Work Role Overload and Employee Time Theft: A Daily Diary Examination of JD-R Pathways via Fatigue and Intrinsic Motivation.

Drawing on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, this study examines how daily work role overload (WRO) contributes to ETT via two mechanisms: energy depletion (fatigue) and motivational erosion (intrinsic motivation). Using the daily diary method, data were collected from 107 employees over 5 consecutive days, yielding 460 usable daily observations across the education, healthcare, information technology and trade sectors. Path analyses showed that daily WRO was positively associated with ETT. Consistent with the energy depletion mechanism, WRO increased fatigue, predicting higher ETT. Meanwhile, in line with the motivational erosion mechanism, our findings indicate that WRO undermines intrinsic motivation, which was negatively associated with ETT. Both fatigue and intrinsic motivation mediated the daily association between WRO and ETT. These findings extend JD-R theory to CWB, demonstrating how excessive demands simultaneously deplete resources and erode motivation, thereby fostering ETT. Practically, the results highlight the importance of workload management and motivation-enhancing strategies in mitigating the hidden costs of ETT.