This study explores striving to avoid inferiority in the workplace and its consequences for employee well-being. Striving to avoid inferiority comprises both insecure striving, where employees feel like they must succeed to be valued by others, and secure non-striving, where employees feel valued regardless of their performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of insecure striving and secure non-striving on employee well-being both at home and at work.
Online surveys were completed by 244 working adults in the USA. Analyses were performed using SPSS to test hypotheses of a moderated-mediation model.
Results indicate that insecure striving has a positive association with emotional exhaustion, while secure non-striving is negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion, then, mediates the relationship between striving to avoid inferiority and work–family conflict. An additional job resource, self-regulation, was also found to moderate the indirect association between striving and work–family conflict such that the relationship was stronger when self-control was higher.
By identifying sources of motivation that are more likely to result in emotional exhaustion and work–family conflict, the results of this research should inform employee well-being interventions to address a root cause of employee burnout.
The results of this study enhance the understanding of employee well-being in the workplace by providing a deeper understanding of how striving to avoid inferiority serves as both a job demand and a job resource, substantially affecting employees’ emotional capacity, with consequences spilling over into home life. This study offers a unique contribution by offering targeted insights and understanding regarding the negative consequences of complex forms of employee motivation, such as striving to avoid inferiority.
