Understanding quiet quitting: A mixed-method investigation of an emerging workplace behavior

This mixed-method study explores how employees define and experience quiet quitting. Study 1 analyzes over 44,000 Twitter posts, revealing divergent public sentiments that frame the phenomenon as both a productivity concern and a legitimate act of boundary-setting. Study 2 draws on structured interviews with 17 working adults, identifying quiet quitting as a spectrum ranging from deliberate boundary-setting to emotional disengagement and concealed turnover intention, shaped primarily by structural and relational workplace factors. The findings are interpreted across multiple theoretical frameworks, highlighting the phenomenon’s complexity and its consequences for individuals and teams, with implications for organizations reconsidering assumptions about discretionary effort.