Quiet quitting as a deliberate decision: the DR-CEST model of discretionary effort regulation

In this study, grounded in Cognitive–Experiential Self-Theory, we propose the Dual-Route CEST (DR-CEST) theoretical model as a dual-process framework explaining the conditions under which employees rely on rational or experiential routes to determine how much effort to exert at work. A PRISMA review of 88 peer-reviewed publications was conducted, and we find that although several perspectives explain why employees restrain discretionary effort (resource-based, relational, cognitive-affective, and technological), existing accounts remain limited in specifying the proximal psychological mechanism through which employees translate workplace experiences into effort-regulation decisions. The proposed DR-CEST model posits an experiential route, steered by affective cues (e.g. unfairness, depletion, or technostress), and a rational route, steered by controlled-effort calculations. Additionally, we propose Feeling of Rightness (FOR) as the metacognitive mechanism in DR-CEST that moderates which route dominates and when it does so. The DR-CEST framework suggests new propositions and offers managers concrete recommendations for sequencing levers to reverse QQ behaviors by nudging employees’ emotions before introducing rational incentives to regulate discretionary effort.