While pay for performance (PFP) is widely adopted in organizations to boost employee performance, the empirical evidence on its incentive effect has been mixed. Based on Park and Sturman’s (2021) PFP perception framework, we integrated two motivation theories—transactional theory of stress and role engagement theory—to delineate two countervailing mechanisms that explain how individuals appraise and react to perceived PFP. Our study considers employees’ perception of PFP-I (perceived PFP based on individual performance) and highlights leader competence and warmth as critical contingencies. We propose that perceived PFP-I is appraised by employees as a challenge when leader competence is high, which leads to employees’ work engagement and enhanced task performance, but is appraised as a threat when leader warmth is low, which leads to employees’ work withdrawal and decreased task performance. In two three-wave survey studies, we found support for our model. The present research advances our knowledge regarding the incentive effect of PFP-I by emphasizing the importance of perceived PFP-I and proposing a new way of seeing employee motivation and performance ensuing from perceived PFP-I through the lens of stress and role (dis)engagement. Our findings provide insights into how organizations and leaders can effectively utilize PFP to motivate employees.

中文翻译：

---

评估和对感知到的按绩效付费的反应：作为关键突发事件的领导能力和热情

虽然绩效工资 (PFP​​) 在组织中被广泛采用以提高员工绩效，但关于其激励效果的经验证据却好坏参半。基于 Park 和 Sturman (2021) 的 PFP 感知框架，我们整合了两种动机理论——压力的交易理论和角色参与理论——来描绘两种抵消机制，解释个人如何评价和对感知的 PFP 做出反应。我们的研究考虑了员工对 PFP-I（基于个人绩效的 PFP 感知）的看法，并强调领导者的能力和热情是关键的突发事件。我们建议，当领导能力高时，员工将感知的 PFP-I 评估为挑战，这会导致员工的工作投入和提高任务绩效，但当领导热情低时，则将其评估为威胁，这导致员工的工作退出和任务绩效下降。在两项三波调查研究中，我们发现了对我们模型的支持。本研究通过强调感知 PFP-I 的重要性并提出了一种通过压力和角色 (dis) 的视角看待感知 PFP-I 所带来的员工动机和绩效的新方法，从而提高了我们对 PFP-I 激励效果的认识。订婚。我们的研究结果提供了有关组织和领导者如何有效利用 PFP 来激励员工的见解。本研究通过强调感知 PFP-I 的重要性并提出了一种通过压力和角色 (dis) 的视角看待感知 PFP-I 所带来的员工动机和绩效的新方法，从而提高了我们对 PFP-I 激励效果的认识。订婚。我们的研究结果提供了有关组织和领导者如何有效利用 PFP 来激励员工的见解。本研究通过强调感知 PFP-I 的重要性并提出了一种通过压力和角色 (dis) 的视角看待感知 PFP-I 所带来的员工动机和绩效的新方法，从而提高了我们对 PFP-I 激励效果的认识。订婚。我们的研究结果提供了有关组织和领导者如何有效利用 PFP 来激励员工的见解。