Effect of illegitimate tasks on work-to-family conflict through psychological detachment: Passive leadership as a moderator

Illegitimate tasks as a workplace stressor have been linked with various negative employee well-being and behavioral outcomes. However, whether and how its negative effects might spill over to employees' family domain has been less examined. The current study examined psychological detachment as a mediator in the relationship between illegitimate tasks and three types (time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based) of work-to-family conflict (WFC), and investigated the moderating effect of passive leadership. We collected data from 129 participants across three waves. Results showed that psychological detachment mediated the relationships of illegitimate tasks with time-based and strain-based WFC, but not with behavior-based WFC. Further, the negative effect of illegitimate tasks on psychological detachment as well as the indirect effect of illegitimate tasks on strain-based WFC via psychological detachment were stronger for individuals experiencing more passive leadership, suggesting that having a leader who does not provide functional leadership could exacerbate the effect of illegitimate tasks on psychological detachment and its indirect effect on strain-based WFC via detachment. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential negative effect of illegitimate tasks beyond the work domain through psychological detachment, and the exacerbating effect of passive leadership on stressor-strain relationships. •Illegitimate tasks predict a chronically lower level of psychological detachment.•Illegitimate tasks also predict more work-to-family conflict (WFC).•Psychological detachment mediates the effect of illegitimate tasks on WFC.•The mediated effect was stronger for those experiencing more passive leadership.