When help is not wanted: Frustrated needs and poor after-work recovery as consequences of unwanted help at work.

Instrumental help and support in the workplace are mostly associated with outcomes that are considered desirable for organisations and their employees. In this study, we seek to shed light on a specific type of help at work that may entail negative consequences: being offered help that is not wanted by the recipient. Drawing on basic psychological needs theory and on theory of ruminative thoughts, we propose that offering unwanted help frustrates the recipient's psychological needs for autonomy and competence, which in turn affects after-work recovery processes in the form of increased rumination and decreased psychological detachment.