The Relationship Between Financial Stress and Job Performance in China: The Role of Work Engagement and Emotional Exhaustion

Purpose: Economic pressure has become an important source of stress for employees. However, the conclusions regarding the relationship between financial stress and employees' work behavior are not consistent. The present study explored the relationship between financial stress and employee job performance with a Chinese sample and further explored how and when financial stress influenced job performance. Samples and Methods: The present study investigated five distinct companies operating in diverse sectors using a convenience sampling technique. Three hundred and twenty-one employees were recruited. Financial Stress, Job Performance, Work Engagement, and Emotional Exhaustion were measured for this investigation. The mediation effect was tested using a four-step procedure. The analysis of the moderated mediation model was performed using Hayes's PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results: The results found financial stress was positively related to job performance, and work engagement mediated the positive relationship between financial stress and job performance. In addition, emotional exhaustion moderated the mediating process between financial stress, work engagement, and job performance. Specifically, the beneficial effect of financial stress on work engagement disappeared when emotional exhaustion was high. Besides, a high level of emotional exhaustion weakened the positive relationship between work engagement and job performance. Conclusion: Financial stress plays a motivating role in employees' job performance in China. Work engagement is a key factor between financial stress and job performance. Notably, the positive effect of financial stress and work engagement on job performance is contingent upon the individual's level of emotional exhaustion. These results might explain the inconsistency of the effect of financial stress in previous research. Moreover, this finding suggests that emotional factors may not only be the result of stress but can also influence its effects.