Abstract

Given the critical role of leaders in managing employees' goal-setting, we theorized and examined how leader proactive goal regulation facilitates employee proactive goal processes and outcomes. Based on a sample of 74 leaders and 371 employees who work in research and development groups, we found that employees' three motivational states-role breadth self-efficacy, psychological ownership, and activated positive affect-were positively associated with job performance via employee proactive goal regulation. In addition, the effects of leader proactive goal regulation on this mediation model were twofold. First, there was a direct effect on employee proactive goal regulation, which, in turn, positively related to job performance. Second, there was a moderating effect of leader proactive goal regulation such that employees delivered high job performance when their leaders were high in proactive goal regulation, regardless of employees' own levels of proactive goal regulation. This study highlights the importance of not only employee but also leader proactive goal regulation in connecting employees' proactive motivational states with job performance.

Keyword

activated positive affect ;  employee proactivity ;  job performance ;  proactive goal regulation ;  psychological ownership ;  role breadth self-efficacy

Abstract

Based on a sample of 74 leaders and 371 employees of research and development teams, we find that employees’ role breadth self- efficacy, psychological ownership, and activated positive affect positively related to job performance through employee proactive goal regulation. Moreover, leader proactive goal regulation played two roles: (a) it had a direct effect on employee proactive goal regulation, which positively related to job performance, and (b) it supplemented employee proactive goal regulation such that employees delivered high job performance when leaders were high in proactive goal regulation, regardless of employees’ levels of proactive goal regulation. Our study highlights the importance of not only employee but also leader proactive goal regulation in connecting employees’ proactive motivational states with job performance."

Keyword

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to test whether self-verification striving serves as an individual difference antecedent of emotional labor and explore whether various emotional labor tactics acted as mediatingmechanisms through which self-verification striving relates to employee outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - The sample used in this paper consisted of supervisor-subordinate dyads working in six hotels in South Korea and used multi-level analyses and the Monte Carlo method to test the research hypotheses presented in this paper. Findings - Self-verification striving was positively and directly related to job performance as well as two out of three forms of emotional labor (i.e. the expression of naturally felt emotions and deep acting). Selfverification striving also indirectly related to job satisfaction through the expression of naturally felt emotions and indirectly related to job performance through deep acting. Practical implications - The findings of this paper suggest that organizations should consider selfverification striving as an employment selection criterion and provide training programs to help their customer service employees engage in appropriate types of emotional labor. Originality/value - This paper is the first to explore the underlying mechanisms through which selfverification striving relates to employee outcomes. It also empirically bolsters the notion that expressing naturally felt emotions is an important means of authentic self-expression that positively contributes to job satisfaction. Further, the authors found that self-verification striving positively relates to job performance partially through deep acting. Moreover, they have shown that self-verification striving, as an individual differences variable, is an antecedent of different types of emotional labor.

Keyword

Emotional labor ;  Job performance ;  Job satisfaction ;  Self-verification striving

Abstract

Adopting a motivational perspective on creativity, we theorized when and how perceived cognitive diversity in teams was associated with creativity by focusing on the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and the moderating role of learning orientation. We further expanded our contribution by examining these relationships at both the individual and team levels. We used a sample of 382 Chinese employee-supervisor pairs nested within 106 teams to test our hypotheses. The results revealed that, at both the individual and team levels, learning goal orientation significantly moderated the positive association between perceived cognitive diversity and intrinsic motivation such that the latter relationship became stronger as learning goal orientation increased. Furthermore, our findings confirmed that learning goal orientation enhanced the indirect positive relationship between perceived cognitive diversity and creativity through intrinsic motivation.

Keyword

creativity ;  intrinsic motivation ;  learning goal orientation ;  perceived cognitive diversity

Abstract

We developed and tested a research model in which employee well-being human resource (HR) attribution differentially influences the intention to change jobs across organizations (i.e., external job change intention) versus that within the same organization (i.e., internal job change intention). Furthermore, we posited that task idiosyncratic deals (I-deals) moderated the relationships between employee well-being HR attribution and external and internal job change intentions. Results indicated that employee well-being HR attribution was negatively related to external job change intention, but positively related to internal job change intention. Further, task I-deals significantly moderated the relationships between employee well-being HR attribution and external and internal job change intention. Specifically, employee well-being HR attribution played a less important role in reducing external job change intention when task I-deals were high rather than low. On the other hand, high task I-deals significantly strengthened the positive relationship between employee well-being HR attribution and internal job change intention. Our study extends the careers literature by differentiating the impact of employee well-being HR attribution on job change intentions within an organization compared with that across organizations and the important role of supervisors in enhancing or mitigating these effects.

Keyword

employee well-being HR attribution ;  external job change intention ;  internal job change intention ;  task idiosyncratic deals

Abstract

Although we know that individuals who tend to reveal their true selves to others at work are better performers, little is known about why this is the case or in which workplace environments this trait will be most helpful. In the present study, we leveraged self-verification theory to better understand the internal and interpersonal effects that self-verification striving has on employees. Specifically, we proposed and found that self-verification striving serves to increase both employee vigor and demand-ability fit, ultimately leading to better job performance. Results of a multilevel, two-wave study involving 222 employees and their supervisors further revealed that ethical climates also play a critical role in affecting the self-verification striving-employee outcome relationship. Specifically, self-verification striving leads to higher vigor and better demand-ability fit and subsequently higher job performance only in teams with high ethical climates. Our results contribute to the literature by describing how and when self-verification striving may augment performance.

Keyword

Conservation of resource theory ;  demand-ability fit ;  ethical climate ;  job performance ;  self-verification striving ;  vigor

Abstract

How does diversity of social ties influence creativity? Moving beyond the information argument, we theorize creative self-efficacy as a motivational explanation for the relationship between diversity of social ties and creativity. We further posit tie strength as a boundary condition for this mechanism. We collected social ties data from 309 employees and creativity data from 98 direct supervisors. Results showed that diversity of social ties had a direct positive relationship with creative self-efficacy and an indirect positive relationship with employee creativity via creative self-efficacy. These direct and indirect relationships were fortified when tie strength was reinforced. We contribute to and advance theory development by identifying and testing creative self-efficacy as a motivational mechanism for diversity of social ties. We show the importance of diversity of social ties and tie strength and their synergistic role in the motivational process linking social ties to creativity.

Keyword

Diversity of social ties ;  explicit knowledge ;  intrinsic motivation ;  social learning ;  tacit knowledge ;  tie strength

Abstract

The field of organizational psychology is currently in what some scholars have referred to as an affective era (Judge, Weiss, Kammeyer-Mueller, & Hulin, 2017) and have called for examinations of discrete emotions at work. In response to these calls, the subject of gratitude has recently received attention in management research, but there is still little knowledge of the functions of gratitude in the workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this symposium is to provide understanding of gratitude in organizations by exploring its antecedents and outcomes. Specifically, this symposium demonstrates the many ways gratitude can enhance the employment experience for individuals and can foster inclusive organizations. This symposium consists of four papers that explore the significance of gratitude as it is felt and expressed between employees and their coworkers, supervisors, and organizations. Specifically, the first paper investigates the relative contribution of feelings of gratitude toward the organization in the employee-organization relationship as compared to alternative theoretical explanations. The second paper examines the influence of attributions on employee expressions of gratitude toward their supervisors. The third study examines which characteristics of work events lead employees to feel and express gratitude toward coworkers. Finally, the last paper explores the manifestation and functions of gratitude culture at multiple levels of analysis. Together, these papers advance understanding of the positive impact that gratitude can have on employees and their organizations. We believe that this symposium showcases the importance of gratitude in organizations and will motivate future research in this area.

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Abstract

This study examined how social comparison (i.e., comparing one's pay to similar others' pay) and deserved comparison (i.e., comparing one's pay to one's deserved pay) affect pay fairness perceptions, and the individual differences in the comparison processes. Results based on a field study with a sample of 167 employees showed pay fairness was low when employees received lower pay than a similar other (or what they deserved), increased as their pay exceeded that of a similar other (or deserved pay) to some extent, and then decreased when overpayment was considerable. Second, pay fairness increased as one's actual and similar others' pay levels both increased while pay fairness remained the same as one's actual and the deserved pay levels both increased. In addition, the “threshold” that people start to perceive overpayment as less fair occurred more quickly for those with higher preference for consistency in social comparison and for those with higher preference for the merit principle in deserved comparison. We also conducted experiments, and the results generally replicated the findings in the field study. These findings offer theoretical implications regarding organizational justice, as well as practical implications for designing and executing a compensation system.

Keyword

deserved comparison ;  pay fairness ;  preference for consistency ;  preference for the merit principle ;  social comparison

Abstract

This study examined how person–organization fit and friendship from coworkers combine to affect people’s self-verification, and how self-verification ultimately relates to employee outcomes (job performance and organizational citizenship behaviors). Based on a sample of 117 employee–supervisor pairs, multilevel analyses revealed a positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of person–organization fit and self-verification, and also showed that the relationship was facilitated by friendship from coworkers. Specifically, person–organization fit and self-verification perceptions were positively related when friendship from coworkers was high, but nonsignificant when friendship from coworkers was low. In addition, employees’ self-verification perceptions were positively and significantly associated with job performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Our research suggests that enhancing person–organization fit and promoting friendship from coworkers in the workplace organizations can satisfy the basic human impulse to feel self-verified, and thus enhance employees’ positive work behaviors.

Keyword

friendship from coworkers ;  job performance ;  organizational citizenship behaviors ;  person–organization fit ;  self-verification perceptions