Different Responses to Facets of Illegitimate Tasks Depending on Job Level: A Multigroup Path Analysis

This study aims to test the discriminant validity of two illegitimate tasks facets (unnecessary and unreasonable tasks) in relation to two burnout facets (exhaustion and cynicism), to examine the mediating effects of exhaustion on the pathways from the two facets of illegitimate tasks to cynicism, and to investigate the moderating effect of job level on the path model. The participants were 984 full-time employees in South Korea who completed a two-wave online survey with a 2-week interval. The results demonstrated that the two-factor model was better than the one-factor model for both data sets, despite the high correlation between the two illegitimate tasks facets. Although the magnitudes did not differ in the zero-order correlations of illegitimate tasks facets with burnout facets, different patterns were observed when the two facets of illegitimate tasks were entered into the mediational path model together. Specifically, exhaustion fully mediated the link from unnecessary tasks to cynicism, whereas it partially mediated the link from unreasonable tasks to cynicism. Moreover, these patterns were moderated by job level such that the same model was supported only by staff employees and middle managers. Based on these findings, we discussed academic and practical implications along with suggestions for future research.