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Perceived prosocial impact, perceived situational constraints, and proactive work behavior: Looking at two distinct affective pathways
Abstract
This paper examines the role of affect as a linking mechanism between experiences at work (perceived prosocial impact and situational constraints) and two distinct components of proactive work behavior (issue identification and implementation). Based on a dual-tuning perspective, we argue that both positive affect and negative affect can be beneficial for proactive work behavior. Multi-level path analysis using daily-survey data from 153 employees showed that perceived prosocial impact predicted positive affect and that situational constraints as a typical hindrance stressor predicted negative affect. Negative affect, in turn, predicted issue identification, and positive affect predicted implementation. Overall, our study suggests that both positive and negative affects can be valuable in the organizational context by contributing to distinct components of proactive behavior. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... For example, experiencing positive affect facilitates taking charge (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Zhou, Liu, Li, Cheng, and Hu, 2018) and 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 proactivity (Cullen-Lester, Leroy, Gerbasi, and Nishii, 2016). Apart from the effect of positive feelings, the effect of negative affect is not conclusive in the literature and many scholars call for more attention (for example, Cangiano et al, 2016;Lebel and Kamran-Morley, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), not to say the variety of negative (discrete) emotions. As a whole, we still have limited knowledge about this 'hot' side of being proactive at work. ...
... The former signals could either demotivate to be proactive as 'everything goes alright' and it is nature to keep status quo (e.g. Lam, et al, 2014 ); or motive to be proactive (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015) as it increases employees' confidence in initiating proactive actions and helps them deal with any risks or obstacles that occur during the proactive process (Foo, Uy, and Baron, 2009). The latter signals, theoretically, may motivate one to act. ...
... However, low-activated negative affect associated with silence at work, as it enhanced reflection over behaviour (Madrid, Patterson, and Leiva, 2015). More recently, Sonnentag and Starzyk (2015) found negative affect only relates to issue identification, pointing out the potential problem at work, rather than change implementation. In this sense, what matters is the specific types of proactive behaviour. ...
... Supporting this argument, a recent study Wang and colleagues (Wang, Zhu et al, 2018) showed that experiencing achievement (and recognition events) is associated with state work engagement (as a positive affective-motivational state), which has been linked to proactive behaviour in prior research (Sonnentag, 2003). Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... suggested that situational constraints initiate thinking about how one may prevent such negative experiences in the future, thus fostering proactive behaviour. Accordingly, situational constraints positively relate to same day proactive behaviour (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009), in particular issue identification (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Finally, some negative task-related events, such as time pressure, are even related to challenge appraisal (Ohly and Fritz, 2010), which has in turn been related to positive activation and ultimately proactive behaviour (for example, Binnewies, Sonnentag, and Mojza, 2009). ...
... Regarding the relationships between affective experiences and employee proactivity, most studies focus on affect, positive affect in particular, during work (for example, Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009;Ng, Hsu, and Parker, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). The findings show that when experiencing high levels of positive affect at work, employees are energized and engage in proactive behaviour; moreover, studies suggest that high-activated, not low-activated, positive affect matters more for employees being proactive (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). ...
... Regarding the relationships between affective experiences and employee proactivity, most studies focus on affect, positive affect in particular, during work (for example, Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009;Ng, Hsu, and Parker, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). The findings show that when experiencing high levels of positive affect at work, employees are energized and engage in proactive behaviour; moreover, studies suggest that high-activated, not low-activated, positive affect matters more for employees being proactive (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). There are several theoretical underpinnings that are used to explain the positive affect-proactivity relationship, for example, the broadenand-build model (Fredrickson, 2001), the affect-as-information theory (Schwarz and Clore, 1983), and the affect-as-resource perspective (Aspinwall, 1998). ...
... On one hand, low-activated negative affect likely broadens attentional focus and prompt divergent thinking, resulting in employees' rumination of what needs to be changed and/ or how to change regarding the current situation (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Martin and Tesser, 1996). On the other hand, high-activated negative affect likely stimulate proactive actions to bring about changes, because such affective state signals that change is needed and also energizes individuals (for example, Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). But, high-activated negative affect narrows attentional focus, which might lead the proactive actions to be more difficult to implement (Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010;Parker, Bindl, and Strauss, 2010). ...
... Supporting this argument, a recent study Wang and colleagues (Wang, Zhu et al, 2018) showed that experiencing achievement (and recognition events) is associated with state work engagement (as a positive affective-motivational state), which has been linked to proactive behaviour in prior research (Sonnentag, 2003). Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive (Lebel, 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed (Fay and Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive (Lebel, 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed (Fay and Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Fay and Sonnentag (2002) suggested that situational constraints initiate thinking about how one may prevent such negative experiences in the future, thus fostering proactive behaviour. Accordingly, situational constraints positively relate to same day proactive behaviour (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009), in particular issue identification (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Finally, some negative task-related events, such as time pressure, are even related to challenge appraisal (Ohly and Fritz, 2010), which has in turn been related to positive activation and ultimately proactive behaviour (for example, Binnewies, Sonnentag, and Mojza, 2009). ...
... Supporting this argument, a recent study Wang and colleagues (Wang, Zhu et al, 2018) showed that experiencing achievement (and recognition events) is associated with state work engagement (as a positive affective-motivational state), which has been linked to proactive behaviour in prior research (Sonnentag, 2003). Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... suggested that situational constraints initiate thinking about how one may prevent such negative experiences in the future, thus fostering proactive behaviour. Accordingly, situational constraints positively relate to same day proactive behaviour (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009), in particular issue identification (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Finally, some negative task-related events, such as time pressure, are even related to challenge appraisal (Ohly and Fritz, 2010), which has in turn been related to positive activation and ultimately proactive behaviour (for example, Binnewies, Sonnentag, and Mojza, 2009). ...
... For example, experiencing positive affect facilitates taking charge (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Zhou, Liu, Li, Cheng, and Hu, 2018) and proactivity (Cullen-Lester, Leroy, Gerbasi, and Nishii, 2016). Apart from the effect of positive feelings, the effect of negative affect is not conclusive in the literature and many scholars call for more attention (for example, Cangiano et al, 2016;Lebel and Kamran-Morley, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), not to say the variety of negative (discrete) emotions. As a whole, we still have limited knowledge about this 'hot' side of being proactive at work. ...
... The former signals could either demotivate to be proactive as 'everything goes alright' and it is nature to keep status quo (e.g. Lam, et al, 2014 ); or motive to be proactive (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015) as it increases employees' confidence in initiating proactive actions and helps them deal with any risks or obstacles that occur during the proactive process (Foo, Uy, and Baron, 2009). The latter signals, theoretically, may motivate one to act. ...
... However, low-activated negative affect associated with silence at work, as it enhanced reflection over behaviour (Madrid, Patterson, and Leiva, 2015). More recently, Sonnentag and Starzyk (2015) found negative affect only relates to issue identification, pointing out the potential problem at work, rather than change implementation. In this sense, what matters is the specific types of proactive behaviour. ...
... Supporting this argument, a recent study Wang and colleagues (Wang, Zhu et al, 2018) showed that experiencing achievement (and recognition events) is associated with state work engagement (as a positive affective-motivational state), which has been linked to proactive behaviour in prior research (Sonnentag, 2003). Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive (Lebel, 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed (Fay and Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Also, negative affective states resulting from negative affective events such as conflicts or goal-disruptive events might provide the energy to show proactive behaviour, but research so far has been inconclusive (Lebel, 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Moreover, negative affect can provide information that a situation needs to be changed (Fay and Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), which is the basis for showing proactive work behaviour that aims at improving the current situation (Strauss and Parker, 2018). ...
... Fay and Sonnentag (2002) suggested that situational constraints initiate thinking about how one may prevent such negative experiences in the future, thus fostering proactive behaviour. Accordingly, situational constraints positively relate to same day proactive behaviour (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009), in particular issue identification (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Finally, some negative task-related events, such as time pressure, are even related to challenge appraisal (Ohly and Fritz, 2010), which has in turn been related to positive activation and ultimately proactive behaviour (for example, Binnewies, Sonnentag, and Mojza, 2009). ...
... Regarding the relationships between affective experiences and employee proactivity, most studies focus on affect, positive affect in particular, during work (for example, Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009;Ng, Hsu, and Parker, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). The findings show that when experiencing high levels of positive affect at work, employees are energized and engage in proactive behaviour; moreover, studies suggest that high-activated, not low-activated, positive affect matters more for employees being proactive (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). ...
... Regarding the relationships between affective experiences and employee proactivity, most studies focus on affect, positive affect in particular, during work (for example, Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009;Ng, Hsu, and Parker, in press;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). The findings show that when experiencing high levels of positive affect at work, employees are energized and engage in proactive behaviour; moreover, studies suggest that high-activated, not low-activated, positive affect matters more for employees being proactive (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). There are several theoretical underpinnings that are used to explain the positive affect-proactivity relationship, for example, the broadenand-build model (Fredrickson, 2001), the affect-as-information theory (Schwarz and Clore, 1983), and the affect-as-resource perspective (Aspinwall, 1998). ...
... On one hand, low-activated negative affect likely broadens attentional focus and prompt divergent thinking, resulting in employees' rumination of what needs to be changed and/ or how to change regarding the current situation (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Martin and Tesser, 1996). On the other hand, high-activated negative affect likely stimulate proactive actions to bring about changes, because such affective state signals that change is needed and also energizes individuals (for example, Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). But, high-activated negative affect narrows attentional focus, which might lead the proactive actions to be more difficult to implement (Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010;Parker, Bindl, and Strauss, 2010). ...
... OCBO, prosocial impact and job satisfaction Perceived prosocial impact is the belief that one has benefited others in some way through their behavior at work (Grant and Campbell, 2007), and it is considered a positive work experience (Sonnentag and Grant, 2012). Research shows that perceptions of prosocial impact result from constructive and beneficial actions that affect others and that make a difference (Lanaj et al., 2019;Sonnentag and Grant, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Indeed, prior research finds that when employees engage in other types of constructive and organizationally beneficial actions they experience increased perceptions of prosocial impact Spitzmuller and Van Dyne, 2013). ...
... Research on perceived prosocial impact suggests that it has beneficial consequences for the individual. For example, research has found that employees have improved affective states (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015;Sonnentag and Grant, 2012) and that they are more proactive (Grant and Rothbard, 2013) due to prosocial impact. We build on this prior research and examine a work-related outcome, namely job satisfaction. ...
... The average alpha across days was 0.87. Given that previous research has suggested that negative affect is associated with prosocial impact (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), ego depletion (Lin et al., 2016), job satisfaction (Judge and Ilies, 2004) and job stress (Schaubroeck et al., 1998) and some paths linking negative affect to our main variables were significant, we followed the advice of Becker (2005) and retained them in our model, although the significance of our results does not change when this control variable is not included. Table 1 reports the descriptive information of the within-person variance displayed in our sample. ...
Purpose
Prior research suggests that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) can have both positive and negative effects on employees; however, it is unclear about the mediating mechanisms of this relationship and how the effects of challenging and supportive OCB may differ. Drawing on the dual-pathway model of proactivity and OCB research, the authors derive a theoretical model that attempts to reveal how different types of employees' daily organizationally focused citizenship behaviors can affect employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the relationships using a daily-diary study using experience sampling methodology (ESM). The survey includes 72 employees who completed three surveys a day for 10 working days resulting in 614 daily observations.
Findings
The authors find that advocacy participation increases perceptions of prosocial impact, which in turn increases daily job satisfaction; the authors also find that advocacy participation decreases ego depletion, which then reduces daily job stress. Daily voice likewise increases perceptions of prosocial impact, which in turn increases daily job satisfaction; however, unlike advocacy participation, voice increases ego depletion, which then increases daily job stress.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the personal perceptions and emotions of engaging in daily organizationally focused OCB and recognize the fact that different types of prosocial behavior have differential outcomes. The authors also extend prior research by documenting the mechanisms by which OCB impacts employees.
... Because motivedriven affect regulation emphasizes employees' agency at work, we expect motivated affect regulation to shape this active type of performance. Moreover, a considerable body of research has identified the importance of positive affect in driving proactivity (Bindl et al., 2012;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). Therefore, we expect motivated affect regulation to also be important in driving employees to take charge at work. ...
... Theoretically speaking, positive mood helps create the energy resources needed to generate better ideas for change, foster perseverance, and sustain the pursuit of proactive action (Clore, 1994;Ilies & Judge, 2005). In line with our arguments, past studies indicate that positive affect, such as feelings of enthusiasm, predicts greater proactivity at work (Bindl et al., 2012;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). ...
... Additionally, achievement-oriented motives at work have been linked to higher effort and, in turn, to a range of positive performance-related outcomes in the workplace (Lang et al., 2012). Particularly, task-related affect regulation should positively predict individuals' perceived affect-regulation success-and, in turn, performance-related outcomes (overall job performance and taking charge)-because of the functional role of positive (rather than negative) affect (Frijda, 1988;Levenson, 1999) in driving efforts to increase overall job performance (Barsade & Gibson, 2007;Brief & Weiss, 2002) as well as taking charge at work (Bindl et al., 2012;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). Thus, we hypothesize the following: ...
Affect regulation matters in organizations, but research has predominantly focused on how employees regulate their feelings. Here, we investigate the motives for why employees regulate their feelings. We assess employees’ engagement in affect regulation based on distinct motives and investigate their implications for performance‐related outcomes. We develop a framework and measure for distinct types of motivated affect regulation at work, comprising hedonic affect regulation (motive to feel better), task‐related affect regulation (motive to reach an achievement‐related goal), and social affect regulation (motive to get along with others). Study 1 (N = 621 employees) indicated each type of motivated affect regulation was distinct from the others. In Study 2 (N = 80 employees; n = 821 observations), in line with our theorizing, hedonic and task‐related affect regulation were both positively associated with performance‐related outcomes via perceived affect‐regulation success. In addition, the link between task‐related affect regulation and perceived affect‐regulation success was strongest for those individuals who habitually engage in deep acting. By contrast, social affect regulation did not predict perceived affect‐regulation success or performance‐related outcomes. Understanding why employees choose to manage their feelings advances insights on individual motives in employee behavior and provides new avenues for improving performance outcomes in organizations.
... Furthermore, studies have revealed a positive relation between an energizing affective-motivational state of mind (Schaufeli et al., 2002) and proactivity (e.g., Salanova and Schaufeli, 2008;Schmitt et al., 2016). Similarly, other research has found that positive affect is positively related to proactive behavior (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012), including day-level taking charge behavior (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009), task proactivity (Bindl et al., 2012), and issue implementation (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Based on these indications, in the present research, we therefore hypothesized that: ...
... Empirical support for our assumption that employees high in PFI are likely to refrain from showing proactive behavior even when they feel energized to do so stems from a qualitative study conducted by Bindl (2019). While positive and negative discrete emotions can motivate proactivity Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), Bindl (2019) found that fear is a key discrete emotion that can thwart the implementation of a proactive behavior by someone initially motivated so to perform. For example, employees may not proactively implement a change because of their anxiety about the reaction, such as disapproval, this could evoke from others (Bindl, 2019). ...
... Third, by considering a moderating variable, our findings extend research on the link between positive affect and workrelated proactivity (Fritz and Sonnentag, 2009;Bindl et al., 2012;Fay and Sonnentag, 2012;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015;Binyamin and Brender-Ilan, 2018). In the only previous study examining a moderator in the link between work-related vitality and proactivity, Schmitt et al. (2017) showed that the positive relation between vitality, measured in the morning, and end-of-day voice behavior was stronger among employees who reported being confident about succeeding in their job tasks. ...
Proactive behavior has emerged as a key component in contemporary views of individual work performance. Hence, a central question in the literature is how to enhance employees' proactive behavior. We investigated whether the more that employees experience a sense of vitality (i.e., energizing positive affect), the more likely they are to show proactive behavior at work, and whether this applies only to employees with a low personal fear of invalidity [(PFI) i.e., the inclination to be apprehensive about the risks/negative consequences of making errors]. Experimental (N = 354) and cross-sectional field (N = 85) studies provided consistent evidence for a positive relation between employees' sense of vitality at work and their self-rated proactivity. The predicted moderation effect was observed only for manager-rated proactivity. We conclude that feeling energized in the workplace is not necessarily associated with observable proactive behavior. It is only when employees experiencing a sense of vitality at work are not prone to fearing the risks/negative consequences of making errors that they are more likely to show observable proactive behavior in an organization.
... Empirical research generally supports a positive association between positive affect and various forms of proactive behavior (for reviews, see Cangiano et al., 2016;Lebel & Kamran-Morley, 2021). For instance, positive mood was positively associated with all of the elements of proactivity (envisioning, planning, executing, and reflecting), time spent on proactive tasks (Fay & Sonnentag, 2012), implementing ideas (Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015), and speaking up at work (Liu et al., 2015(Liu et al., , 2017. In contrast, positive affect also implies that the status quo is desirable (Schwarz, 2011;Schwarz & Clore, 2003) and being proactive may not be necessary (e.g., Bissing-Olson et al., 2013;Lam et al., 2014). ...
... In contrast, positive affect also implies that the status quo is desirable (Schwarz, 2011;Schwarz & Clore, 2003) and being proactive may not be necessary (e.g., Bissing-Olson et al., 2013;Lam et al., 2014). For example, prior research demonstrated that positive affect reduces voice (Lam et al., 2014), happy individuals are not inclined to engage in issue identification (Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015), and positive affect only has a contingent relationship with proactive proenvironmental behavior (i.e., environmentally friendly changes, Bissing-Olson et al., 2013). Although precisely why such variations exist remains far from conclusive, it can be asserted that the effect of positive affect could vary regarding varied forms of proactive behaviors. ...
Employees’ proactive performance is future-oriented and contributes to organizational effectiveness and sustainability. The proactivity literature shows that positive affect and negative affect may have differential effects to motivate various proactive behaviors at work. However, direct empirical evidence of the impact of affect on proactive performance is limited. It is also important to investigate whether the motivational effect of positive and negative affect on proactive performance can be sustained over time. Responding to these knowledge gaps, we apply the Hedonic Contingency Theory (HCT), and hypothesize a positive reciprocal relationship between positive affect and proactive performance over time, while such effect does not exist for negative affect. Results from two independent studies – a cross-sectional and a longitudinal one – provide support for hypotheses drawn from HCT. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
... Previous research in the working context found favourable effects of perceived prosocial impact on positive affect (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015;Sonnentag and Grant, 2012). Positive affect is defined as a state characterised by being "enthusiastic, active, and alert" (Watson et al., 1988(Watson et al., , p. 1063. ...
... As prior empirical evidence revealed considerable within-person variability considering the processes relevant to our assumptions (Kronenwett and Rigotti, 2020;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), and due to our interest in inter-and intra-individual processes, we specify our hypotheses at both the within-and the between-person levels. More precisely, we assume that on days on which leaders have shown more LMX behaviours, they report an enhanced perception of their competence and higher positive affect at the end of the workday (withinperson level). ...
Purpose
Drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the success resource model of job stress, the authors investigated the role of leader behaviours in the context of leader-member exchanges (LMXs) as a driver of leaders' job-related well-being and recovery. Specifically, they hypothesised positive affect and perceived competence as potential mechanisms enhancing leaders' job satisfaction and psychological detachment.
Design/methodology/approach
Daily diary data were collected from 85 leaders over five consecutive working days (376 daily observations) and analysed using multilevel path analyses.
Findings
Leader LMX behaviours were positively associated with leaders' positive affect and perceived competence at work at the person and day levels. Additionally, results provided support for most of the assumed indirect effects of leader LMX behaviours on leaders' job satisfaction and psychological detachment via positive affect and perceived competence.
Practical implications
Leadership development activities should raise leaders' awareness of the relevance of resourceful interactions with followers for leaders' own well-being. Organisations should create a working environment that facilitates high-quality exchanges amongst their members. The current trend towards increasing digital and less face-to-face collaboration may pose a risk to this important resource source for leaders.
Originality/value
These findings emphasise the day-to-day variation in leadership behaviours and that leaders' engagement in high-quality leader-follower interactions has the potential to stimulate a resource-building process for the benefit of leaders themselves.
... According to the emotionfocused coping process (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), employees with positive emotions would be more willing to increase their efforts to fulfill task performances or engagement in helping behaviors. Indeed, numerous studies in previous research support the argument that people who experienced positive emotions were inclined to be more actively engaged in improving their task performance (e.g., Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015) or contextual performance (e.g., Rodell and Judge, 2009). Specifically, Sonnentag and Starzyk (2015) argued that the positive emotional states triggered by challenge stressors would stimulate employees' behaviors of implementation, which was viewed as a positive predictor of task performance. ...
... Indeed, numerous studies in previous research support the argument that people who experienced positive emotions were inclined to be more actively engaged in improving their task performance (e.g., Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015) or contextual performance (e.g., Rodell and Judge, 2009). Specifically, Sonnentag and Starzyk (2015) argued that the positive emotional states triggered by challenge stressors would stimulate employees' behaviors of implementation, which was viewed as a positive predictor of task performance. In addition, Rodell and Judge (2009) posit that employees who experienced positive emotions were more likely to help others at work and behave in more collaborative ways toward organizational goals and developments, which is labeled as contextual performance. ...
By combining the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions ( Fredrickson, 2001 ) and the transactional theory of stress ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ), this study examines how challenge demands (i.e., task complexity and time pressure) have dual effects on employees’ job performance through the mediating effects of positive and negative emotions. We collected data from 414 employees from three firms located in China, including two hi-tech firms and one financial firm. The results indicated that challenge demands (i.e., task complexity and time pressure) have an overall positive effect on employees’ job performance (i.e., task performance and contextual performance) by offsetting positive indirect effects with negative indirect effects. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
... With the increasingly complex and uncertain nature of the contemporary workplace, employees' Proactive Work Behaviors (PWBs) have played significant roles in business success (Sonnentag and Starzyk 2015). For example, scholars have found the positive effects of PWBs on both individual-(e.g., sense of competence, career success, and positive affect) (Cha et al. 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk 2015;Wu et al. 2018) and organizational-level outcomes (e.g., job performance and organizational effectiveness) (Mallin et al. 2014;Raub and Liao 2012). ...
... With the increasingly complex and uncertain nature of the contemporary workplace, employees' Proactive Work Behaviors (PWBs) have played significant roles in business success (Sonnentag and Starzyk 2015). For example, scholars have found the positive effects of PWBs on both individual-(e.g., sense of competence, career success, and positive affect) (Cha et al. 2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk 2015;Wu et al. 2018) and organizational-level outcomes (e.g., job performance and organizational effectiveness) (Mallin et al. 2014;Raub and Liao 2012). Therefore, a great deal of empirical research has been conducted to identify predictors of PWBs. ...
This study examined the relationship between work ethic and proactive work behaviors by focusing on the moderating roles of education and party affiliation. The theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees in China. Analyses of 746 usable questionnaires collected at two phrases were used to empirically test the relationship between the work ethic and proactive work behaviors. The relationship between work ethic and proactive work behaviors was more pronounced for those with lower education. It was also founded that the work ethic had a significantly stronger positive influence on proactive work behaviors among non-Party members than among the Chinese Communist Party members. Finally, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications of this study, future research directions and limitations at the end of this article.
... Research has also found that employees with higher levels of job embeddedness are less negatively affected emotionally by a lack of job security compared to those with lower levels of job embeddedness (Rafiq et al., 2019). Furthermore, when embedded employees feel less secure in their job, they may exhibit higher levels of work engagement or dedication toward their job to improve the situation (Fay & Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015;Strauss & Parker, 2018). Work engagement refers to a positive psychological state wherein employees experience a sense of well-being in relation to their work and demonstrate a strong emotional connection to their job performance (Christian et al., 2011;Bakker et al., 2008;Schaufeli et al., 2002). ...
... Specifically, while the action of engaging in OCBs is depleting as personal resources are spent on engaging in a given behavior outside one's direct job role, past research demonstrates that OCBs are also beneficial for the employee who performs them. For example, several studies demonstrated the positive association between OCBs and positive affect (e.g., Conway, Rogelberg, & Pitts, 2009;Glomb, Bhave, Miner, & Wall, 2011), likely as a result of these behaviors facilitating the formation of reciprocal ties among coworkers and social cohesiveness (Lepine & Van Dyne, 2001;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). This effect is consistent with studies from social psychology that found that merely engaging in social interactions increases positive affect (see Watson, 2000). ...
... For negative emotions, it reveals there is a problematic situation and changes are needed, which may also serve as 'a priming energy' to be proactive. In short, emotions could provide motivational energy in priming, driving, and/ or sustaining proactivity in various forms and mechanisms (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Lebel, 2016;2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). ...
... Moreover, some research suggests that both positive and negative affect can contribute to proactive behaviour (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2007;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Theoretical work has argued that intense negative emotions, such as anger and fear, can motivate proactive behaviour by signalling a need for change of current circumstances (Lebel, 2017). ...
... These findings appear to be robust; for example, Bindl et al (2012) found that highly activated and positive mood was positively associated with several aspects of the proactivity process -including envisioning, planning, executing, and reflecting on proactive behaviour. Other notable studies have found that feelings of state positive affect increased the time spent on proactive tasks at work (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012) and whether employees implement ideas at work (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Furthermore, employees' state positive affect stemming from leader behaviour can increase the extent to which employees speak up and take initiative at work (Lin et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2017). ...
... However, studies that assess variability in these constructs over time through experience sampling or daily diaries remain scarce (cf. Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). For example, Carson's (2006) pioneering research using state assessments with practicing teachers (N = 44) found that momentary emotions and emotion regulation frequencies across occasions were related to teacher burnout. ...
In contrast to teachers’ positive emotions, such as enjoyment and enthusiasm, teachers’ negative emotions and the regulation of negative emotions have received limited empirical attention. As the most commonly experienced negative emotion in teachers, anger has to date demonstrated mixed effects on teacher development. On the one hand, habitual experiences of anger (i.e., trait anger) exhaust teachers’ cognitive resources and impair pedagogical effectiveness, leading to poor student engagement. On the other hand, strategically expressing, faking, or hiding anger in daily, dynamic interactions with students can help teachers achieve instructional goals, foster student concentration, and facilitate student engagement. The current study adopted an intensive daily diary design to investigate the double-edged effects of teachers’ anger. Multilevel structural equation modeling of data from 4,140 daily diary entries provided by 655 practicing Canadian teachers confirmed our hypotheses. Trait anger in teachers was found to impair teacher-perceived student engagement. Daily genuine expression of anger corresponded with greater teacher-perceived student engagement; daily faking anger impaired perceived student engagement, and daily hiding anger showed mixed results. Moreover, teachers tended to hide anger over time, and were reluctant to express anger, genuine or otherwise, in front of their students. Finally, genuine expression and hiding of anger had only a temporary positive association with teacher-perceived student engagement, with student rapport being optimal for promoting sustained observed student engagement.
... These findings appear to be robust; for example, Bindl et al (2012) found that highly activated and positive mood was positively associated with several aspects of the proactivity process -including envisioning, planning, executing, and reflecting on proactive behaviour. Other notable studies have found that feelings of state positive affect increased the time spent on proactive tasks at work (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012) and whether employees implement ideas at work (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Furthermore, employees' state positive affect stemming from leader behaviour can increase the extent to which employees speak up and take initiative at work (Lin et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2017). ...
... Moreover, some research suggests that both positive and negative affect can contribute to proactive behaviour (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2007;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Theoretical work has argued that intense negative emotions, such as anger and fear, can motivate proactive behaviour by signalling a need for change of current circumstances (Lebel, 2017). ...
... For negative emotions, it reveals there is a problematic situation and changes are needed, which may also serve as 'a priming energy' to be proactive. In short, emotions could provide motivational energy in priming, driving, and/ or sustaining proactivity in various forms and mechanisms (for example, Bindl et al, 2012;Lebel, 2016;2017;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). ...
... The impact of individual or organizational contributions may be invisible because catalyzing deep, sustainable change progresses slowly and requires cross-sectoral collaborations (Stephan et al., 2016). Yet research in organizational behavior shows that individuals experience work as impactful when they encounter consistent, frequent, and durable cues that visualize the positive impact (Grant et al., 2007;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). Second, as social enterprises take action toward catalyzing positive societal change, they also face difficult ethical challenges (Bhatt, 2022;Hota et al., 2023;Sengupta & Lehtimäki, 2022) and social justice questions (Kimmitt & Muñoz, 2018), such as the trade-offs between creating income generating opportunities for marginalized communities and exposure to human trafficking risks (Au, Drencheva & Yew, 2022). ...
Individuals start and join social enterprises to catalyze social impact but may not subjectively experience their work as impactful. In this article, we inductively uncover when social enterprise members question the impactfulness of their work and how they engage in sensemaking to experience their work as impactful. Exploring the experiences of members across two social enterprises with different missions, we provide insights into instances creating ambiguity of or discrepancies in impactfulness and unearth how individuals navigate these in different circumstances with two distinct sensemaking practices: internalizing and compensating. We reveal the efforts required to experience work as impactful, highlight the heterogeneity and agency in maintaining this perception, and suggest a potential dark side for members and missions of social enterprises.
... Specifically, while the action of engaging in OCBs is depleting as personal resources are spent on engaging in a given behavior outside one's direct job role, past research demonstrates that OCBs are also beneficial for the employee who performs them. For example, several studies demonstrated the positive association between OCBs and positive affect (e.g., Conway, Rogelberg, & Pitts, 2009;Glomb, Bhave, Miner, & Wall, 2011), likely as a result of these behaviors facilitating the formation of reciprocal ties among coworkers and social cohesiveness (Lepine & Van Dyne, 2001;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). This effect is consistent with studies from social psychology that found that merely engaging in social interactions increases positive affect (see Watson, 2000). ...
... Nonetheless, these positive consequences that emerge from the nonlinear effect of negative affect add to the large literature on broader change-oriented behaviors at work such as job crafting and other proactive behavior (e.g., Grant & Ashford, 2008;Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). To date, most have considered only the harmful consequences of negative affect (for exceptions see e.g., Bindl et al., 2019;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015), therefore an awareness of the positive ramifications of moderate levels of negative affect may strengthen and broaden the theorizing. ...
Does negative affect help or hinder voice behavior? Research is increasingly highlighting the more complex effects of negative affect and we propose that its relationship with voice is similarly multifaceted. Drawing from activation theory, this paper argues that the relationship between negative affect and voice behavior is an inverted U-shape. Three studies are designed to test our hypotheses. At the between-person level, Studies 1 and 3 use employee-supervisor matched dyads (N = 209; N = 150; respectively) at two different time points. Study 2 collects 217 daily data points from 58 participants and tests the inverted U-shaped hypothesis at the within-person level. Findings from these studies provide support for our hypotheses that voice behavior is highest when employees experience moderate-level negative affect but that extremely high and low levels of negative affect hinder voice behavior. In study 3 we also found that the inverted U-shaped relationship between negative affect and voice behavior is only prominent when the need for change is higher. Our findings have implications in revealing the complex nature of negative affect in determining voice behavior.
... Out of the study population, males formed 92% while females were 8%. The age of the respondents was in the range of (28) to (54) years, and largest proportion of age, i.e., (52%) ranged between (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46) years. Further, 27% workers belonged to administrative department while 73% belonged to technical departments. ...
The aim of the current research work is to define the role of organizational virtuousness, the independent variable, and its influence upon proactive work behaviors, the dependent variable. Various important measures have been considered to determine the research variables and are discussed in detail. In this study, a total of 354 individuals working in Karbala cement factory was considered among whom the questionnaire was distributed. In order to test the research hypotheses, general confirmatory loading (structural equation modeling), descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, simple regression analysis, and gradient multiple regression analyses were conducted. A number of conclusions was reached out of which the most important is the existence of a significant impact of organizational virtuousness on proactive behavior. The sub-hypotheses also confirmed the presence of a positive moral effect. Keywords: organizational virtuousness, proactive work behavior. Šio tyrimo tikslas yra nustatyti organizacijos dorybingumo, kaip nepriklausomojo kintamojo, vaidmenį ir jo įtaką iniciatyviai elgsenai darbe kaip priklausomam kintamajam. Įvairios vertinimo priemonės smulkiai aptariamos parenkant tyrimo kintamuosius. Tyrime dalyvavo 354 Karbalos cemento gamyklos darbuoto-jai, kuriems buvo pateiktos anketos su klausimais. Iškeltoms hipotezėms patikrinti atlikta patvirtinančioji faktorinė analizė (struktūrinių lygčių modeliavimas), aprašomoji statistika, apskaičiuota koreliacija, taikyta dvinarė regresinė analizė, daugialypė regresija su gradientu. Atlikus tyrimą nustatyta statistiškai reikšminga organizacijos dorybingumo įtaka darbuotojų elgesiui. Dalinės hipotezės taip pat patvirtino teigiamo mo-ralinio poveikio efektą. Raktiniai žodžiai: organizacijos dorybingumas, iniciatyvi darbinė elgsena.
... More specifically, such violation may be manifested as the feelings such as betrayal, anger, and frustration, the negative emotion of PCV can lead to employees' attitudinal and behavioral reactions (Priesemuth & Taylor, 2016). Prior studies have found that organizations could impact employees' attitudes and behaviors by changing their emotional reactions (Abdelmotaleb & Saha, 2020;Shao, Zhou, & Gao, 2019a;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). The discrepancy model of PCV further suggests that PCV will also influence employees' attitudes and behaviors when some factors cause feelings of difference between expectation and reality (Turnley & Feldman, 1999). ...
This study explores the impact of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM) on the turnover intention by exploring the effects of psychological contract violation (PCV) and moral identity. Using a sample of 284 employees in China, we found that PCV mediated the negative relationship between SR-HRM and turnover intention. Moral identity moderated the direct effect of PCV on turnover intention as well as the indirect effect of SR-HRM on turnover intention via PCV, such that both the direct and indirect effects were stronger for employees with a low level of moral identity compared to those with the high level of moral identity. Findings from this study provide a greater understanding of the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions of SR-HRM that affect turnover intentions. Study findings also provide guidance to organizations seeking to reduce employee turnover.
... Ortony et al., 1988). On the one hand, when peers respond with positive emotions, such as enthusiasm and excitement, they are more likely to prosocially behave towards implementing the intended changes (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). On the other hand, when peers respond by expressing their negative emotions, such as stress or disagreements, proactive employees are more likely to trigger 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 P e e r R e v i e w V e r s i o n 11 anti-social behavior from peers or even decrease their peers' action tendencies to participate in the proactive effort (Johnson and Connelly, 2014). ...
Team member proactivity refers to self-starting, future-directed behavior to change a team’s situation or the way a team works. While previous studies have shown that individuals generally benefit from their proactivity, few studies have explored how others in a team experience it. This is important as the way peers perceive team member proactivity could be critical for the initiative to be effective. We conducted a 5-month in-depth study to uncover how peers from three self-managing agile teams react to instances of team member proactivity. Our findings suggest a process model of team member proactivity, in which we show that peers react at two distinct moments during proactive episodes. Depending on its perceived success and whether peers directed their reaction to the proactive employee or at their initiative, peer reactions unfolded in four different pathways: by (1) belittling the proactive team member, (2) criticizing the proactivity initiative, (3) supporting the proactive initiative, or (4) admiring the proactive team member. We explain how and why these reactions are formed by showcasing their cognitive, affective, and behavioral evaluations. Our findings contribute to the proactivity literature, provide a process perspective for understanding how peers perceive proactivity, and present implications for sustaining proactivity in teams.
... The importance of both positive and negative high arousal affective experiences has been suggested by past research (Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007;Fay & Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). For example, in a four-wave longitudinal study by Fay and Sonnentag (2002), the authors showed that not only activated positive affect, but also stress (i.e., activated negative affect) can lead to greater proactive behavior. ...
Only recently has research started to examine relationships between proactive behavior and employee well-being. Investigating these relationships is important for understanding the effects of proactivity at work, and whether proactivity leads to an increase or a decrease in well-being. In this study, we investigated day-level effects of proactive behavior on four indicators of occupational well-being (i.e., activated positive and negative affect, emotional work engagement and fatigue). Moreover, based on theorizing on “wise proactivity,” we examined organizational tenure and emotion regulation as moderators of these effects. In total, N = 71 employees participated in a daily diary study with two measurements per day for ten consecutive working days. Results revealed that emotion regulation interacted with daily proactive behavior to predict daily emotional work fatigue, such that the effect of proactive behavior on emotional work fatigue was only positive for employees with low (vs. high) emotion regulation. Supplementary analyses examining reverse effects of occupational well-being on proactive behavior showed that organizational tenure interacted with daily activated positive and negative affect in predicting proactive behavior. For employees with lower (vs. higher) organizational tenure only, both activated positive and negative affect were negatively associated with proactive behavior. Overall, our findings contribute to the growing body of research on proactive behavior and well-being by demonstrating reciprocal and conditional day-level relationships among these variables.
... This would be beneficial for the wide variety of approaches and techniques that may be found in the corporate sector that are essential to enhancing individual efficiency in job organization. Individual job performance can be described as what people do or acts that play a role and lead to an organization's objectives (Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). ...
This study aims to evaluate the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior on the impact of proactive personality on job performance as well as the mediating impact of employee voice behavior on the effect of proactive personality on organizational citizenship behavior. The statistical population of this study included 447 private hospital employees. Data was
analyzed by structural equation method using SPSS AMOS program. The mediation functions were calculated using a process macro. As a result of the study, it was discovered that proactive personality has a positive effect on job performance, with organizational citizenship actions acting as a mediating factor. In addition, it has been found that proactive personality
has a positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior and in this relationship employee voice behavior has a mediating role.
... The importance of both positive and negative high arousal affective experiences has been suggested by past research (Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007;Fay & Sonnentag, 2002;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). For example, in a four-wave longitudinal study by Fay and Sonnentag (2002), the authors showed that not only activated positive affect, but also stress (i.e., activated negative affect) can lead to greater proactive behavior. ...
Research has recently started to examine relationships between proactive behavior and employee well-being. Investigating these relationships is important to understand the effects of proactive behavior at work, and whether proactive behavior leads to an increase or a decrease in well-being. In this daily-diary study, we investigated effects of proactive behavior on within-day changes in four indicators of occupational well-being (i.e., activated positive and negative affect, emotional work engagement and fatigue). Moreover, based on the meta-concept of wise proactivity, which suggests that proactive behavior may lead to either favorable or unfavorable consequences depending on certain boundary conditions, we examined organizational tenure and emotion regulation skills as moderators of these effects. In total, N = 71 employees participated in a daily-diary study with two measurements per day for ten consecutive working days. Results showed that emotion regulation skills interacted with proactive behavior to predict within-day changes in emotional work fatigue, such that the effect of proactive behavior on emotional work fatigue was only positive for employees with low (vs. high) emotion regulation skills. Supplementary analyses examining reverse effects of occupational well-being on proactive behavior showed that organizational tenure interacted with activated positive and negative affect in predicting within-day changes in proactive behavior. For employees with lower (vs. higher) organizational tenure, both activated positive and negative affect were negatively associated with proactive behavior. Overall, our findings contribute to the growing body of research on proactive behavior and well-being by demonstrating reciprocal and conditional day-level relationships among these variables.
... These findings appear to be robust; for example, Bindl et al (2012) found that highly activated and positive mood was positively associated with several aspects of the proactivity process -including envisioning, planning, executing, and reflecting on proactive behaviour. Other notable studies have found that feelings of state positive affect increased the time spent on proactive tasks at work (Fay and Sonnentag, 2012) and whether employees implement ideas at work (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Furthermore, employees' state positive affect stemming from leader behaviour can increase the extent to which employees speak up and take initiative at work (Lin et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2017). ...
... Moreover, some research suggests that both positive and negative affect can contribute to proactive behaviour (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2007;Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015). Theoretical work has argued that intense negative emotions, such as anger and fear, can motivate proactive behaviour by signalling a need for change of current circumstances (Lebel, 2017). ...
The goal of this chapter is to address the potential affective consequences of proactive personality and behaviour. In the following sections, I first briefly introduce the notion of employee affect, including emotions, moods, and trait affectivity. Second, I describe a conceptual model on the proximal consequences of (change in) proactive personality and behaviour (that is, positive changes in the self and/or work environment), more distal psychological consequences (that is, changes in resources, need satisfaction, goal progress), and, eventually, different affective consequences. I also outline the role of potential boundary conditions of the effects of proactivity on affective consequences, including individual and contextual demands, resources, and barriers, as well as individual differences in trait affectivity. Third, I describe differences between a within-person perspective (that is, change in proactive behaviour and affective experiences over time) and a between-person perspective (that is, individual differences in proactive behaviour and affective experiences). Fourth, I review existing empirical studies that have examined affective consequences of different forms of proactivity. Finally, I conclude the chapter with several suggestions for future research.
... Experiencing subjective prosocial achievement after successfully helping others can, for example, relieve a helper's negative affective state that is caused by witnessing another person's problem (Piliavin et al., 1981). Positive effects on a helper's own well-being have also been reported with regard to reduced blood pressure (Piferi & Lawler, 2006), greater happiness (Aknin et al., 2013), increased positive affect (e.g., Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015), and accelerated recovery from depression (Brown et al., 2008). ...
Achievements at work play important roles with regard to employees’ well-being and health. Based on conservation of resources theory, the success-resource model and self-determination theory, this paper investigates how subjective occupational achievement experiences (task-related and prosocial) relate to employees’ psychological well-being (i.e., depressivity). We hypothesize differential mediating effects via the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Over a course of four consecutive weeks, 260 employees provided weekly diary data (942 observations) that were analysed using multilevel structural equation modelling. At the within-persons level, results showed that relatedness need satisfaction mediated the negative relationship between prosocial achievement experiences and depressivity, while competence need satisfaction mediated the negative relationship between task-related achievement experiences and depressivity. This study contributes to the research proposing achievement experiences as a beneficial resource in the health promotion process and reinforces the call to differentiate between the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
... We also followed recommendations to control for temporal variation in our variables, which can be an alternate explanation for observed relationships (e.g., Beal & Ghandour, 2011;Beal & Weiss, 2003). Specifically, we controlled for linear trends by including a variable ranging from 1 to 5 for the day of the week (e.g., Lim et al., 2018;Rosen et al., 2016), and another one ranging from 1 to 15 for study day (e.g., Lanaj et al., 2016;Sonnentag & Starzyk, 2015). We also controlled for weekly cyclical trends by including the sine and cosine of the above weekday variable with a period of one week (Beal & Ghandour, 2011;Gabriel et al., 2019b). ...
Work intrusions—unexpected interruptions by other people that interrupt ongoing work, bringing it to a temporary halt—are common in today’s workplaces. Prior research has focused on the task-based aspect of work intrusions and largely cast intrusions as events that harm employee well-being in general, and job satisfaction in particular. We suggest that apart from their task-based aspect, work intrusions also involve a social aspect—interaction with the interrupter—that can have beneficial effects for interrupted employees’ well-being. Using self-regulation theory, we hypothesize that while work intrusions’ self-regulatory demands of switching tasks, addressing the intrusion, and resuming the original task can deplete self-regulatory resources, interaction with the interrupter can simultaneously fulfill one’s need for belongingness. Self-regulatory resource depletion and belongingness are hypothesized to mediate the negative and positive effects of work intrusions onto job satisfaction respectively, with belongingness further buffering the negative effect of self-regulatory resource depletion on job satisfaction. Results of our 3-week experience sampling study with 111 participants supported these hypotheses at the within-individual level, even as we included stress as an alternate mediator. Overall, by extending our focus onto the social component of work intrusions, and modeling the mechanisms that transmit the dark- and the bright-side effects of work intrusions onto job satisfaction simultaneously, we provide a balanced view of this workplace phenomenon. In the process, we challenge the consensus that work intrusions harm job satisfaction by explaining why and when intrusions may also boost job satisfaction, thus extending the recent research on work intrusions’ positive effects.
... We tested the construct validity of our variables with a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus 8.0, following the procedure outlined by Sonnentag and Starzyk (2015). Given that all our hypotheses pertain to within-level relationships, all variables were person-mean centered (thus removing all the variance at the between level). ...
Although proactive behavior is an important determinant of individual work performance, its consequences for employee well-being and other personal outcomes have been largely neglected. In this study, we adopted a within-person perspective to investigate how taking charge behavior (a form of proactivity) affects employees' life outside of work by examining when and how it impacts on their ability to detach and recover from work. Drawing upon resource drain theory, we hypothesized that taking charge has the potential to undermine the process of detachment and recovery from work by draining personal resources. However, based on self-determination theory, we identified autonomous motivation as an essential boundary condition, such that the negative effects of taking charge on detachment and recovery via resource drain occur only when daily autonomous motivation is low. We tested this model on a sample of 77 managers, who provided daily survey data 3 times per day over 5 consecutive working days. Our analyses showed that daily taking charge behavior was negatively related to detachment in the evening, via resource drain, only on days in which people reported low autonomous motivation at work. However, this conditional effect of taking charge did not reach through to next morning recovery. No negative effects of daily taking charge on detachment were observed when people had high autonomous motivation. Overall, these findings suggest that, under some motivational conditions, proactivity can consume resources and interfere with the process of detachment. We offer practical advice for how organizations might encourage proactive behavior while minimizing its drawbacks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
... To examine if participants' workdays had been similar across the five experimental conditions, we assessed three work-situation variables in Study 2. In order to include both negative and positive experiences, we focused on quantitative demands, organizational constraints, and perceived prosocial impact. Earlier research has shown that quantitative demands (Ilies et al., 2010), organizational constraints (Rodell and Judge, 2009), and perceived prosocial impact (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015) are highly relevant for employee affect at work. Specifically, we assessed day-specific quantitative demands with three items based on the time-pressure measure developed by Semmer (1984;Zapf, 1993; sample item: "Today I was required to work fast"; ...
Previous correlational studies have shown that both psychological detachment from work and positively thinking about work during non-work time are associated with favorable affective states. In our research we integrate these contradictory findings and add more rigor to detachment research by using an experimental design. In two experimental studies conducted in the laboratory, we manipulated two different kinds of detachment from work (thinking about a hobby; explicit detachment instruction) and three different kinds of thinking about work (thinking negatively, thinking positively, thinking in an unspecific way) by short written instructions. Results show that both detachment strategies lead to a reduction in negative affect (in both studies) and to an increase in positive affect (in one study). The effect of detachment was particularly strong when it was contrasted with thinking negatively about work and when end-of-workday negative affect was high. In some of the comparisons, the affective benefits of positively thinking about work were stronger than those of psychological detachment from work. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that detachment from work as well as positive thinking improves subsequent affect, highlighting the causality underlying the association between psychological detachment from work – as a core recovery experience – and subsequent affective states.
... In the field of management research, positive emotions have received a lot of attention in recent years (Hu and Kaplan, 2015). Studies have found that positive emotions are significantly related to employee creativity, proactive behaviors (Sonnentag and Starzyk, 2015), organizational citizenship behaviors (Glomb et al., 2011) and work engagement (Little et al., 2007). ...
Purpose
Substantial research has examined the pivotal role of ethical leadership in generating employee outcomes. To date, though, little is known about the relationship between ethical leadership and newcomers' adjustment. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this gap by examining the effect of ethical leadership on newcomers' adjustment. In doing so, the authors highlighted positive emotions of newcomers as a mediating mechanism that explains the aforementioned association.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were drawn from a two-wave sample of 271 newcomers. The hypotheses were tested by using hierarchical regression analyses and Hayes' PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results demonstrated that ethical leadership affects employees' positive emotions which, in turn, positively relates to newcomers' adjustment. Additionally, newcomers' social comparison orientation moderated the effect of ethical leadership on newcomers' positive emotions.
Research limitations/implications
The research uses a correlational research design, making it difficult to derive causal inferences from the data. Moreover, the data we obtained on the variables were all based on employees' self-reports, which might inflate the relationship between some of the variables.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that illustrates the role of ethical leadership in enhancing both newcomers’ positive emotions and adjustment.
The current work explores three potential facilitators of judicial performance. Participants in a state‐wide survey of judicial officers (response rate = 33.9%) completed self‐report measures of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy as well as subjectively perceived performance. Objective performance data collected by the state court administrative office was then merged with the survey data. Latent variable analysis confirmed the three predictor constructs’ separability and, although all four concepts were correlated, self‐efficacy was the sole independent predictor of subjective performance. An unplanned mediation analysis suggested significant indirect effects of self‐legitimacy and prosocial impact on subjectively assessed performance through self‐efficacy. Regarding objective performance, self‐efficacy emerged as the only significant correlate or predictor. The research therefore empirically demonstrates the empirical distinctiveness of self‐efficacy, prosocial impact, and self‐legitimacy and provides some exploratory support for a causal model whereby self‐efficacy provides the proximal impact on performance but is itself facilitated by prosocial impact and self‐legitimacy.
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Cyberloafing means that employees spend work hours and use the company's internet resources to check personal e-mail or visit websites which are not related to their work. Although most scholars and practitioners viewed cyberloafing as a form of workplace deviance or counterproductive work behavior, some scholars indicated that cyberloafing might be beneficial for employees' productivity. Thus, it is important to clarify whether cyberloafing is beneficial or harmful for both employees and organizations.
Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examined the daily relationships between cyberloafing on creativity and proactive behavior, and whether work environment plays any positive moderating role is examined. The experience sampling method was adopted and a twice-daily questionnaire survey conducted with 94 full-time employees from China for 10 consecutive working days. A total of 928 daily data points were successfully paired, and the multilevel path analysis were performed to test the proposed hypotheses. Consistent with our expectation, the results indicated that employee cyberloafing positively predicts creativity and proactive behavior. In addition, the facilitation of informal interaction and environment workplace quality strengthens the positive relationships between employee cyberloafing and creativity and proactive behavior. The theoretical and practical implications were further proposed.
Purpose
This research aims to investigate the effects of innovation types (exploratory innovation vs. exploitative innovation) on users' psychological perceptions (perceived self-improvement and prosocial impact) and continuous knowledge sharing intention and the moderating effects of monetary incentives.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was developed based on the self-determination theory. A two-study approach involving an online survey ( n = 338) and an online experiment ( n = 160) was employed to collect quantitative data. Structural equation modeling and variance analysis were adapted to analyze the data.
Findings
The results show that exploratory innovation leads to higher perceived self-improvement among users than exploitative innovation, whereas exploitative innovation leads to higher perceived prosocial impact than exploratory innovation. The perceived self-improvement and perceived prosocial impact positively affects users' continuous knowledge sharing intention. Monetary incentives moderate the relationships among perceived self-improvement, perceived prosocial impact and continuous knowledge sharing intention.
Originality/value
This research highlights the role of users' experience of initial participation in forming continuous knowledge sharing intentions and also reveals the effectiveness of monetary incentives in different types of innovation activities. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the antecedents of users' continuous knowledge sharing behavior, offering new insights and recommendations for managerial practitioners.
The influence of constraints (i.e., barriers or limitations) on creativity has drawn attention from various fields but has largely yielded conflicting findings. Some studies suggest constraints may have a positive impact on creativity while others find a negative impact. In an effort to clarify this debate and provide direction for future efforts, this meta‐analysis examined the relationship between constraints and creativity. Using a sample of 111 published and unpublished studies, a series of random‐effects meta‐regression models and subgroup analyses were conducted and identified a significant positive relationship between constraints and creativity. Moderator analyses confirmed the relationship differed substantially depending on the constraint type, study design, funding status, and creativity operationalization and measurement. These findings suggest that constraints may not be detrimental to creativity, despite prior assumptions. Findings further suggest that constraint type may be less influential than typically assumed. Instead, methodological artifacts provide a better explanation for the varying existing findings in how constraints benefit or hinder creativity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The two studies presented here examine the effects of teachers’ enhanced sense of meaning at work (SOM) on their burnout and engagement. In the first study, 41 teachers in two Arab schools were randomly assigned to a meaning-induction group—in which they were prompted daily to acknowledge meaningful incidents at work for 2 weeks or to a control group. Qualitative analyses focused on teachers’ daily experiences of meaningful incidents, reflecting their contribution to others. In addition, one-way repeated measures analyses of variance indicated that teachers that acknowledged these incidents reported decreased burnout and increased engagement. In Study 2, the sample comprised 60 Arab and Jewish teachers who completed daily surveys for 12 workdays. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that teachers’ daily SOM was associated with increased engagement on the following day and somewhat increased stress. Thus, the studies highlight teachers’ SOM as a resource that contributes to engagement and can be enhanced intentionally.
Based on self-determination theory and job characteristics theory, this study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive model simultaneously investigating the relationship between job characteristics and two forms of work motivation (i.e., controlled motivation and autonomous motivation). To examine the proposed model, we recruited employees working in multiple Chinese industries and collected 435 valid questionnaires. The results indicate that job characteristics have a significantly positive effect on basic psychological needs satisfaction, which, in turn, positively affects autonomous motivation and negatively influences controlled motivation. In addition, basic psychological needs satisfaction mediates the linkage between job characteristics and positive or negative work motivation. Moreover, when an employee had high positive affectivity, job characteristics were more likely to fuel their basic psychological needs satisfaction. In contrast, job characteristics were more likely to be the depressor of these needs satisfaction when an employee possesses high negative affectivity. Our findings revealed that the degree of three needs satisfaction at work is a convincing and identifiable psychological mechanism between job characteristics and two types of work motivation. Also, work affectivity may influence the different perceptions of job characteristics, reminding managers that personality traits are a non-negligible factor in job design. Overall, this paper extends the application of the job characteristics model by revealing when and how job characteristics influence two types of work motivation and further puts forward managerial implications.
The current chapter advocates for a within-person approach to job performance, emphasizing changes in an employee's performance across occasions. Such research has been conducted since the inception of industrial and organizational psychology, but has been overshadowed by the dominant between-person approach emphasizing differences in performance across employees at a single occasion. We define within-person performance variability and the forms it can take (e.g., trends, cycles, peaks, troughs) across timeframes ranging from milliseconds to years, explain the benefits of taking within-person performance variability seriously, briefly summarize and compare theories relevant to within-person performance variability, discuss how these theories can be elaborated upon and integrated with each other (thereby providing an agenda for future research), and finally discuss the practical implications of this research.
Four experiments indicated that positive affect, induced by means of seeing a few minutes of a comedy film or by means of receiving a small bag of candy, improved performance on two tasks that are generally regarded as requiring creative ingenuity: Duncker's (1945) candle task and M. T. Mednick, S. A. Mednick, and E. V. Mednick's (1964) Remote Associates Test. One condition in which negative affect was induced and two in which subjects engaged in physical exercise (intended to represent affectless arousal) failed to produce comparable improvements in creative performance. The influence of positive affect on creativity was discussed in terms of a broader theory of the impact of positive affect on cognitive organization.
Relational resources are now recognized as significant factors in workplaces and increasing attention is being given to the motivational impact of giving, in addition to receiving social support. Our study builds on this work to determine the role of such relational mechanisms in work engagement, a concept that simultaneously captures drive and well-being. Data from 182 midwives from two maternity hospitals revealed a best-fit model where perceived supervisor support, social support from peers, prosocial impact on others and autonomy explained 52 percent of variance in work engagement. Perceived prosocial impact acted as a significant partial mediator between autonomy and work engagement. This study provides evidence for the importance of perceived prosocial impact and the role of immediate supervisors in facilitating work engagement in midwifery. Results highlight the value of relational resources and suggest their explicit inclusion in current models of work engagement.
In this study, we investigated a neglected form of extrarole behavior called taking charge and sought to understand factors that motivate employees to engage in this activity. Taking charge is discretionary behavior intended to effect organizationally functional change. We obtained both self-report and coworker data for 275 white-collar employees from different organizations. Taking charge, as reported by coworkers, related to felt responsibility, self-efficacy, and perceptions of top management openness. These results expand current understanding of extrarole behavior and suggest ways in which organizations can motivate employees to go beyond the boundaries of their jobs to bring about positive change.
Emphasizing differences in activation as well as valence, six studies across a range of situations examined relations between types of job-related core affect and 13 self-reported work behaviours. A theory-based measure of affect was developed, and its four-quadrant structure was found to be supported across studies. Also consistent with hypotheses, high-activation pleasant affect was more strongly correlated with positive behaviours than were low-activation pleasant feelings, and those associations tended to be greatest for discretionary behaviours in contrast to routine task proficiency. Additionally as predicted, unpleasant job-related affects that had low rather than high activation were more strongly linked to the negative work behaviours examined. Theory and practice would benefit from greater differentiation between affects and between behaviours.
Describes experiments in which happy or sad moods were induced in Ss by hypnotic suggestion to investigate the influence of emotions on memory and thinking. Results show that (a) Ss exhibited mood-state-dependent memory in recall of word lists, personal experiences recorded in a daily diary, and childhood experiences; (b) Ss recalled a greater percentage of those experiences that were affectively congruent with the mood they were in during recall; (c) emotion powerfully influenced such cognitive processes as free associations, imaginative fantasies, social perceptions, and snap judgments about others' personalities; (d) when the feeling-tone of a narrative agreed with the reader's emotion, the salience and memorability of events in that narrative were increased. An associative network theory is proposed to account for these results. In this theory, an emotion serves as a memory unit that can enter into associations with coincident events. Activation of this emotion unit aids retrieval of events associated with it; it also primes emotional themata for use in free association, fantasies, and perceptual categorization. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The challenge-hindrance framework has proved useful for explaining inconsistencies in relationships between work stressors and important outcomes. By introducing the distinction between threat and hindrance to this framework, we capture the potential for personal harm or loss (threat) associated with stressors, as distinct from the potential to block goal attainment (hindrance) or promote gain (challenge). In Study 1, survey data were collected from 609 retail workers, 220 of whom responded 6 months later. The results supported a 3-factor threat-hindrance-challenge stressor structure and showed that threat stressors are associated with increased psychological distress and emotional exhaustion, and reduced dedication, whereas hindrance stressors undermine dedication but may not be related to distress or exhaustion with threats included in the model. Study 2 utilized a diary study design, with data collected from 207 workers over 3 workdays. Findings revealed that the threat, hindrance, and challenge appraisals of individual workers are statistically distinct, and associated with stressors and well-being as anticipated: threats with role conflict and anxiety, hindrances with organizational constraints and fatigue, and challenges with skill demands and enthusiasm. Overall, moving to a 3-dimensional challenge-hindrance-threat framework for stressors and stress appraisals will support a more accurate picture regarding the nature, processes, and effects of stressors on individuals and organizations, and ensure prevention efforts are not misguided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Understanding the mechanisms of workflow interruptions is crucial for reducing employee strain and maintaining performance. This study investigates how interruptions affect perceptions of performance and irritation by employing a within-person approach. Such interruptions refer to intruding secondary tasks, such as requests for assistance, which occur within the primary task. Based on empirical evidence and action theory, it is proposed that the occurrence of interruptions is negatively related to satisfaction with one's own performance and positively related to forgetting of intentions and the experience of irritation. Mental demands and time pressure are proposed as mediators. Data were gathered from 133 nurses in German hospitals by means of a five-day diary study (four measurements taken daily; three during a morning work shift and one after work, in the evening). Multilevel analyses showed that workflow interruptions had detrimental effects on satisfaction with one's own performance, the forgetting of intentions, and irritation. The mediation effects of mental demands and time pressure were supported for irritation and (partially) supported for satisfaction with performance. They were not supported for the forgetting of intentions. These findings demonstrate the importance of reducing the time and mental demands associated with interruptions.
This article explores the role of within-person fluctuations in employees' daily surface acting and subsequent personal energy resources in the performance of organizational citizenship behaviors directed toward other individuals in the workplace (OCBI). Drawing on ego depletion theory (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000), we develop a resource-based model in which surface acting is negatively associated with daily OCBIs through the depletion of resources manifested in end-of-day exhaustion. Further integrating ego depletion theory, we consider the role of employees' baseline personal resource pool, as indicated by chronic exhaustion, as a critical between-person moderator of these within-person relationships. Using an experience-sampling methodology to test this model, we found that surface acting was indirectly related to coworker ratings of OCBI through the experience of exhaustion. We further found that chronic levels of exhaustion exacerbated the influence of surface acting on employees' end-of-day exhaustion. These findings demonstrate the importance of employees' regulatory resource pool for combating depletion and maintaining important work behaviors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
The overall goal of the meta‐analytic review of the most frequently studied proactivity concepts—personal initiative, proactive personality, taking charge, and voice—was cleaning up the number and overlap of proactivity constructs and examining their construct validity. We provide a unifying framework for proactivity theory and a nomological net. We studied 163 independent samples (N= 36,079). The meta‐analysis found high correlations between proactive personality and personal initiative/personality. Further, there were strong relationships between voice, taking charge, and personal initiative/behavior. For construct clean‐up, we suggest that the two proactive personality constructs can be taken as functionally equivalent and that this is also true to some extent for the three proactive behavior constructs—the latter signify proactive behavior. All proactive concepts showed clear correlations with performance (from .13 to .34 depending upon construct and objectivity level of performance). However, the proactive personality concepts were also highly correlated with the Big Five personality factors and showed very low to no incremental validity for work performance; this is contradictory to prior meta‐analyses on proactive personality and is discussed in detail. In contrast, proactive behavior scales (personal initiative/behavior, taking charge, and voice) predicted job performance well above and beyond personality.
We argue that creativity is influenced by the dynamic interplay of positive and
negative affect: High creativity results if a person experiences an episode of negative
affect that is followed by a decrease in negative affect and an increase in positive affect,
a process referred to as an “affective shift.” An experience-sampling study with 102
full-time employees provided support for the hypotheses. An experimental study with
80 students underlined the proposed causal effect of an affective shift on creativity. We
discuss practical implications for facilitating creativity in organizations.
Recently, Pfeffer (2010) called for a better understanding of the human dimension of sustainability. Responding to this call, we explore how individuals sustain an important human resource-their own energy-at work. Specifically, we focus on strategies that employees use at work to sustain their energy. Our findings show that the most commonly used strategies (e.g., switching to another task or browsing the Internet) are not associated with higher levels of human energy at work. Rather, strategies related to learning, to the meaning of one's work, and to positive workplace relationships were most strongly related to employees' energy.
Using experience-sampling methodology, we examined within-individual relationships
among emotional labor, negative and positive affective states, and work withdrawal,
as well as the moderating role of gender. Fifty-eight bus drivers completed two
daily surveys over a two-week period, producing 415 matched surveys. Results of
hierarchical linear models revealed that affective states worsened when employees
engaged in surface acting but improved when they engaged in deep acting. Surface
acting was positively associated with work withdrawal, and state negative affect
mediated this relationship. Results also revealed moderating effects of gender: the
within-individual relationships were stronger for females than for males.
The authors aimed to clarify the similarities, differences, and interrelationships among multiple types of proactive behavior. Factor analyses of managers’ self-ratings (N = 622) showed concepts were distinct from each other but related via a higher-order structure. Three higher-order proactive behavior categories were identified—proactive work behavior, proactive strategic behavior, and proactive person-environment fit behavior—each corresponding to behaviors aimed at bringing about change in the internal organization (e.g., voice), the fit between the organization and its environment (e.g., issue selling), and the fit between the individual and the organization (e.g., feedback seeking), respectively. Further analyses on a subsample (n = 319) showed similarities and differences in the antecedents of these behaviors.
The stress-oriented job analysis instrument ISTA was applied to a sample of 232 office jobs to analyse the impact of new technologies on the stressor-strain relationship. Scales measuring work content (complexity of work, variety), stressors (time pressure, organizational problems, interruptions, concentration necessities, social stressors), and resources (control at work, control over time) were developed and demonstrated desirable scale characteristics. The results showed positive correlations between stressors and psychological dysfunctioning (psychosomatic complaints, irritation). Computer work was associated with a decrease of work stressors, but also with decreased job content. Work places using different software systems (word processing, specialist, spreadsheet, and graphic programs) manifested different characteristics regarding work content, stressors, and resources. For example, when working with word processors, most stressors occurred at a medium daily computer work time. This indicates that strategies of work design which involve computer and non-computer work have to be used carefully.
Proactivity is a type of goal-directed work behavior in which individuals actively take charge of situations to bring about future change in themselves or their organization. In this chapter, we draw on goal-regulation research to review conceptual and empirical evidence that elucidates some of the complex links of affective experience and employee proactivity. We identify the different ways in which affective experience influences different stages of proactivity, including employees’ efforts in setting a proactive goal (envisioning), preparing to implement their proactive goal (planning), implementing their proactive goal (enacting), and engaging in learning from their proactive goal process (reflecting). Overall, our review suggests an important, positive role of high-activated positive trait affectivity and moods in motivating proactivity across multiple goal stages, as compared to low-activated positive affectivity and moods. The role of negative affect is mixed, and likely depends on both its valence and the stage of proactivity that is being considered. We identify a lack of research on the role of discrete emotions for employee proactivity. We discuss future avenues for research, particularly the roles of intra- and inter-personal emotion regulation for proactivity and of affective embeddedness of proactive processes in the social environment of organizations.
In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
Factor-analytic evidence has led most psychologists to describe affect as a set of dimensions, such as displeasure, distress, depression, excitement, and so on, with each dimension varying independently of the others. However, there is other evidence that rather than being independent, these affective dimensions are interrelated in a highly systematic fashion. The evidence suggests that these interrelationships can be represented by a spatial model in which affective concepts fall in a circle in the following order: pleasure (0), excitement (45), arousal (90), distress (135), displeasure (180), depression (225), sleepiness (270), and relaxation (315). This model was offered both as a way psychologists can represent the structure of affective experience, as assessed through self-report, and as a representation of the cognitive structure that laymen utilize in conceptualizing affect. Supportive evidence was obtained by scaling 28 emotion-denoting adjectives in 4 different ways: R. T. Ross's (1938) technique for a circular ordering of variables, a multidimensional scaling procedure based on perceived similarity among the terms, a unidimensional scaling on hypothesized pleasure–displeasure and degree-of-arousal dimensions, and a principal-components analysis of 343 Ss' self-reports of their current affective states. (70 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
conceptual and empirical perspectives on the relationship between helping and coping are presented
presents empirical evidence on the nature and degree of helping by individuals presumed to be exposed to stress, including siblings of children with disabilities and elderly persons / show that contrary to stereotypes of people presumed to be under stress, many such people do help others despite their own troubles
[describes] the results of two of my own emerging field studies, the results of which, when taken in combination with evidence presented in the first section, should increase the plausibility that helping serves as an effective coping mechanism (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We predict real-time fluctuations in employees' positive and negative emotions from concurrent appraisals of the immediate task situation and individual differences in performance goal orientation. Task confidence, task importance, positive emotions, and negative emotions were assessed 5 times per day for 3 weeks in an experience sampling study of 135 managers. At the within-person level, appraisals of task confidence, task importance, and their interaction predicted momentary positive and negative emotions as hypothesized. Dispositional performance goal orientation was expected to moderate emotional reactivity to appraisals of task confidence and task importance. The hypothesized relationships were significant in the case of appraisals of task importance. Those high on performance goal orientation reacted to appraisals of task importance with stronger negative and weaker positive emotions than those low on performance goal orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
reviews research on the impact of affective states on evaluative judgments, presenting evidence that is difficult to reconcile with the assumption that emotional influences on social judgment are mediated by selective recall from memory / rather, the presented research suggests that individuals frequently use their affective state at the time of judgment as a piece of information that may bear on the judgmental task, according to a "how do I feel about it" heuristic
extends the informative-functions assumption to research on affective influences on decision making and problem solving, suggesting that affective states may influence the choice of processing strategies / specifically it is argued that negative affective states, which inform the organism that its current situation is problematic, foster the use of effortful, detail oriented, analytical processing strategies, whereas positive affective states foster the use of less effortful heuristic strategies (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three experiments test the hypothesis that positive mood facilitates cognitive flexibility in categorization. Study 1 used a sorting task and found that positive mood subjects in relation to subjects in other mood states, formed fewer (broader) categories when focusing on similarities among exemplars and more (narrower) categories when focusing on differences. Study 2 used a within-subject design and assessed more direct measures of flexibility. Study 2 found that compared with neutral mood subjects, positive mood subjects (a) perceived a greater number of both similarities and differences between items, (b) accessed more distinct types of similarities and differences, and (c) listed more novel and creative similarities and differences. Study 3 demonstrated that these effects occur for both positive (mood-congruent) and neutral stimuli and identified intrinsic interest in the task as a possible mediating factor. The implications of these findings for understanding the effects of mood on cognitive organization and processing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated, in 2 experiments, whether judgments of happiness and satisfaction with one's life are influenced by mood at the time of judgment. In Exp I, moods were induced by asking 61 undergraduates for vivid descriptions of a recent happy or sad event in their lives. In Exp II, moods were induced by interviewing 84 participants on sunny or rainy days. In both experiments, Ss reported more happiness and satisfaction with their life as a whole when in a good mood than when in a bad mood. However, the negative impact of bad moods was eliminated when Ss were induced to attribute their present feelings to transient external sources irrelevant to the evaluation of their lives; but Ss who were in a good mood were not affected by misattribution manipulations. The data suggest that (a) people use their momentary affective states in making judgments of how happy and satisfied they are with their lives in general and (b) people in unpleasant affective states are more likely to search for and use information to explain their state than are people in pleasant affective states. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The question of how affect arises and what affect indicates is examined from a feedback-based viewpoint on self-regulation. Using the analogy of action control as the attempt to diminish distance to a goal, a second feedback system is postulated that senses and regulates the rate at which the action-guiding system is functioning. This second system is seen as responsible for affect. Implications of these assertions and issues that arise from them are addressed in the remainder of the article. Several issues relate to the emotion model itself; others concern the relation between negative emotion and disengagement from goals. Relations to 3 other emotion theories are also addressed. The authors conclude that this view on affect is a useful supplement to other theories and that the concept of emotion is easily assimilated to feedback models of self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
D. Watson and A. Tellegen (1985) proposed a "consensual" structure of affect based on J. A. Russell's (1980) circumplex. The authors' review of the literature indicates that this 2-factor model captures robust structural properties of self-rated mood. Nevertheless, the evidence also indicates that the circumplex does not fit the data closely and needs to be refined. Most notably, the model's dimensions are not entirely independent; moreover, with the exception of Pleasantness–Unpleasantness, they are not completely bipolar. More generally, the data suggest a model that falls somewhere between classic simple structure and a true circumplex. The authors then examine two of the dimensions imbedded in this structure, which they label
Negative Activation (NA) and
Positive Activation (PA). The authors argue that PA and NA represent the subjective components of broader biobehavioral systems of approach and withdrawal, respectively. The authors conclude by demonstrating how this framework helps to clarify various affect-related phenomena, including circadian rhythms, sleep, and the mood disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
to establish a general theory of work behavior, one must begin with the concept of action / action is goal-oriented behavior that is organized in specific ways by goals, information integration, plans, and feedback and can be regulated consciously or via routines / describe general [German] theory along these lines / this is quite a different theory from the typical American theories in industrial and organizational psychology (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Current approaches to work stress do not address in detail the mental processes by which work events cause unpleasant affect. We propose a cognitive account that incorporates: (1) the distinction between controlled and automatic information processing; (2) the categorization of emotionally relevant stimuli; (3) the role of mental models in coping choice; (4) the enactment of beneficial job conditions through coping; and (5) reciprocal influences between cognition and affect. We conclude by discussing how this account can help explain a range of findings in the work stress literature and how a cognitive approach to work stress informs practice.
Describes experiments in which happy or sad moods were induced in Ss by hypnotic suggestion to investigate the influence of emotions on memory and thinking. Results show that (a) Ss exhibited mood-state-dependent memory in recall of word lists, personal experiences recorded in a daily diary, and childhood experiences; (b) Ss recalled a greater percentage of those experiences that were affectively congruent with the mood they were in during recall; (c) emotion powerfully influenced such cognitive processes as free associations, imaginative fantasies, social perceptions, and snap judgments about others' personalities; (d) when the feeling-tone of a narrative agreed with the reader's emotion, the salience and memorability of events in that narrative were increased. An associative network theory is proposed to account for these results. In this theory, an emotion serves as a memory unit that can enter into associations with coincident events. Activation of this emotion unit aids retrieval of events associated with it; it also primes emotional themata for use in free association, fantasies, and perceptual categorization.
Executive Overview Interest in and research about affect in organizations have expanded dramatically in recent years. This article reviews what we know about affect in organizations, focusing on how employees' moods, emotions, and dispositional affect influence critical organizational outcomes such as job performance, decision making, creativity, turnover, prosocial behavior, teamwork, negotiation, and leadership. This review highlights pervasive and consistent effects, showing the importance of affect in shaping a wide variety of organizational behaviors, the knowledge of which is critical for researchers, managers, and employees. CEO wanted to cut our budget by 6%! Jerry's voice had an edge to it, and I could tell that my explanations about the budget were not going to solve this one. Would he ex-plode? Would he blame me? Worse, would he threaten to quit? I could feel the good mood I had started with this morning rapidly disappearing. The insistent brittleness in his voice made me feel defensive and I was starting to get angry myself. I needed to decide what to do next, but I was having trouble remembering the rationale for the raise. I felt like yelling at him. That, I told myself, cannot happen. I need to keep it under control. . .I'm the boss here, remember? He's watching how I act. I need to figure out how I want to deal with his anger—and mine. . .
This book presents a thorough overview of a model of human functioning based on the idea that behavior is goal-directed and regulated by feedback control processes. It describes feedback processes and their application to behavior, considers goals and the idea that goals are organized hierarchically, examines affect as deriving from a different kind of feedback process, and analyzes how success expectancies influence whether people keep trying to attain goals or disengage. Later sections consider a series of emerging themes, including dynamic systems as a model for shifting among goals, catastrophe theory as a model for persistence, and the question of whether behavior is controlled or instead 'emerges'. Three chapters consider the implications of these various ideas for understanding maladaptive behavior, and the closing chapter asks whether goals are a necessity of life. Throughout, theory is presented in the context of diverse issues that link the theory to other literatures.
Psychosocial stressors at work represent a ubiquitous and multifaceted phenomenon (Lazarus, 1993); several theoretical frameworks predict that they affect employee attitudes and behaviors (Jex & Crossley 2005). Most past meta-analytical reviews of these relationships focused only on the linkages of role conflict and role ambiguity with job performance, none of them related to unpublished studies, and each included only a relatively small number of samples, casting doubt on their findings regarding the effect of possible moderators (e.g., Abramis, 1994, n = 18 for role ambiguity only; Fisher & Gitelson, 1983, n = 25, 22; Jackson & Schuler, 1985, n = 37, 24; Tubre & Collins, 2000, n = 74, 54 for the meta correlations of performance with role ambiguity and role conflict, respectively). All previous meta-analytical reviews found that a substantial amount of the variance in the corrected stressor-performance correlations remained unexplained and urged future researchers to identify variables that moderate this relationship (e.g., Tubre & Collins, 2000, p. 166).
Self-determination theory maintains and has provided empirical support for the proposition that all human beings have fundamental psychological needs to be competent, autonomous, and related to others. Satisfaction of these basic needs facilitates people's autonomous motivation (i.e., acting with a sense of full endorsement and volition), whereas thwarting the needs promotes controlled motivation (i.e., feeling pressured to behave in particular ways) or being amotivated (i.e., lacking intentionality). Satisfying these basic needs and acting autonomously have been consistently shown to be associated with psychological health and effective performance. Social contexts within which people operate, however proximal (e.g., a family or workgroup) or distal (e.g., a cultural value or economic system), affect their need satisfaction and type of motivation, thus affecting their wellness and effectiveness. Social contexts also affect whether people's life goals or aspirations tend to be more intrinsic or more extrinsic, and that in turn affects important life outcomes.
The question of how affect arises and what affect indicates is examined from a feedback-based viewpoint on self-regulation. Using the analogy of action control as the attempt to diminish distance to a goal, a second feedback system is postulated that senses and regulates the rate at which the action-guiding system is functioning. This second system is seen as responsible for affect. Implications of these assertions and issues that arise from them are addressed in the remainder of the article. Several issues relate to the emotion model itself; others concern the relation between negative emotion and disengagement from goals. Relations to 3 other emotion theories are also addressed. The authors conclude that this view on affect is a useful supplement to other theories and that the concept of emotion is easily assimilated to feedback models of self-regulation.
We present a conceptual framework specifying the hypothesized influences of situational constraints on work outcomes and individual difference to work outcome associations. In addition to reviewing the relevant literature and discussing the implications for researchers and practitioners, we suggest a systematic program of needed research.
Employees with a desire to help others provide benefits to their organization, clients, and fellow workers, but what do they get in return? We argue that the prosocial desire to help others is a basic human goal that matters to an individual’s happiness. We employ both longitudinal and cross-sectional data to demonstrate that work-related prosocial motivation is associated with higher subjective well-being, both in terms of current happiness and life satisfaction later in life. Cross-sectional data also suggest that perceived social impact (the belief that one’s job is making a difference) is even more important for happiness than the prosocial desire to help. The results show that the relationship between prosocial motivation and happiness is not limited to government employees, suggesting that in this aspect of altruistic behavior, public and private employees are not so different.
Although both researchers and practitioners know that an employee’s performance varies over time within a job, this within-person performance variability is not well understood and in fact is often treated as error. In the current paper, we first identify the importance of a within-person approach to job performance and then review several extant theories of within-person performance variability that, despite vastly different foci, converge on the contention that job performance is dynamic rather than static. We compare and contrast the theories along several common metrics and thereby facilitate a discussion of commonalities, differences, and theory elaboration. In so doing, we identify important future research questions on within-person performance variability and methodological challenges in addressing these research questions. Finally, we highlight how the conventional practical implications articulated on the basis of a static, between-person perspective on job performance may need to be modified to account for the dynamic, within-person nature of performance.
In this essay we argue for a more person-centric direction for research in industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology. We argue that the prevailing paradigm within I–O treats workers as objects and in so doing limits the ability to develop a deep and continued understanding of the important ways in which humans relate to work. In response, we think there is a need for a more coherent focus on the worker and on the subjective experience of working. After describing the current paradigm we suggest an alternative—a person-centric work psychology that takes the worker as its focus and worker experience as a topic of study.
While research on affect in organizations has flourished, affect has tended to be approached in a piecemeal or asymmetrical fashion. Traditionally, researchers have focused on potential benefits of positive affect or potential downsides of negative affect. This paper suggests that both positive and negative affect are functional and adaptive and should be considered in tandem or from a dual-tuning perspective (George & Zhou, 2007). Positive and negative emotions are automatically and adaptively triggered in response to stimuli that have implications for well-being. Evolutionary psychology, the social-functionalist perspective, the nature of organizing, antecedents of emotions, emotional ambivalence, and the positivity offset and negativity bias all suggest that positive and negative emotions should be considered from a dual-tuning perspective. The effects of positive and negative mood on cognitive processes, motivation, and effort support a dual-tuning approach to mood. Implications of a dual-tuning approach for understanding affect in organizations are discussed.
The major prediction in the present investigation was that increases in goal dificulty would be associated with increases in task performance only in the absence of severe situational constraints. In order to test this and associated predictions, a laboratory study was conducted using a 2 (facilitating versus inhibiting task settings) x 3 (low versus moderate versus high goal levels) experimental design. Results supported the constraint x goal difficulty interaction prediction using a measure of self-set personal goals and tended to do so using the manipulated goal difficulty level. In addition, situational constraints were found to be significantly associated with the performance and affective outcome variables and self-set goal level was found to be significantly associated with performance. These results are discussed with regard to both the goal setting and situational constraint literatures.
When does giving lead to happiness? Here, we present two studies demonstrating that the emotional benefits of spending money on others (prosocial spending) are unleashed when givers are aware of their positive impact. In Study 1, an experiment using real charitable appeals, giving more money to charity led to higher levels of happiness only when participants gave to causes that explained how these funds are used to make a difference in the life of a recipient. In Study 2, participants were asked to reflect upon a time they spent money on themselves or on others in a way that either had a positive impact or had no impact. Participants who recalled a time they spent on others that had a positive impact were happiest. Together, these results suggest that highlighting the impact of prosocial spending can increase the emotional rewards of giving.