The double-edged sword effect of performance pressure: employees’ self-construal as boundary condition

Employees face performance pressure has become a common phenomenon. While the research on effects of performance pressure on employees is unclear yet. Based on the cognitive assessment theory of stress, we delineate the evaluation and response of employees to performance pressure from two opposite aspects. And based on the self-construal theory, the boundary effects of self-construal (independent vs. interdependent) are studied. Faced with performance pressure, we believe that independent self-construal employees are more inclined to make challenge appraisal, which will increase employees’ work resilience, while interdependent self-construal employees make threat appraisal, which will lead to cheating behavior. Through questionnaire survey and data analysis, we found support for our model. This research provides a new perspective, self-construal, to view the impact of performance pressure, further deepening the research on performance pressure. Our findings provide insights into how organizations harness the beneficial effects of performance pressure while mitigating its negative effects.