The Effect Of Information Overload On Employees' Proactive Behavior

In the case of information overload due to massive information,whether and how could employees make self-initiated and future oriented proactive behaviors are currently of particular concern in the workplace.Based on Conservation of Resource Theory,the effects of information overload on proactive behavior and its mechanisms as well as individual boundaries were first discussed by combining cross-sectional and time-lagged data.Study 1 aimed at testing the effect of information overload on proactive behavior and the internal mechanisms by collecting 218 cross-sectional data.Results revealed that when employees experience more information overload,they might reduce proactive behavior because of resource depletion,or increase proactive behavior in the role of perceived dynamic work environment.To further clarify the depletion types,identify the effect of dynamic perception and reveal an integrated mechanism model between variables,we divided resource depletion into cognitive resource depletion and emotional resource depletion as well as used perceived dynamic information instead.Study 2 gathered data at three times from 206 employees to replicate the double mediation mechanisms and demonstrate the unique moderating effect of grit.The main results of the studies are as follows:(1)The more information overload employees are faced with,the more resource depletion they will experience,that is,information overload is positively correlated with resource depletion.The reduce of proactive behavior is associated with an increase in resource depletion,that is,resource depletion is negatively correlated with proactive behavior.Resource depletion negatively mediates the effect of information overload on proactive behavior.(2)The more information overload employees are faced with,the more dynamic perception they will experience,that is,information overload is positively correlated with dynamic perception.The increase of proactive behavior is associated with an increase in dynamic perception,that is,dynamic perception is positively correlated with proactive behavior.Moreover,dynamic perception positively mediates the effect of information overload on proactive behavior.(3)Grit negatively moderates the effect of information overload on proactive behavior through resource depletion.The negative mediating role of resource depletion is non-significant when grit is high and more negative when grit is low.(4)Grit positively moderates the effect of information overload on proactive behavior through dynamic perception.The positive mediating role of dynamic perception is more positive when grit is high(vs.when grit is low).