Work engagement is a significant factor influencing employee performance, well-being, and organizational commitment. Given these valuable outcomes, it is essential to investigate antecedents of engagement. This research seeks to understand how the imposter phenomenon (IP) and irritability contribute to engagement. Following the conservation of resources theory (Hobfall, 1989), we hypothesize that IP is positively related to irritability, irritability is negatively related to engagement, and finally, IP is related to engagement via irritability. We collected data from 164 participants with a snowball sampling technique (Grant & Mayer, 2009). Utilizing Preacher and Hayes’ (2008) mediation procedure, our results provide support for our hypothesized relationships between IP and irritability (B = 0.3392, p < .05) and between irritability and engagement (B = -0.1784, p < .001). Furthermore, we found support for our mediation hypothesis with a significant effect of IP on engagement through irritability (b = -0.0605, SE = .0377, 95% CI [-.1480, -.0007]). Findings suggest those with IP experience irritability, leading to lower levels of engagement. To combat this, we suggest organizations prioritize constructing a positive work culture, implementing Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), and encouraging leaders to enhance their social perception and emotional awareness skills.
