Abstract
Recent empirical research shows that many employees perceive their jobs as socially useless, yet the psychological mechanisms translating such perceptions into behaviour remain under-theorised. Drawing on emotional labour and coping theory, this paper develops a two-wave moderated mediation model explaining how Bullshit Job Perceptions (BJP) generate emotional dissonance, which in turn produces divergent behavioural responses. We propose that emotional intelligence buffers the effect of BJP on emotional dissonance, while problem-focused and emotion-focused coping channel dissonance into job crafting and counterproductive work behaviour, respectively. By integrating previously disconnected literatures, this study advances a process-based account of behavioural heterogeneity in perceived socially useless work.