In a 2026 study titled ‘Illegitimate tasks and quiet quitting: a moderated mediation model based on the strength model of self-control’ published in Frontiers in Psychology, Liu, Chi, and Sui found that being given unfair or pointless work at the office drains workers’ psychological energy, and that drain directly feeds quiet quitting. The researchers also found a partial buffer: employees who use AI tools display a weaker form of that effect.
The study, which surveyed 229 full-time employees in three waves, two weeks apart, offers a task-level explanation for a phenomenon affecting the American workplace
Why quiet quitting matters in the US
Before we dive into what the study found, it helps to understand the scale of the problem it addresses. According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2024 report, 50% of US workers were not engaged at work in 2023, which aligns with Gallup's own definition of quiet quitting. This report claims that disengaged employees are responsible for the $1.9 trillion loss in productivity in the US alone. Not only does the Liu et al. study tell us what quiet quitting might look like, but it also tells us how it happens, step by step.
What the study identified as the trigger: "illegitimate tasks"
The research is built around a particular concept: illegitimate tasks. According to this study, these are work demands that violate what employees reasonably expect from their role, tasks that seem unnecessary or unreasonable.
Imagine a software engineer buried in admin paperwork, or a designer doing somebody else’s expense reports. According to this study, these are not just frustrating; they may contribute to ego depletion, which can precede quiet quitting.
