Abstract: In the digital age, after-hours electronic communication expectations (AECE) are increasingly prevalent. While existing research has explored the impact of leaders’ AECE on employees’ job performance, limited attention has been paid to coworkers’ AECE. Guided by the transactional theory of stress, we argue that coworkers’ AECE as a workplace stressor can result in either challenge or hindrance appraisal that subsequently influences employees’ job performance in a positive or negative manner. Further, we propose that reward interdependence serves as a key moderator in the above-mentioned pathways. Specifically, when reward interdependence is higher, employees are more likely to develop challenge appraisal in the face of coworkers’ AECE, which promotes their job performance. In comparison, when reward interdependence is lower, employees tend to develop hindrance appraisal in the face of coworkers’ AECE, which inhibits their job performance. To test these hypotheses, we collect two-wave survey data from 328 employees and their 65 direct leaders in a construction company. The results of multilevel path analysis fully support our hypotheses. Overall, by introducing the transactional theory of stress to explore the “double-edged” effects of coworkers’ AECE on employees’ job performance, our research offers novel theoretical contributions to the after-hours electronic communication literature. In addition, our findings can also provide crucial insights for organizations to handle AECE more effectively in practice.

Key words: after-hours electronic communication expectations, challenge appraisal, hindrance appraisal, reward interdependence, job performance