The Double-Edged Impact of Task Uncertainty on Adaptive Performance: The Role of Proactive Behavior and Developmental Feedback

The unpredictability of external environment has allowed task uncertainty to evolve into a leading feature of the work. In the face of task uncertainty, enhancing employees’ ability to respond to change in their work and environment helps them achieve more long-term and sustainable development within the organization. Based on social information processing theory and the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate the mechanisms by which task uncertainty affects adaptive performance. The sample is based on data from 267 employees across different regions and industries in China. The results showed that task uncertainty respectively has an inverted U-shaped relationship with employee proactive behavior and adaptive performance. Proactive behavior has a mediating role between task uncertainty and employee adaptive performance. Developmental feedback from superiors negatively moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship between task uncertainty and proactive behavior, and also moderates task uncertainty and adaptive performance. The aforementioned research findings reveal the mechanisms of action and the boundary conditions of task uncertainty on adaptive performance. They also help guide organizational managers in stimulating employees’ adaptive performance through job design, as well as by providing developmental feedback and performance evaluations.