Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42188214›Full record

ReviewEuropean journal of investigation in health, psychology and education2026

Dysfunctional Cognition and Work-Related Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review.

Christian Scholtes, Petru Lucian Curșeu, Sabina Ramona Trif

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Christian ScholtesDepartment of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Petru Lucian CurșeuDepartment of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.ORCID 0000-0003-0067-6310
Sabina Ramona TrifDepartment of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.ORCID 0000-0002-7008-2238

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This systematic literature review synthesizes and integrates research on dysfunctional cognition (DC) in organizational settings, addressing the lack of a coherent model explaining how cognitive vulnerabilities shape work-related outcomes. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we analyzed 41 manuscripts (selected from more than 4523 initial and secondary search hits), leading to an integrative model of DC at work. Results show that DC is activated by job demands, alongside other demanding situational and contextual features. The model specifies maladaptive appraisal processes as the cognitive-affective mechanism through which DC shapes (dis)engagement in the task and relational domains at work and ultimately impacts outcomes such as well-being, stress, burnout, performance, and decision quality. It further incorporates job, personal, and social resources as buffering contingencies that promote adaptive appraisal and attenuate the detrimental role of DC. By integrating insights from clinical, cognitive-behavioral and organizational research, this review advances theory in three ways: (1) by emphasizing the role of appraisal as the cognitive-affective mechanism linking DC to work (dis)engagement, (2) by embedding DC in the job demands-resources model and identifying job demands as activating conditions and resources as regulatory factors for dysfunctional cognitive dynamics at work and (3) by differentiating between task and interpersonal (dis)engagement as domain-specific paths through which self-focused and relational schema impact work-related outcomes. The integrative DC model provides a foundation for future research using longitudinal and mixed-method designs, and for more fine-grained examinations of how specific forms of DC relate to distinct cognitive-affective pathways and work-related outcomes, while offering practical implications for developing schema-informed and resource-based interventions in organizations.

Indexed as

burnoutdysfunctional cognitionearly maladaptive schemastresswork performance

Identifiers

PMID42188214
PMCPMC13205660

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.