Enhancing a Sense of Competence at Work by Engaging in Proactive Behavior: The Role of Proactive Personality

Wu, Chia‐Huei; Deng, Hong; Li, Yuhui

doi:10.1007/s10902-016-9827-9

Cited by 30 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Third, we included all measures in a single CFA to examine whether the measures of proactivity (Time 1), external motivation (Time 1), irritability and rumination (Time 1 and Time 2), and withdrawal behaviours (Time 2 and Time 3) captured distinctive factors. Error variances of the same items assessed at different times were allowed to correlate, to differentiate between common item‐specific variance from the relationships resulting from the stability of the construct (Dalbert, ; Wu, Deng, & Li, ). The fit indices for this model were as follows; χ 2 (989) = 1,437.315, p < .01, CFI = .94, RMSEA = .04, and SRMR = .08.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A resources perspective on when and how proactive work behaviour leads to employee withdrawal

Pingel

Fay

Urbach

2019

J Occupat & Organ Psyc

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Previous organizational behaviour research has mainly focused on the benefits of proactivity while disregarding its possible drawbacks. The present study examines the ways in which proactive behaviour may foster counterproductive behaviour through increased emotional and cognitive strain. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we propose that proactive behaviour is a resource‐consuming activity that causes irritability and work‐related rumination, which, in turn, leads to instrumentally driven employee withdrawal. Further, we hypothesize that external motivation towards proactivity amplifies its strain‐eliciting effects. We conducted a longitudinal three‐wave questionnaire study (N = 231) and tested hypotheses using an autoregressive, time‐lagged model with latent variables. Results showed that when external motivation for proactivity was high, proactivity led to increased irritability and rumination; irritability was, in turn, related to higher levels of withdrawal. The moderated mediation analysis revealed that when external motivation towards proactive behaviour was high, proactive behaviour had an indirect effect on withdrawal behaviour via irritability. The direct effect of proactivity on work‐related rumination was in the expected direction, but failed to reach conventional levels of significance (β = .09, p = .08). Our results indicate that proactivity is not without costs, most clearly if motivated by external reasons. Practitioner points Managers should be cautious about the ways they promote employees’ proactivity because our research shows that proactive behaviours that are motivated by a desire of external rewards, or an avoidance of negative consequences, might have detrimental effects on employees’ psychological well‐being. Organizations should be aware that using rewards and punishments for motivating employees’ proactivity might not only backfire on employees’ well‐being, but also lead to increased counterproductive work behaviours in terms of withdrawal.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A resources perspective on when and how proactive work behaviour leads to employee withdrawal

Pingel

Fay

Urbach

2019

J Occupat & Organ Psyc

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“…Scholars have suggested that PWBs can have both positive and negative effects for proactive individuals’ well-being (for an overview, see Cangiano & Parker, 2016). On the positive side, research supports that PWB may enhance well-being through fostering feelings of vitality (Cangiano et al, 2019) and competence need satisfaction (Cangiano et al, 2019; Weigelt et al, 2019; Wu et al, 2018). On the negative side, studies report that PWB is positively related to job strain (Strauss et al, 2017), daily cortisol levels (Fay & Hüttges, 2017) and depletion (Lin & Johnson, 2015), long-term emotional exhaustion (Zacher et al, 2019), and—when motivated externally—withdrawal behaviors (Pingel et al, 2019).…”

Section: A Followership Perspective On Culture and Pwbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural variations in whether, why, how, and at what cost people are proactive: A followership perspective

Urbach

Hartog²,

Fay

et al. 2020

Organizational Psychology Review

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The objective of this conceptual article is to illustrate how differences in societal culture may affect employees’ proactive work behaviors (PWBs) and to develop a research agenda to guide future research on cross-cultural differences in PWBs. We propose that the societal cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism–collectivism, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance shape individuals’ implicit followership theories (IFTs). We discuss how these cross-cultural differences in individuals’ IFTs relate to differences in the mean-level of PWB individuals show ( whether), in the motivational states driving individuals’ PWBs ( why), in the way individuals’ enact PWBs ( how), and in the evaluation of PWBs by others ( at what cost). We recommend how future research can extend this theorizing and unpack the proposed cross-cultural differences in PWBs, for example, by exploring how culture and other contextual variables interact to affect PWBs.

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“… Na and Choi (2010) showed that nurse competence was positively correlated with job satisfaction and nursing performance; it also affected job satisfaction and nursing performance. Research indicated that proactive people could enhance their sense of competence and job performance ( Gardner et al, 2011 ; Lin et al, 2014 ; Wei et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship Between Proactive Personality and Job Performance of Chinese Nurses: The Mediating Role of Competency and Work Engagement

Zhao

Gao

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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Background: As one of the main participants in health care, nurses are esteemed an important driving force for the vigorous health care development. Studies report that nurses’ proactive personality has positive effects on their job performance; however, this relationship acquires further understanding.Objective: A cross-sectional study was performed to explore the relationship between nurses’ proactive personality and job performance; the mediating role of nurses’ competency and work engagement in this relationship was also evaluated.Methods: The study was performed in a large third-degree general hospital in October 2019, Xi’an, PR, China. A sample of 246 nurses participated in this cross-sectional study. Proactive personality was assessed with the Proactive Personality Questionnaire (PPS), job performance was assessed by Heilman three-item measurements, nurse competence was estimated with Nurse Competency Scale (NCS), and work engagement was assessed with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The structural equation model was used to test the main hypotheses.Results: Structural equation model analysis revealed that work engagement partially mediated the association between proactive personality and job performance. The serial two-mediator model which was used to explore the association between proactive personality and job performance through competency and work engagement, in sequence, was demonstrated.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that work engagement partially mediated the association between nurses’ proactive personality and their job performance. The serial two-mediator model demonstrated that proactive personality was associated with job performance via competency and work engagement. This study also revealed the critical role of nursing managers in understanding the nurses’ proactive personality, which would facilitate them to enhance the latter’s competency and promote their work engagement. All these will in turn constantly improve the overall quality of nursing and advance professional development of nursing and benefits for patients.

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Enhancing a Sense of Competence at Work by Engaging in Proactive Behavior: The Role of Proactive Personality

Cited by 30 publications

References 61 publications

A resources perspective on when and how proactive work behaviour leads to employee withdrawal

A resources perspective on when and how proactive work behaviour leads to employee withdrawal

Cultural variations in whether, why, how, and at what cost people are proactive: A followership perspective

Relationship Between Proactive Personality and Job Performance of Chinese Nurses: The Mediating Role of Competency and Work Engagement

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