Am I Just a Digital Puppet? Exploring the Impact of Electronic Performance Monitoring and Supervisor Monitoring on Employee Performance From the Perspective of Objectification Theory

ABSTRACT Electronic performance monitoring (EPM) has been widely used in organizations in the expectation of promoting performance. However, its effectiveness sometimes falls short of these expectations. Most previous studies have examined EPM's side effects from the perspective of psychological reactance, treating it simply as a monitoring stressor. To extend this literature, we draw on workplace objectification theory and propose that EPM fosters employees' perceived objectification by signaling objectifying cues, which in turn undermines employee job performance. Moreover, supervisor monitoring styles (observational and interactional) can either strengthen or weaken the relationship between EPM and perceived objectification. We tested our model using an online experiment with 199 US participants and a multi‐wave field survey with 294 Chinese employees, and all hypotheses were supported. Theoretically, this research complements the psychological reactance perspective in EPM research by introducing perceived objectification as a humanity‐related mechanism through which EPM may shape employee performance. We also advance workplace objectification theory by extending its scope from human–human interactions to human–technology interactions. Practically, we offer guidance on preserving employees' humanity while adopting technological and human monitoring to maintain performance.