A Study of the Effectiveness of Training Proactive Thinking¹

Abstract

Recent studies have consistently demonstrated the significant positive impact that proactive thinking has on job performance, while assuming proactivity to be a relatively stable, dispositional trait (cf. Ashford & Black, 1996; Crant, 1995; Morrison, 1993; Seibert, Crant, & Kraimer, 1999). This study, on the other hand, seeks to determine if proactivity can be increased in participants through training. This study uses a 4‐month long longitudinal pretest/posttest design to assess the relationship between proactive thinking and performance in the classroom. In the study, 177 subjects were split into 2 treatment groups. One group received training in proactive thinking skills, while the other did not. The results of the study confirm that proactive thinking does have a significant impact on student performance over and above other personality and performance variables. Most importantly, this study also demonstrates that proactivity is not stable over time, but can be increased through training.

Factors Associated with Entrepreneurial Intentions in Doctor of Pharmacy Students

“…56 The mean proactive disposition score of male PharmD students (7.5) was comparable to the mean adjusted 1 score of 7.5 found in engineering and business graduates, 57 and the mean adjusted proactive disposition score of 7.7 found in undergraduate business students. 58 This suggests pharmacy students are comparable to other students on proactive disposition.…”

Workplace bullying after whistleblowing: future research and implications

“…One approach that has been applied in other fields is proactivity learning and training (Kirby, Kirby, & Lewis, 2002). In relation to whistleblowing, this may include raising awareness about the phenomenon of whistleblowing (see e.g., Matthiesen & Bjørkelo, 2011, p. 171 Grant, et al, 2009).…”

Estudo de Validação do Questionário de Coping Conjugal Prospetivo e do seu Valor Preditivo no Bem-estar Pessoal e no Ajustamento Diádico

“…Alterar estas competências parece mais eficaz do que agir diretamente sobre o coping proativo, podendo eventualmente levar ao mesmo resultado. Nos últimos anos, foram já desenvolvidas intervenções para promoção das competências proativas no envelhecimento (Bode, Ridder, Kuijer, & Bensing, 2007) e para promover a personalidade proativa no desempenho académico (Kirby, Kirby, & Lewis, 2002). Existem, segundo os autores, muitos outros contextos a ser explorados, como é o caso do sucesso nas relações conjugais, podendo beneficiar amplamente de intervenções semelhantes (Sohl & Moyer, 2009).…”