Workplace procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon in organizations, which may bring great influence on employees’ productivity and organizations’ competitiveness. Relying on cognitive-motivational-relational theory and broaden-and-build theory of emotion, this study uses an emotional perspective to investigate how and when job characteristics (i.e., hindrance job demands, challenge job demands, and job resources) may similarly or differently impact employees’ workplace procrastination. We suggest that because both hindrance and challenge demands may lead to fear of tasks, of which action tendency is escape and avoidance, they have positive indirect effects on procrastination. Because job resources may lead to joy about tasks, of which action tendency is free activation, they have negative indirect effects on procrastination. We also examine the two-sided effect of challenge demands, such that challenge demands simultaneously enhance interest in tasks (with an action tendency of exploration) and thus negatively and indirectly influence procrastination. We further discuss how psychological capital, which largely shapes how employees appraise their job characteristics, may alter the above relationships. Results from a field study on 257 employees supported most of our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
