Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451

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Social Sciences & Humanities Open

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Regular Article

Individual self-concept and after-hours work behavior: Effect on employee

engagement and the moderating roles of POS and PSS
Ekta Sinha a, *, Kavita Laghate b
a
SP Jain School of Global Management, Mumbai, India
b
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Information and communication technology (ICT) has made it possible for employers and employees to stay
ICT connected for work related matters beyond the spatial and temporal boundaries. Yet there exists little under­
After-hour work behavior standing of the implications for some vital aspects of work and employee engagement. This study addresses this
Employee engagement
gap and investigates how an employee’s individual self-concept is related to after-hour work behavior (AWB) and
Perceived supervisor support
its impact on employee engagement. We used multiple hierarchical regression on a sample of 404 employees
Perceived organizational support
Ambition representing Indian service sector to establish the statistical validity. Results indicated that while individual
Affectual commitment ambition was insignificant, employees with greater ambition and work as central-life interest were more likely to
Self-concept and work as central-life interest engage in AWB. Also, AWB was found to be affecting employee engagement (EE). Further, perceived organi­
zational support (POS) moderated the relationship between AWB and EE but perceived supervisors support (PSS)
did not. The work has important managerial and practical implications specially after COVID- 19 when ICT has
become an indispensable part of any work environment.

1. Introduction
Technology has impacted the way we communicate with each other
in the workplace and our connection to work while not on company
time. One may respond to cell phone calls during dinner, WhatsApp
messages in leisure time, check e-mails on vacation, or leave a colleague
a voice mail before turning in for the night (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan,
2007). While, individuals can engage in job-related tasks after hours
without the use of ICT (e.g., completing a report Sunday afternoon for
Monday’s meeting), yet ICT specifically has changed the temporal as
well as structural aspects of work (Valcour & Hunter, 2005). As em­
ployees become more and more connected to their jobs beyond the
boundaries of the traditional workplace and workday, it is defining the
“new workplace” (Gephart, 2002). Increasing number of affordable and
sophisticated internet and communication technologies have made it
possible for employees and employers to connect beyond spatial and
temporal boundaries. This phenomenon has particularly increased
during the COVID- 19 pandemic. While this might be seen as greater
flexibility and productivity at work (Kossek & Lautsch, 2012), it can
impact an employee’s level of engagement at work. Organizational in­
formation and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to
affect employees’ relationship with work. One underlying reason is that
the multivalent involvement of ICTs in employees’ daily lives promotes
a norm of constant connectivity. Using ICT employees can be reached
out anytime-anywhere which can lead to after-hours work behaviour
during their non-work hours (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007). For
example, an employee may check his/her email, messages etc. During
the vacations or weekends or at night and engage in after-hours work
behavior (AWB). Continuous involvement in work related matters
after-hours never let employees to ‘disengage’ and keeps them on ‘al­
ways on’ mode (Sinha & Laghate, 2019). Yet we have little under­
standing of how use of these communication technologies outside
normal working hours might relate to important aspects of work. Such
phenomenon has increasing demands on employees to engage in work
even when they want to disengage from work. Existing work provide
very little understanding on how engaging in AWB via ICT can impact
employee engagement. The purpose of this study is to better understand
the phenomenon of AWB displayed by employees. We focus on pro­
fessionals employed in service sector in a traditional work setup to un­
derstand the phenomenon of AWB via ICT. The specific ICTs included in
this study were cell phones, e-mail, WhatsApp messages, voice mail and
video call. These technologies were most relevant to our sample

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ektasinha26@gmail.com (E. Sinha), kavitalaghate@jbims.edu (K. Laghate).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100451
Received 15 June 2022; Received in revised form 8 February 2023; Accepted 18 February 2023
Available online 24 February 2023
2590-2911/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E. Sinha and K. Laghate
(discussed more below) and represent the typical technologies used to
electronically connect individuals to the workplace (Fenner & Renn,
2004). The study is divided into two parts. Part one, identifies the role of
individual self-concept that direct to AWB displayed by an employee.
And part two investigates the impact of AWB on employee engagement.
2. Literature review and research framework
2.1. After-hours work behavior (AWB) via ICT
With ICT becoming omnipresent, individuals’ work-related behav­
iour after-hours and its related consequences have become vital. “ICT
can be viewed as a variety of network connections (Internet, Intranet
etc.) and devices (mobile phones, laptops etc.) which can be signifi­
cantly used to nudge employees by significant others (e.g., superiors,
colleagues or clients) to engage in AWB” (Sinha & Laghate, 2021).
This study recognizes AWB as a distinct phenomenon where em­
ployees are expected to engage in work related matters after their usual
work hours (Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday for approximately
8–10 h per day) via emails, messages, voice calls or video calls etc. There
is always a formal contract between employee and employer to
compensate individuals for their work-whether working from within
office premises or outside (e.g., on the field or telecommuting) (Stevens
& Szajna, 1998), but AWB has none. Employees can be reached out via
ICT for work related matters when he/she is in a personal space or when
he/she is enjoying a break/vacation. “Some technological platforms
may include mobile calls (can be made any time, any place as em­
ployee’s personal contact number is readily available with employer),
WhatsApp messages (this can be used via personal messages on What­
sApp or via making official WhatsApp groups), SMSs (SMSs can also be
sent via mobile networks, any time, any place), internet calls through
Skype and WhatsApp or emails, or all of the above with varying com­
binations. A platform like “WhatsApp” – which tends to be a private
means of communication used on private smartphones has become a
platform for “formal” group chats” (Sinha & Laghate, 2021). Such un­
concealed use of ICT never allows employees to ‘disengage’ from their
work, thus creating ‘permeable boundaries’ which induces stress, that
manifests into various negative employee outcomes such as employee
(dis)engagement. Additionally, engaging in AWB is not equivalent to
value co-creation or organizational citizenship behaviour because it
lacks altruistic motives (Fenner and Renn, 2004, 2010) and are most of
the time in-role behaviour which consumes employees’ personal re­
sources (e.g., emotions, time and digital devices). Unlike France and
Portugal, many countries have no lawful checks for such practices
(Haridy, 2018). So, discussing the phenomenon of AWB becomes even
more substantial to understand its impact on employee engagement. The
findings of this study can be used to introduce proper intervention(s) to
enhance employee engagement.
Table 1 below depicts differences in existing concepts closely related
to AWB.
Table 1
Comparison of AWB and other related concepts.
Differentiating AWB TASW* Organizational Telecommuting
Attributes Citizenship
Level of work Always Discretionary Altruistic According to
engagement formal contract
In-role tasks Yes Yes No Usually
Part of formal No No No Always
Structure
Use of Always Always sometimes Always
technology
Extension of Always Often Never Sometimes
work-hours
Source: Adopted from Sinha and Laghate (2021). *TASW: Technology Assisted
Supplementary Work (Fenner & Renn, 2004).
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Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451
2.2. Individual self-concept and after-hours work behaviour
While individuals are likely to differ in their use of ICT to engage in
AWB, there is very little known about what differentiates individuals
who engage in AWB from those who do not. Understanding the corre­
lates of AWB via ICT will not only help researchers develop theories on
the role of ICT beyond the workplace but also will help managers better
understand ICT use (or not) for work related matters after-hours. In the
context of this study, we are only interested to investigate the use of ICT
for work purposes during nonwork time. Thus, we focus on constructs
that allow an individual to go beyond the boundaries of the traditional
work structure. The study aims to answer that what kind of individuals
are more likely to engage in AWB in their leisure time. Boundary theory
proposed, individuals differ in how much they prefer to integrate their
several roles (Kossek et al., 2005). Individuals are more likely to engage
in roles that are linked with positive reinforcement of their individual
self-concept (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007). Literature suggests that
‘individual self-concept’ (ISC) refers to an employee’s evoked sense of
him/herself while carrying out the job (Walsh & Gordon, 2008). An
employee’s ISC is a dynamic construct and is built and re-built
throughout his/her career (Hall, 2002). Theoretical studies have
conceived that those employees with dissimilar ISC, attribute different
meanings to their job behaviour (Thoits, 2013) and, thus, would
appraise the situation of AWB differently. Hence, an employee is ex­
pected to engage in after-hours work behaviour if he/she considers the
work role to be a significant component of him/herself. This study fo­
cuses on three individual level constructs— ambition, affective
commitment and work as central life interest—as possibly significant in
explaining an individual’s engagement in AWB via ICT. These constructs
as considered to be predominantly relevant (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan,
2007; Sinha & Laghate, 2021), given the likely importance of em­
ployees’ attitudes and beliefs toward their job and career components
and to their willingness to engage in AWB during their personal/leisure
time.
As discussed above, individuals with high ambition, affective
commitment and work as central life interest are more likely to integrate
their other role domains with work role asit associates positively to their
ISC (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007). This study identified individual
ambition as an important driver to AWB as ambition is distinct from of
individual’s psychological attachment with his/her job or profession
and reflects the importance placed by an individual on professional
success (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007). Desrochers and Dahir
(2000) identified ambition as a factor which is necessary to advance in
one’s profession (either within or beyond the present employer).
Ambition is often seen as a behaviour reflecting a useful personal
attribute to seek high levels of achievement (Kivimaki & Kalimo, 1996).
Ambitious individuals are expected to engage in AWB and putting in the
extra effort, to achieve professional success (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan,
2007). Hence, according to the boundary theory, individuals placing
greater importance on their career would be more likely to engage in
AWB even when in another role domain. Accordingly, we hypothesize
ambition to be positively related to AWB via ICT.
H1. Individual’s ambition positively influences after-hours work
behaviour
Further, individual’s affective commitment was identified as reflec­
tive of individual self-concept and an important determinant of his/her
identification with work role. Buchanan (1974), posited individual’s
affective commitment to the organization as internalization of the or­
ganization’s values, thus forming a ‘moral attachment’ besides the
tangible or instrumental exchange of behaviors. Thus, affective
commitment is expected to be influencing employee’s intention to
engage in AWB via ICT beyond the traditional boundaries of the orga­
nization. A school of research also suggested that an employee with
higher affective commitment may perform job roles beyond the call of
duty (Organ & Ryan, 1995) thus giving back to the organization to
E. Sinha and K. Laghate
which they have a strong sense of identification with their ISC (O’Reilly
& Chatman, 1986). We propose an akin argument regarding engaging in
AWB via ICT. Thus, individuals with affective commitment towards
their organization are more likely to integrate their different role do­
mains and engage in AWB via ICT after official working hours. Hence,
we hypothesize:
H2. Individual’s affective commitment positively influences after-
hours work behaviour
Similarly, research by Schlosser’s (2002), on wireless technologies
showed that individual’s central life interest has a strong association
with ISC. In particular employees associating work as a positive rein­
forcement to their ISC and central life interest are more likely to engage
in AWB via ICT. This indicates employees whose personal identification
is closely related to their work are expected to integrate their job role
with other domains (e.g., family). Fenner and Renn (2004) assert, em­
ployees having greater job involvement and having work as central life
interest will have intrinsic motivation to stretch out their workday via
ICTs for, they regard their work central to their existence. This is in
harmony with the boundary theory which suggested that individuals can
favour integration of a preferred role into other life spheres because they
rank that aspect of themselves higher than others (Ashforth et al., 2000).
Thus, it could be significant to understand how an employee perceives
AWB via ICT. Hence, we hypothesize:
H3. Individual’s work as central-life interest positively influences
after-hours work behaviour
2.3. After-hours work behaviour via ICT and employee engagement
The importance of employee engagement (EE) in the present orga­
nizational context has attained significance and has been labelled as one
of the hottest topics in management in recent times (Bakker, 2014;
Welbourne, 2007), as engaged employees are fully “psychologically
present”, thus giving it their all (Bernthal, 2004) to their tasks. Schaufeli
et al. (2002), defined EE as “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of
mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption”. But
constant connectivity pressure, easy accessibility via ICT from any
location and work load adversely affect employee’s dedication, vigour
and absorption at work. Perlow (2012) describes how technology fa­
cilitates the accumulation of unanticipated and unpredictable tasks that
are generated by incoming messages. The continuous connectivity can
lead to an extended and exhausting workday (e.g., Derks & Bakker,
2014). After-hours work behaviour via ICT during unpredictable hours
can interrupt nonwork activities and may explicitly request a rapid
response (Cavazotte et al., 2014), thus inducing anxiety and compelling
employees to check for unpredictable work developments during
after-work hours. Such events deter employee engagement (EE) as being
energetic, dedicated, and absorbed at work does not automatically
imply that engaged workers work excessively hard or extremely long
hours (Sonnentag et al., 2008). Theoretically, ICTs are neutral with re­
gard to encouraging access to employees any place anytime. In fact,
devices can be switched off, emails can be filtered, and incoming calls
can go to voicemail (Chesley, 2005). Nevertheless, there is support to the
fact that when employees are expected to be available for work beyond
the workplace, it results into more fluid work–family boundaries
(Chesley et al., 2003). The blurring of boundary exerts psychological
and physical pressure on employees (Kossek et al., 2005; Adisa et al.,
2017). While engaged employees are considered to be fully ‘psycho­
logically present’ at work, thus ‘giving it their all’ (Bernthal, 2004) to
their tasks; boundary blurring hinders their engagement. Sonnentag
et al. (2008) argue that while being fully engaged at work has desirable
consequences, nonstop engagement with one’s work can be harmful for
an individual’s affective state and AWB does exactly the same. It doesn’t
allow employees to ‘disengage’. The expectations from an employee to
be always available for work, results into lesser vigour, dedication and
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Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451
work absorption (Bakker, 2014). Bakker (2014) also indicated that
engaged employees at work are able to mentally disengage themselves
from their work during off-job time. Apparently, engaged workers
manage to stop working and get involve in other activities, including
social activities and hobbies (Bakker et al., 2013). And better-engaged
employees are an asset to any organization. Thus, we hypothesize:
H4. After-hours work behaviour negatively influences employee
engagement
2.4. Moderating effect of POS and PSS
The rationale for proposing perceived organizational support (POS)
and perceived supervisor support (PSS) as potential moderators lies in
the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964). Blau suggested that, “any ex­
change relationship can be described in terms of either social or eco­
nomic principles. Social exchanges are based on a trust that goodwill
gestures will be reciprocated at some point in the future”. The specific
benefits exchanged may be valued mainly for the reason that they are
symbols of a high-quality relationship; it is the exchange of mutual
support that is of concern to the parties involved in the exchange (Set­
toon et al., 1996). According to Social Exchange Theory, it’s been found
that PSS and POS are positively related to EE (e.g., Pati & Kumar, 2010).
There is a large body of literature indicating that organizational support
and supervisor support are related to positive employee outcomes, such
as higher work satisfaction (Patrick & Laschinger, 2006), decreased
strain and better engagement (Rhoades et al., 2001). While We have
seen that engaging in AWB can lead to unfavourable employee outcomes
such as reduced employee engagement; POS and PSS can help em­
ployees to minimize some of the negative impacts of work-place de­
mands, such as, poor health and well-being (Witt & Carlson, 2006).
Engaging into AWB can lead to a misfit between one’s preferences and
environmental demands. Thus, resulting into deteriorated performance
and reduced employee engagement (Kreiner, 2006). In such situations
the role of organizations and supervisors become vital. As earlier find­
ings indicated that employees’ choice of segmenting or integrating the
work-life boundaries, is highly dependent on the opportunities, con­
straints and/or demands of the environment. Thus, enacting one’s
preferred boundary management style may not be entirely under an
individual’s control (Mellner, 2016). When employees believe that their
organizations care about their well-being and value their work, they will
oblige and repay organizations (Eisenberger et al., 2002) by engaging
into AWB. Similarly, high supervisor-employee exchange would result
into greater trusts and employees’ willingness to contribute towards
organizational goals. Supervisors are the one who directly interact with
employees and are responsible for smooth policies implementation. The
extra-role behaviour of a supervisor, enhances an employee’s commit­
ment towards organization (Settoon et al., 1996), thus, their intension to
engage in AWB. Hence, the study proposes POS and PSS as potential
moderators between AWB and employee engagement. Hence, we
hypothesize:
H5. Perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor
support (PSS) will moderate the relationship between AWB and
employee engagement. As in the presence of POS and PSS the expected
negative relationship between the AWB and employee engagement will
be weaker.
2.5. Proposed Research Framework
Based on the above arguments we propose a research framework
(Fig. 1). The research is divided into two parts. In part- I we assess the
effect of individuals’ self concepts (ambition, affectual commitment and
work as central-life interest) on their engagement with after-hours work
behaviour. And in part- II we assess the impact of AWB on employee
engagement. Further in part- II we also look at the moderating effects of
POS and PSS on the relationship between AWB and employee
E. Sinha and K. Laghate Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451

Fig. 1. Proposed research framework.

engagement. construct accounted for only 33.79% of variance, thus indicating that
CMB was not a problem.
3. Research method

3.1. Operationalizing the constructs

To investigate how an employee’s individual self-concept is related
to after-hour work behavior (AWB) and its impact on employee
All the scale used to measure study variables were pre-existing to
engagement, we chose the survey method. Convenience sampling
enhance validity (Stone, 1978). Constructs were measured on 5-point
technique was used and with the help of researcher’s personal contacts,
Likert scale. Where ‘1’ = strongly disagree and ‘5’ = Strongly Agree.
participants working in the Indian service sector were contacted through
The scale for After-hours work behaviour was adapted from Fenner and
emails, Facebook and LinkedIn, explaining the purpose of the study.
Renn (2010). The scale measures an employee work behaviour
After they agreed to respond, final question was administered to them
after-hours via ICT. The sample item included, “I engage in after-hours
via Google forms. The questionnaire included subjective measures in the
work behaviour via ICT because they are always urgent”. Ambition
form of 55 self-reported questions including demographic details. Before
was measured through an adapted scale by Andrews (1978) and Des­
the final circulation, the questionnaire was checked for its content val­
rochers and Dahir (2000). Sample item included: “I believe my career is
idity. Although we adapted from already existing valid scales, it was
most important than anything else”. Affective Commitment was measured
important to ensure that the minor changes in the scale items, such as
through a scale developed by Allen and Meyer, (1990). Sample item
inclusion of phrases/words like: ‘after-hours work behaviour’, and ‘via
included: “I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this
ICT’, capture the meaning of the constructs in the context of this study.
organization”. To measure work as central life interest, we adapted from a
So, the questionnaire was pre-tested with a group of six people
scale by Andrews (1978). Sample item included: “I believe that my work
comprising of three doctoral students, two research associates and one
is more important than anything else”. Employee engagement (EE) was
expert academic. They went through the questionnaire and were of the
measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) developed by
opinion that the questionnaire was well developed. Monir changes
Schaufeli et al. (2002). The scale consists of three subscales; absorption
relating to words and design of the questionnaire were made based on
(six items), vigor (six items), and dedication (five items). Sample items
their feedback. Finally, the questionnaire was administered to 760
included, “I am enthusiastic about my job”, “At my work I feel bursting
participants, out of which 517 responded in a span of 27 days. After
with energy” and “I feel happy when I am working intensely”. To
cleaning the data, we got 404 valid responses. The ratio of male to fe­
measure perceived organizational support (POS), we used eight item
male was almost 2:1 with male comprising of 69% of the respondents
scale, by Rhoades et al. (2001). Sample item included: “The organization
and female comprising of 31%. Also, 55% of the sample was married and
cares about my general satisfaction at work”. Perceived Supervisor Sup­
remaining were single. Amongst the sample, 29% were in the age
port (PSS) was measured with a three-item scale developed by Eisen­
bracket of 18–25, 60% were in the age bracket of 26–35, 10% were in
berger et al. (2002). Sample item included, “My supervisor strongly
the bracket of 36–45, and remaining fell in the category of 46–55 and 55
considers my goals and values”.
above. From our sample, 50% worked in lower management, 43%
worked as middle management and 7% worked in senior management.
Further, 64% of our respondents had 1–5 years of experience, 23% of the 4. Analysis and result
respondents had 6–10 years of experience, 7% had 11–15 years of
experience, 4% had 16–20 years of experience and remaining fell in the Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 2. The correlation
category of experience above 20 years. showed initial support for many of the hypotheses. Specifically, AWB
As the questionnaire used self-reporting measures, it was also positively correlated with employees’ work-as-central-life interest as
important to address the common method bias (CMB). Podsakoff et al. reported by the employee (r = 0.303, p < 0.01). Furthermore, AWB
(2003), suggested that one possible way to control for CMB is to use positively correlated with ambition (r = 0.179, p < 0.01). However,
psychological separators. We achieved this separation by providing a AWB was not significantly correlated with affective commitment (r =
cover story between the criterion and predictor measurement phases 0.008, ns).
through phrases such as “you are almost done … just go to the next Also, to measure the scale reliability and to ensure the items are
section”/“Remember your response will be kept anonymous”/“there are consistent with the measure internally, we performed Cronbach’s alpha
no right or wrong answers”. We also conducted the Harman’s one-factor test of reliability. Each of the study construct showed a reliability of 0.7
test (Podsakoff & Organ, 1986). The test result showed that the first or above (Table 3). This ensures that the related set of items in each
construct are closely related and hence ensures internal reliability. We

4
E. Sinha and K. Laghate Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451

Table 2
Descriptive statistics and inter variable correlations.
AWB Amb AComm WCLI EE POS PSS Mean Std. Dev

AWB 1 3.226 0.586

Amb .179** 1 3.969 0.539
AComm 0.008 .283** 1 3.182 0.678
WCLI .303** .467** .312** 1 3.524 0.543
EE − .267** .271** .410** .360** 1 3.498 0.646
POS − .134** .160** .448** .199** .586** 1 3.364 0.593
PSS − 0.085 .138** .356** .189** .636** .756** 1 3.481 0.607

**P < 0.05, n = 404; Amb = Ambition; Acomm = Affective Commitment; WZLI= Work as central-life Interest; EE = Employee Engagement; POS= Perceived
Organizational Support; PSS= Perceived Supervisor Support.

AWB was regressed on affective commitment, ambition and work as

Table 3
central-life interest. The results are presented in Table 4. In step one
Reliability analysis.
control variables were entered and in step II we introduced the indi­
S. Construct No. of Mean Std. Cronbach’s alpha vidual constructs. Hypotheses H1 and H3 were supported with β = 0.37,
No. Items Dev. Reliability
p < 0.05 and β = 0.52, p < 0.05 respectively. But H2 was not supported
1 Employee 17 3.499 .456 0.898 with β = 0.00, p > 0.05. The results were consistent when demographic
Engagement
variables were controlled for, showing the significant impact of indi­
2 After hour work 6 3.226 .517 0.717
behaviour vidual constructs (ambition and work as central life interest) on their
3 Work as Central-life 5 3.524 .320 0.714 after-hours work behaviour. However, affective commitment was found
Interest to be insignificant.
4 Ambition 3 3.969 .276 0.711 Further, to test H4, we regressed employee engagement (EE) on
5 Affective 6 3.812 .398 0.710
Commitment
after-hours work behaviour (AWB). The test results are tabulated in
6 Perceived 8 3.364 .138 0.873 Table 5 below. The results showed that the after-hours work behaviour
Organizational was an important predictor of EE (R-Square = 0.36) and in the presence
Support of AWB the employee engagement decreased with β = − 0.397 and p <
7 Perceived Supervisor 3 3.481 .423 0.869
0.05. Thus, hypothesis H4 was supported.
Support
To test the moderating effect of POS and PSS on the relationship
between AWB and EE, we employed hierarchical regression model in
also found that the inter-item correlation of the constructs under study accordance with Cohen and Cohen (1983). First to test the moderating
was also high and the correlation between the items of the different role of POS, in step I we regressed EE on POS. in step II AWB was
construct was not so strong. Thus, the test showed high reliability and introduced along with POS as independent variable. And finally in step
good construct validity. As we have operationalised constructs using III the interaction term (POS X AWB) was introduced in the model. The
existing and valid scale, this ensures the convergent validity. And same process was repeated to test the moderating role of PSS on the
Cronbach’s alpha test result further validated it with high scale reli­ relationship between AWB and EE. The results are presented in Table 6
ability value and high inter-item correlation. below.
Further, to rule out any possibility of multicollinearity, we per­ The test results showed that the POS moderated the relationship
formed diagnostic statistical collinearity test that measured variance between AWB and EE, such that in the presence of perceived organiza­
inflation factor (VIF). The results revealed that the VIFs ranged from tional support the engagement level of employees increased (β = -0.212,
1.28 to 2.70 and all tolerance levels were found to be above 0.6. Ac­ p < 0.05) and that the negative impact of AWB on EE was weaker with R-
cording to Fox (1991), a VIF above 4.0 or tolerance level below 0.25 may square change of 0.10. However, PSS did not moderate the relationship
indicate potential for multicollinearity; thus, the concerned appeared to between AWB and EE with (β = − 0.385, p > 0.05) with R-square change
be minimal. of 0.003. Thus, H5 was partially supported.
To test hypotheses (H1 to H3) we performed hierarchical regression.
5. Discussion and implications

Table 4 ICT has become an inevitable part of our work space as well as
AWB regressed on individual work characteristics. personal space, especially after the pandemic. However, the under­
Variables and Statistics β- Value (std) Hypothesis Test standing on how ICT-use after hours can impact an employee outcome is
Model 1 Model 2 still in its nascent stage. Technological advances have made it possible to
connect with work related matters after the traditional work-hours. The
Step 1
Managerial Level − .13* − .24* results of this study clearly showed that while the phenomenon of after-
Age − .05 − .06 hours work behaviour is rising, individual differences based on self-
Educational Qualification .07 .05 concept can explain the variation relating to an employee’s intention
Marital Status .07 .02 to engage in AWB via ICT and its implication on employee engagement.
Gender (1 = Male) − .04* − .05*
Experience 0.008 .001
Step 2
Ambition .37** H1 was supported Table 5
Affective Commitment − .006 H2 was not supported AWB as a predictor of EE.
Work as central-life interest .524** H3 was supported
Independent Variable (AWB) Dependent Variable (EE)
R2 .004 .412
F Value .423 19.811** β- Value (std) − 0.397**
R2 Change – .408 R-square 0.36
F Change – 19.388** F value 18.3**

n = 404; Dependent variable = After-hours work behaviour (AWB). n = 404; p < 0.05.

5
E. Sinha and K. Laghate
Table 6
Moderating effects of POS and PSS.
Independent Variables β- Value Std. R-Square
Change
POS
Step 1- POS 0.479** 0.10
Step 2- POS and AWB 0.388* and − 0.311**
Step 3- Interaction effect (POS X AWB) -0.212**
PSS
Step 1- PSS 0.009 0.003
Step 2- PSS and AWB 0.006 and − 0.391**
Step 3- Interaction effect (PSS X AWB) − 0.385
n = 404; **p < 0.01 and *p < 0.05; dependent variable: EE
Individual ambition and work as central-life interest emerged as sig­
nificant predictor of after-hours work behaviour displayed by an indi­
vidual. Interestingly, individual’s affective commitment was found to be
insignificant and didn’t relate to employees’ intention to engage in after-
hours work behaviour. Further, the result also indicated a significant
relationship between AWB and employee engagement (EE). With every
unit increase in AWB the engagement level of an employee dropped by
0.397 units. While perceived organizational support moderated the
relationship between AWB and EE, perceived supervisor support was
found to be insignificant. This suggested that when an employee felt that
organization was taking care of his/her interest, well-being and values,
the negative impact of AWB on EE reduced.
5.1. Implication for research and practice
This work developed a better understanding on what is after-hour
work behaviour and how it differs from the related existing concepts.
Results of this study also pointed out that individuals vary in their re­
ported engagement with work after-hours and, in particular, employee
ambition and work as central life interest are significant predictor. This
indicated that individuals might see AWB as an opportunity to progress
in one’s career and staying ahead from others. Thus, a chance to fulfil
career ambitions and providing positive reinforcement to one’s life-
interest. Although, affective commitment showed no significant rela­
tionship with AWB, interestingly it showed a negative β-value. One
possible explanation for this could be that when expectation to engage in
after-hours work behaviour increases the affective commitment of an
employee decreases due to feeling of stress or frustration. Other possible
explanation could be reverse of the above where an employee with
higher affective commitment might feel inclined to engage in AWB.
Nevertheless, it is clear that engagement in AWB by an employee is
guided by his/her career ambition and involvement at work rather than
affective commitment towards the organization. These findings would
help managers to understand who is likely to engaging with work related
matters after-hours. Thus, conducting a training that fosters a sense of
identification with work or one’s career plans can be helpful in pro­
moting AWB. On the other hand, given the negative impact of AWB on
EE, people with greater ambition and work as central life interest may
need to be discouraged to engage in AWB after a set-limit.
While the relationship between AWB and EE was in line to what this
study predicted (significant and AWB negatively impacting EE) the
magnitude of the relation was moderate. This could be perhaps due to
the fact that in today’s time it is not possible to avoid work-related
matters after-hours. Employees are left with negligible choice to
segment their work and personal life due to the increased work demands
and workplace competition and that results in lesser dedication, vigour
and absorption. This insight can be used by the practitioners to set a
limit or frame a policy regarding the employees’ after-hours work
engagement via ICT to avoid burnout and promote work engagement.
Further, we controlled for demographic variables like, gender,
managerial position, age, education, experience and marital status and
they were found to be insignificant. However, interestingly, managerial
6
Social Sciences & Humanities Open 7 (2023) 100451
level and gender showed negative β-value. For managerial position it
could be assumed that as the managerial level increases (from lower to
senior) indulging into AWB is more acceptable and expected, given their
role complexities and responsibilities. This argument finds its support in
previous work by (Li et al., 2002) that indicated towards higher levels of
psychological involvement in work among managerial employees. On
the other hand, one possibility could be that as the legitimate power
increases with position, managers at senior level assign task to
lower-level managers thus avoiding engaging in after-hours work
behaviour themselves but putting pressure on employees at the lower
managerial positions. Similarly, as we moved from male to female, the
intension to engage in AWB decreased. This could be due to the
gender-specific role expectations by the society, where women are ex­
pected to take care of their families even if they are working, so, they
might not find time to engage in AWB. Organizations can look into this
finding to make sure the task assignments at various managerial levels
are justified and do not lead to decreased employee engagement.
Additionally, the moderating role of POS was found to be significant.
This suggested that when an employee felt that the organization was
taking care of his/her values, interest and well-being, the negative
impact of AWB on EE was reduced. This is an important insight as
ambitious individuals would want to grow in their career and when an
organization recognizes their needs, their intention to engage in AWB
increase and its negative impact on their engagement reduces. Managers
can put in efforts to frame employee friendly policies and career path so
that engaging in after-hours work behaviour do not lead to unwanted
employee outcomes.
Establishing a link between AWB and employee engagement in­
dicates that organizations need to understand that engaging into after-
hours work behaviour may impact employee engagement in a nega­
tive way, thus, organizational performance. The seeming flexibility,
availability and connectivity of ICT may decrease an individual’s vigour,
dedication and absorption in his/her work. This study contributes to the
recent studies such as Loreg (2020), Sonnentag (2003), and Zoonen et al.
(2020), that emphasis on the importance of employees’ ‘recovery time’
to avoid burnout and increase positive employee outcomes. Organiza­
tions may be wiser in limiting the use of ICT (via email, phone calls,
chats etc.) to engage employees in after-hours work and design pro­
grams that are focused towards helping employees manage their work
engagement in a better way. This will not only help employees to
perform better but also will help organizations to be more effective
(Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007).
6. Limitation and future research direction
This work develops a better understanding of after-hours work
behaviour and looks into the individual differences based on their per­
sonal characteristics on the intention to engage in after-hours work
behaviour. However, the study suffers some limitation. First, the study
looks at the important individual characteristics. However, exploring
the situational level factors could give better insight into this phenom­
enon. Sinha (2008), suggested that organizational culture to plays a very
important role in framing an individual psychological perception about
his work. Second, the work only looked at the effect of AWB on
employee engagement. Further, researchers can analyse the implica­
tions of AWB on various other employee and organizational outcomes,
like: burnout, health implications, organizational performance etc. Also,
analysing the reverse causal relationship-highly engaged employees
tends to engage in AWB more-would be interesting given the positive
association between an individual ambition and AWB. Third, we
restricted ourselves to a particular geographic area and sector. Future
work may consider looking at other sectors and locations. It is possible
that due to cultural differences and different economic and social
landscape, the effect of AWB on employee outcome differs. Also, Valcour
and Hunter (2005), found that there exist differences in job demands
and expectations across industries and sectors. So, it would be
E. Sinha and K. Laghate
interesting to examine how intension to engage in AWB varies across
industries, sector and jobs. Fourth, the present work though significant
but only draws from the employee experience. It would be interesting to
know the subjective experience of significant others (family, superiors
etc.) to develop an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon and its
implications on employee and organizational outcomes. Fifth, one major
limitation of the study is its cross-sectional design. We investigated the
correlates of AWB via ICT inferring that work as central-life interest and
ambition lead to engaging in AWB. However, the direction is not clear as
whether individual with higher ambition indulge in AWB or individual
who indulge in AWB has higher ambition? Sixth, the research method in
this work employs self-reported survey that can lead to common method
bias. Although we have implied procedural method as suggested by
Podsakoff et al. (2003), it would be a good idea for future research to use
a longitudinal design to examine the effects and determinants of AWB
over a time period. Seventh, it would be interesting for the future work
to examine the positive impact of AWB on employee engagement and
career growth.
7. Conclusion
In sum the present work of ours looked into a very pertaining phe­
nomenon of AWB and put forth the role of individual characteristics in
explain the variance in the individual’s intention to engage with it.
Although, ambition and work as central-life interest were found to be
significantly associated with AWB, it was also found that AWB nega­
tively impacted employees’ work engagement. Thus, it is important to
further the research in this direction and delve deeper to understand the
potential advantages and disadvantages of ICT-use at our workplace and
frame policies that respect individual’s personal space.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ekta Sinha: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review &
editing, Visualization, Project administration. Kavita Laghate:
Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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