The Dual Impact of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality on Public Employees’ Procrastination in Bureaucratic Contexts

Drawing on social information processing theory, this study uses three-wave matched data from 849 Chinese public employees to examine BLM’s dual effects in bureaucratic contexts and the moderating role of perceived red tape. Results reveal that supervisor BLM operates through two distinct information processing pathways: enhancing work goal clarity (which reduces procrastination) while undermining job calling (which increases procrastination). Perceived red tape amplifies both effects—strengthening BLM’s positive impact on goal clarity through cognitive relief and structured guidance delivery mechanisms, while exacerbating BLM’s negative impact on job calling through compounded value simplification, authority-reinforced instrumentality, and authentic expression constraints.