Digital connectivity for work after hours: Its curvilinear relationship with employee job performance

Abstract Using digital technologies for work‐related matters during nonwork time is an increasingly common behavior in contemporary workplaces. Despite the prevalence of digital connectivity (DCON) in today's organizations, its implications for employee job performance remain under‐specified. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and the “too‐much‐of‐a‐good‐thing” (TMGT) meta‐theoretical principle, we theorize that DCON has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with employee job performance through the mediation of social capital development (SCD) and emotional exhaustion (EE). The results of two studies with different designs support our theoretical expectations. Specifically, we found that increases in DCON associate with higher SCD, lower EE, and higher job performance up to an inflexion point, after which more DCON has detrimental effects. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are fully discussed.