BALANCING DEMANDS AND RESOURCES WITH CONTROL VARIABLES: A MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYEE WORK ENGAGEMENT

Control variables are routinely included in research, yet their theoretical role remains largely implicit and under-specified. Addressing this gap, this study extends the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) theory by systematically theorizing how control variables shape and condition the relationships between job demands, job resources, and employee work engagement. Specifically, the study conceptualizes control variables across five interrelated domains: general (demographic and temporal characteristics), job-domain (personality traits and individual differences), personal-domain (individual characteristics and situational factors), home-domain (social and environmental influences), and organizational-domain (leadership, management, and workplace structures and practices). Building on this integrative framework, the study develops theoretically grounded propositions that clarify the dynamic interplay between demands and resources, offering a deeper and more precise understanding of how sustainable employee work engagement is shaped.