Unfinished Tasks and Rumination: A Replication Study on the Mediating Role of Competence Need Satisfaction and the Moderating Effects of Proactive Work Behavior and Leisure Crafting

Work-related rumination (WRR) defines a state of perseverative cognitive activation in which work continues to occupy the employee's mind during off-job hours (Querstret & Cropley, 2012). Research distinguishes between three components: problem pondering, detachment, and affective rumination. Among these, only affective rumination has a negative valence, while problem pondering is positive and detachment is neutral. A growing body of literature indicates that unfinished tasks link most strongly to affective rumination (Wendsche et al., 2026), with recent research suggesting that competence need satisfaction mediates the relationship and proactive work behavior moderates it (Weigelt et al., 2019). To extend prior work, this study will examine leisure crafting, contributing to the understanding of potential moderators under which the relationship between unfinished tasks and affective rumination holds, thereby providing opportunities for intervention research.