{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:26:41Z","timestamp":1787030801152,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787011200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Professionals are often required to perform tasks they regard as unnecessary or inconsistent with their legitimate responsibilities. Although research has linked such illegitimate tasks to adverse work outcomes, less is known about how they are associated with employees\u2019 appraisal of the work\u2013nonwork interface, motivational investment, and work role performance, or how leadership conditions this process. Drawing primarily on cognitive\u2013affective personality system (CAPS) theory, we propose that illegitimate tasks operate as situational stimuli that activate employees\u2019 work\u2013life balance appraisals, which are associated with work engagement and, in turn, employee-reported work role performance. Work\u2013family boundary theory is used to explain why authoritarian leadership strengthens the negative association between illegitimate tasks and work\u2013life balance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Using three-wave survey data from 615 engineering consulting professionals, we tested a moderated, theoretically ordered indirect-effects model examining the associations among illegitimate tasks, work\u2013life balance, work engagement, employee-reported work role performance, and authoritarian leadership.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Illegitimate tasks were negatively associated with work\u2013life balance; work\u2013life balance was positively associated with work engagement; and work engagement was positively associated with employee-reported work role performance. The serial indirect association through work\u2013life balance and work engagement was negative and became stronger as authoritarian leadership increased.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings identify work\u2013life balance as one complementary cross-domain pathway through which illegitimate tasks may be associated with engagement and performance. They also show how CAPS accounts for the proposed stimulus\u2013appraisal\u2013motivation\u2013performance process, whereas work\u2013family boundary theory explains the leadership condition that strengthens its initial association. Because work\u2013life balance and work engagement were assessed during the same survey wave, the findings support a theoretically ordered indirect association rather than a definitive temporal or causal sequence.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1924102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:28:42Z","timestamp":1787027322000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Illegitimate tasks and work role performance among engineering consulting professionals: integrating work\u2013family boundary and cognitive\u2013affective personality system theories"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Tao","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangxi Logistics Vocational and Technical College","place":["Guigang, Guangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2017.10.002","article-title":"Relationships between illegitimate tasks and change in work-family outcomes via interactional justice and negative emotions","volume":"104","author":"Ahmed","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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