The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of leader after-hours electronic communication on employees' boundary-spanning behaviors in construction projects, while exploring the mediating role of perception of workplace objectification and the moderating role of performance goal orientation.
This study employed a quantitative research design and collected data through a two-wave questionnaire survey of employees working in construction projects in China. A total of 223 valid responses were obtained. The measurement model and hypothesized mediation and moderation effects were tested using Mplus 7.0 and the PROCESS macro in SPSS 26.0.
The results revealed that leader after-hours electronic communication reduces employees' boundary-spanning behaviors by heightening their perception of workplace objectification in construction projects. Performance goal orientation strengthens the positive relationship between leader after-hours electronic communication and perception of workplace objectification, thereby amplifying the indirect negative effect on boundary-spanning behaviors.
This study contributes to the construction management literature by uncovering the effect of leader after-hours electronic communication on employees' boundary-spanning behaviors in construction projects. Furthermore, it enriches social information processing theory by identifying perception of workplace objectification as an explanatory mechanism and performance goal orientation as a boundary condition in this relationship. Practically, the findings provide construction organizations and project managers with guidance on sustaining employees' boundary-spanning behaviors by managing after-hours electronic communication.
