When what we say Isn't what they hear: An interdisciplinary approach to understanding quiet quitting

Quiet quitting is a novel term describing employees doing only required work, rather than striving to do extra work. This phenomenon has largely been studied from the employer's perspective of loss of employee productivity, disengagement, and turnover. The current study used a convenience sample of 500 working Americans (81% female, mean age = 23.4 years) to provide a quantitative and qualitative exploration of employee understanding of this term, their attitudes towards its associated behaviors, and whether these vary based on context or employee generation. Results showed that participants had moderate levels of understanding of quiet quitting, with those from Generation Z having the lowest understanding of its meaning. Notably, participants viewed quiet quitting behaviors as positive, especially when used to establish work-life boundaries, and were more likely to attribute the negative cause of these behaviors to employer practices. Our findings are consistent with boundary theory (Ashforth et al., 2000) and humanistic approaches (e.g., Armstrong & Pfandler, 2024; Dillard et al., 2024) that claim quiet quitting may be used strategically to enhance work-life balance and prevent burnout. Importantly, these findings highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of this phenomenon to help distinguish it from disengagement and burnout.