The Motivational Effects of Work Characteristics Need-Supply Fit on Active Employees Behaviors

Work design theory and research suggests that increasing the supply of work characteristics increases employee motivation. This perspective is limited because it fails to recognize the role of individual preferences for work characteristics. To qualify and expand this more is better perspective, I draw upon person-job fit theory to propose an interactionist model, suggesting that the effects of work characteristics on employee motivation is best understood when considering the joint effects of work characteristics supply and employee preferences. I first suggest that task characteristics congruence, knowledge characteristics congruence, and social characteristics congruence are positively related to psychological empowerment and negatively related to psychological strain and that these relationships are stronger at high levels of the work characteristics as opposed to low levels of the work characteristics. Second, I suggest that the relationship between task, knowledge, and social characteristics oversupply is non-linear, whereby psychological empowerment will increase at modest levels of oversupply and will decrease at excessive levels of oversupply, and psychological strain will decrease at modest levels of oversupply and will increase at excessive levels of oversupply. Third, I suggest that task, knowledge, and social characteristics undersupply is negatively related to psychological empowerment and positively related to psychological strain. Fourth, I suggest that task characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to proactive performance behaviors, knowledge characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to innovative behaviors, and social characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to interpersonal citizenship behaviors, through psychological empowerment. Fifth, I suggest that undersupply of work characteristics is related to a reduction in active employee performance behaviors and an increase in job crafting behavior through manifestations of psychological strain. In total, this dissertation seeks to contribute to work design theory and person-environment fit theory by illustrating that active employee behaviors depend upon the joint effects of individuals and organizations and that work characteristics congruence motivates active employee behaviors.Ph.D., Organizational Behavior -- Drexel University, 201

The effect of mindfulness and job demands on motivation and performance trajectories across the workweek: an entrainment theory perspective

Employee performance is commonly investigated as a static, one-time snapshot of prior employee behaviors. For the studies that do acknowledge that performance fluctuates over time, the timeframe decision is disconnected from theoretical underpinnings. To make this connection clearer, we draw on entrainment theory and investigate trajectories in motivation and performance across the 5-day workweek. We hypothesize that both motivational control (i.e., staying on course and sustaining effort in pursuit of goals through the redirection of attention) and performance have a declining trajectory across the workweek. Drawing on self-determination theory, we also hypothesize that trait-based mindfulness (i.e., nonjudgmental present moment attention and awareness) negatively relates to the downward trajectory in performance across the workweek via its effect on the trajectory of motivational control. Finally, we take a trait activation theory perspective, hypothesizing that mindfulness is relevant as an indirect influence on performance trajectories through motivational control trajectories only when job demands are high. We test our model using 151 full-time employees in a medical device company. We collected data from participants twice daily across the 5-day workweek. We then use these daily scores to create between-person (e.g., person-centric) trajectories to investigate the proposed relationships. The hypotheses are generally supported. There is a downward trajectory of both motivational control and performance across the workweek. Furthermore, job demands conditionally moderate the indirect effect of mindfulness on performance trajectories through motivational control trajectories. Theoretical and practical implications specific to dynamic motivation and performance, entrainment, and mindfulness literature are discussed

Supervisor-subordinate proactive personality congruence and psychological safety: A signaling theory approach to employee voice behavior

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.03.001Building on person-supervisor fit and signaling theory, this study explores the joint effects (i.e., congruence) of supervisor and subordinate proactive personality on subordinate voice behavior through subordinate perceived psychological safety. We examined our hypotheses using cross-level polynomial regressions and response surface analyses. The results indicated that supervisor-subordinate congruence in proactive personality led to higher levels of subordinate perceived psychological safety. Additionally, subordinates in the congruent dyads with high proactive personalities perceived higher levels of psychological safety than those in the congruent dyads with low proactive personalities. Furthermore, supervisor-subordinate congruence in proactive personality had an indirect effect on voice via subordinate perceived psychological safety. Theoretical implications for proactive personality, voice, and person-supervisor fit literatures are discussed. This study highlights that organizations should focus more on creating conditions, perhaps through supervisor-focused changes, that engender psycho- logical safety as opposed to focusing attention exclusively on proactive traits exhibited by eThis research was supported by a grant funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10901010), awarded to Dr. Minya Xu, and grants funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71872190 and 71502179), Guangdong Province Higher Vocational Colleges & Schools Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2018), and a Fulbright Scholarship sponsored by the U.S. government, awarded to Dr. Xin Qin. This research also received support from Center for Statistical Science in Peking University, and Key Laboratory of Mathematical Economics and Quantitative Finance (Peking University), Ministry of Education, China.This research was supported by a grant funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10901010), awarded to Dr. Minya Xu, and grants funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71872190 and 71502179), Guangdong Province Higher Vocational Colleges & Schools Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2018), and a Fulbright Scholarship sponsored by the U.S. government, awarded to Dr. Xin Qin. This research also received support from Center for Statistical Science in Peking University, and Key Laboratory of Mathematical Economics and Quantitative Finance (Peking University), Ministry of Education, China

Negative Creativity in Leader-Follower Relations: a Daily Investigation of Leaders’ Creative Mindset, Moral Disengagement, and Abusive Supervision

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-019-09646-7Contributing to abusive supervision, creative leadership, and negative creativity research, we examine how and when leaders’ creative mindset relates to interpersonal aggression toward followers in the form of abusive supervision. Drawing upon moral disengagement theory, we theorize that leaders’ daily creative mindset positively relates to daily episodes of abusive supervision via state-based moral disengagement. Furthermore, we propose that trait-based moral disengagement moderates this indirect process such that low trait-based moral disengagement diminishes this effect. We found support for our hypotheses using a longitudinal study with a daily data collection over a 2-week period (Study 1) and an experimental study (Study 2). Our findings reveal the potential perils of leader creativity in leader-follower contexts and the importance of considering the moral disengagement process.This research was supported by grants funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71872190 and 71502179), Guangdong Province Higher Vocational Colleges and Schools Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2018), and a Fulbright Scholarship sponsored by the U.S. government, awarded to Xin Qin, and grants by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71402164, 71732008, and 71772160), awarded to Song Wang

Leader-follower risk orientation incongruence, intellectual stimulation, and creativity: a configurational approach

Prior work suggests that follower and leader risk orientation is positively associated with follower creativity. We suggest that this view is oversimplified and propose that follower creativity can be stimulated when leader and follower have diverging risk orientations. We, therefore, apply a configurational approach to creativity, evaluating varying combinations of leader and follower risk orientation on follower creativity. Across two field studies, we demonstrate that: (a) follower creativity increases as leaders’ and followers’ risk orientations become more discrepant (i.e., incongruent); (b) follower creativity is higher when leader- follower dyads are congruent at moderate levels of risk orientation compared to congruence at the extremes (i.e., low and high levels); (c) follower experienced intellectual stimulation mediates the relationship between leader-follower risk-orientation incongruence and congruence and follower creativity; and (d) that leader authority openness moderates the indirect effect of leader-follower risk orientation incongruence on creativity via follower experienced intellectual stimulation. Theoretical and practical implications specific to creativity and leader-follower relationships are discussed