How Supervisory ICT Demands After Hours influence Employee Work Behavior via Employee Attributions

With the widespread use of information communication technologies (ICTs), being required by supervisors to keep accessible and responsive to work out of regular work time, termed as supervisory ICT demands after hours, has been prevailing and controversial. Yet, we have limited knowledge about the effects of such demands on employee work behavior. To fill this void, we draw on attribution theory to examine the constructive attribution (i.e., employee attribution of supervisory performance-promotion) and the destructive attribution (i.e., employee attribution of supervisory self-serving) as key mechanisms that transmit the positive indirect effects of supervisory ICT demands after hours on employee proactive and unethical behavior, separately. We further examine the moderating role of ICT centrality perceived by each employee in shaping the indirect impacts. Three-wave data was collected from 493 employees working at a retail corporation. Results showed that supervisory ICT demands after hours indirectly triggered employee proactive behavior via employee attribution of supervisory performance-promotion, whereas such demands indirectly triggered employee unethical behavior via employee attribution of supervisory self-serving. Furthermore, when employees perceive higher ICT centrality (vs. lower), the indirect positive relationship between supervisory ICT demands after hours and employee proactive behavior was more salient. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.