Employee online personal/professional boundary blurring and work engagement: Social media anxiety as a key contingency

Abstract

Relying on self-presentation theory and boundary management theory, this study investigated the association between employees’ personal/professional boundary blurring on social media and work engagement. We examined whether social media anxiety mediates the link between blurring boundary online and work engagement. From a relational perspective, we also investigated how perceived leader support might moderate this mediated relationship. Results from an online survey of 212 full-time employees were consistent with the proposed conceptual scheme, in that social media anxiety mediated the relationship between boundary blurring online and work engagement when employees’ perceived leader support was low. The findings highlight that the connection between boundary blurring online and work engagement demonstrates a pattern of moderated mediation that is more complex than previously thought. This study implies that blurring boundary online can result in negative psychological experiences for employees and the implications of this study present some managerial insights for the design of social media use in the workplace.