Although information gaps frequently occur in the workplace, surprisingly little organizational research considered their psychological consequences for employees. We refine the information gap theory by integrating it with the cognitive-affective processing system (CAPS) framework to argue that work-related information gaps constitute a double-edged sword for work engagement because they elicit both specific curiosity and frustration. We find support for our cognitive-affective process model of information gaps across two experience-sampling studies and an experimental study. In Study 1 (74 employees, 270 days), we validated a work-related information gap scale to empirically disentangle information gaps from specific curiosity. In Study 2 (107 employees, 719 days), information gaps were positively associated with specific curiosity and frustration, which in turn had differential effects on work engagement. In Study 3 (405 employees across two conditions), we provide causal support for our model and rule out alternative cognitive (i.e., boredom) and affective (i.e., thriving) mechanisms.

尽管信息差距在工作场所经常发生，但令人惊讶的是，很少有组织研究考虑其对员工的心理影响。我们通过将信息差距理论与认知情感处理系统（CAPS）框架相结合来完善信息差距理论，认为与工作相关的信息差距对工作投入构成了一把双刃剑，因为它们会引起特定的好奇心和挫败感。我们在两项经验抽样研究和一项实验研究中找到了对信息差距认知情感过程模型的支持。在研究 1（74 名员工，270 天）中，我们验证了与工作相关的信息差距量表，以凭经验将信息差距与特定好奇心分开。在研究 2 中（107 名员工，719 天），信息差距与特定的好奇心和挫败感呈正相关，这反过来又对工作投入产生不同的影响。在研究 3（涉及两种情况的 405 名员工）中，我们为我们的模型提供因果支持，并排除其他认知（即无聊）和情感（即蓬勃发展）机制。