The impact of career plateau on job performance: a cognitive appraisal perspective

There is little theoretical explanation or robust evidence to support the relationship between career plateau and job performance in physicians. This study adopts the cognitive appraisal theory of stress as a new theoretical framework for the relationships between career plateau, emotional exhaustion, perceived organizational support (POS), and job performance. A survey was conducted among physicians in Chinese public hospitals, yielding 466 valid responses. Hierarchical regression analysis and the PROCESS macro (Model 5) were used to explore mediation and moderation effects using 5,000 bootstrap samples. Both hierarchy plateau and job content plateau are related to poor job performance and are indirectly associated with poor job performance via emotional exhaustion (p < 0.001). Additionally, POS can buffer the negative association between job content plateau and job performance (p < 0.05) but does not moderate the relationship between hierarchial plateau and job performance (p > 0.05). This study provides a novel theoretical explanation of how career plateau is negatively associated with physicians' job performance and offers practical guidance for hospital managers in managing poor performance and the negative emotions that may trigger it.