediment to Job Satisfaction and Intrinsic Motivation: Moderated Mediation Effects of Gender and Effort-Reward Imbalance.

The current work examines a contemporary workplace stressor that has only recently been introduced into the literature: illegitimate tasks. Illegitimate tasks are work tasks that violate identity role norms about what can reasonably be expected from an employee in a given position. Although illegitimate tasks have been linked to employee well-being in past work, we know little about the potential explanatory mechanisms linking illegitimate tasks to work-relevant negative psychological states. Using a sample of 213 US-based employees of mixed occupations and a cross-sectional design, the present study examines job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation as outcomes of illegitimate tasks. Additionally, we examine perception of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) as a potential mediating mechanism through which illegitimate tasks relate to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, highlighting a possible pathway by which these relationships are functioning. Finally, we explore gender as a socially constructed variable that could contribute to variation in responses to illegitimate tasks and moderate the mediated link between illegitimate tasks and outcomes. Results indicated that illegitimate tasks were significantly related to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation both directly and indirectly through perceptions of ERI in the predicted directions. Moreover, a moderated-mediation effect was found such that male workers reacted more than female workers to illegitimate tasks through the mechanism of perceived ERI.