Improving Employees' Goal Commitment: The Contribution of Perceived Organizational Support

I carried out a study with 355 employees of a social welfare agency to investigate the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS), involving employees’ perceptions of positive valuation by the organization and goal commitment. I found that POS was positively related to employees’ commitment to assigned work goals which, in turn, was associated with increased in-role and extra-role performance. The relationship between POS and goal commitment was mediated by organizational identification and self-efficacy. Moreover, the relationships between POS and both organizational identification and self-efficacy were enhanced when employees perceived that their organization was highly competent in fulfilling its objectives. Thus, POS may serve as an important contextual factor contributing to employees’ commitment to a variety of work goals.Psychology, Department o

Effects of ethical leadership on emotional exhaustion in high moral intensity situations

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Emotional exhaustion is a threat to standard operations, particularly in organizations in which physical safety is at risk. High moral intensity is inherent in such organizations due to the magnitude of consequences associated with ethical/unethical conduct. The authors proposed a psychological process in which ethical leadership affects emotional exhaustion directly and indirectly through team cohesion. As military operational contexts typically are (or frequently have the potential to become) high moral intensity situations, the authors tested their model among 338 military personnel deployed in combat zones. They found that: (1) team cohesion partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion, and (2) this psychological process of direct and indirect effects of ethical leadership did not hold among individuals approaching the low end of conscientiousness

Do entrepreneurs mistreat probationary employees? The mediating role of perceived ethical climate and moderating roles of core job characteristics

Purpose: Recent high-profile ethical scandals in start-up organizations have made people wonder whether entrepreneurship may cultivate a work environment with less emphasis on ethics. This study examined a psychological process about how an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can affect its treatment of probationary employees, a vulnerable yet understudied group of workers. Design/methodology/approach: The authors recruited 241 participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk. They answered an online survey about their experiences as probationary employees. Findings: This study found that job feedback and meaning moderated the relationship between EO and ethical climate, such that this relationship was statistically significant and positive only among participants who reported high levels of feedback and job meaning. Ethical climate, in turn, was found to be related to a reduction in workplace incivility experienced by probationary employees. The indirect effect of EO on incivility via ethical climate was contingent on job feedback and meaning. Research limitations/implications: This study extends the discussion on the entrepreneurial context, adds to EO literature with findings on its indirect effect on nonfinancial performance and reinforces institutional theory through job characteristics’ moderating roles. However, a methodological limitation is conducting a cross-sectional single-source survey due to limited access to firms and probationary employees, considering the hidden population involved. Practical implications: This study found no evidence of probationary employee exploitation in high EO organizations. Job seekers should embrace probationary work at start-ups. Entrepreneurial leaders should balance being proactive, innovative and caring toward employees. Originality/value: It is debatable whether entrepreneurship leads to unethical organizational conduct. By studying a vulnerable group of employees, the authors discovered that EO, when paired with favorable job design factors, can create a more ethical workplace where temporary talents are treated with dignity and respect

Applying Computer-aided Textual Analysis to Understand Employee Recruitment in Start-up

New ventures may be at a disadvantaged position regarding talent attraction due to reasons such as a less established reputation and job seekers’ perceived uncertainty regarding their career trajectory. Employment webpages and job postings are common places where start-up organizations can convey an attractive organizational image in a textual format to job seekers. However, little is known about whether such textual information reflects the actual experience of employees or the effectiveness of such textual information in attracting talent. In this study, we collected texts related to organizational culture, employee benefits, and diversity statements from the websites of 142 new ventures featured in the Forbes 2022 and 2023 lists of AI50 and Fintech 50. We first used computer-aided text analysis (CATA) in R to analyze the organizational culture/value text on their recruitment web page and scored the startups regarding entrepreneurial orientation. We used a web scraper to download employee ratings of each company from Glassdoor.com, where employees rated their employer regarding positive business outlook and specific aspects such as career opportunities. Multiple regression results indicated that entrepreneurial orientation, senior management, and career opportunity scores were positively related to positive business outlook ratings from Glassdoor. We also conducted exploratory text analysis using R to create a visual representation of our data. To test the effectiveness of using texts to increase organizational attraction, we will conduct an online experiment with real job seekers recruited from Prolific. Specifically, we will manipulate textual elements in a recruitment webpage (e.g., types of employee benefits, deep vs surface-level diversity statements, and types of culture/value statements) and test whether the inclusion of certain texts can enhance job seekers’ attraction to the organization and intention to apply for the job. Our findings will have important practical implications for job seekers and talent recruitment strategies in the start-up scene

Factors that Affect Perceptions of Gig-Workers

According to Pew Research Center, 16% Americans have earned money on online gig platforms such as Uber or TaskRabbit at some point. However, research on how consumers select gig workers is still mostly underexplored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential impact of a gig worker’s gender and self-presentation in their profile picture on consumer perceptions and choices. Specifically, we propose that smiling and quality of profile picture in terms of professionalism positively influence consumers’ perceptions on the gig worker’s competence, trustworthiness, and the likelihood of hiring them for a task. We also propose that these two factors will interact with gender, such that the positive effect of smiling is greater for female than for male workers, and the positive effect of professionalism is greater for male than for female workers. Lastly, we hypothesize that gender bias exists on gig platforms, such that male and female gig workers are more likely to be selected for tasks that are stereotypically aligned with their traditional gender roles. We conducted a 2 (gender: male vs. female) x 2 (smile: smiling vs. neutral) x 2 (professionalism: professional headshot vs. selfie) between-subjects experiment on Qualtrics to test our hypotheses. Eight fake worker profiles were created with different profile pictures to reflect the experimental manipulation. Undergraduate psychology students took an online survey where they were randomized to view one of the eight worker profiles. Additionally, we created one more worker profile that showed a smiling male in a professional headshot, which served as a comparison in each condition. We are currently in the process of data collection, which will be completed by December 2022. Data analyses will be completed by March 2023. Our findings will provide practical implications to gig workers regarding how to enhance their chance of being selected

The Contribution of Psychological Resilience and Job Meaningfulness to Well-being of Working Cancer Survivors

Background: Although studies suggest that cancer survivors face workplace obstacles, to date there has been little empirical research regarding the personal and environmental factors that can help cancer survivors adjust to work. The purpose of this study was to examine how working survivors’ resilience and job meaningfulness were related to their well-being outcomes, including lower cancer-related intrusive thoughts, fatigue, and presenteeism. Methods: We recruited 200 full-time employed cancer survivors from online participant panels using Qualtrics. Participants responded to an online survey that measured their resilience, job meaningfulness, job-related psychological distress, and well-being outcomes. We conducted descriptive statistical analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and moderated mediated analysis to examine the psychological process in which resilience and job meaning are associated with cancer survivors’ mental health and work outcomes. Findings: The relationship between cancer survivors’ resilience and their well-being outcomes depended on job meaningfulness. For survivors whose jobs were not highly meaningful, their resilience was related to reduced job-related psychological distress, which, in turn, was related to lower intrusive thoughts, fatigue, and presenteeism. For survivors with highly meaningful jobs, they did not need to rely on resilience to protect them from workplace psychological distress and other negative outcomes. Conclusion/Application to Practice: It is important for working cancer survivors to develop resilience, especially when they do not perceive their work as highly meaningful. Successful resilience-building interventions can buffer the negative impact of low job meaningfulness and help working survivors achieve better outcomes. In addition, organizations can actively help enrich survivors’ jobs to increase perceived meaningfulness

Mobile applications for encouraging blood donation: A systematic review and case study

Objectives Given the current shortage of blood donors in the USA, researchers have tried to identify different strategies to attract more young people and spread the voice of donors’ needs. Methods A systematic literature review is conducted to investigate the current mobile applications used to track, attract, and retain donors. We also provide some preliminary results of a pilot study, based on a cross-sectional survey of 952 participants (aged 18 to 39), about the willingness of donors to use mobile apps as tools for encouraging blood donation. The data is collected using a 20-item questionnaire, which includes four constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior to assess the respondents’ willingness to donate blood. A range of statistical techniques, including univariate analysis, multivariate analysis, and structural equation modeling, were utilized to analyze the collected data. Results The 37 research articles, selected after applying several exclusion criteria, are classified into five main categories. The majority of the research (44.1%) is about using mobile apps to find blood donors and blood centers, followed by publications on using mobile apps to encourage blood donation (26.4%) and to recruit blood donors (14.7%). The remaining studies are about retaining blood donors (8.8%) and using mobile apps for scheduling donations (5.8%). Our pilot case study suggests that 73% of participants have favorable perceptions toward a blood donation mobile app. Conclusions Many efforts have been undertaken to employ mobile apps to make blood donations more convenient and create communities around donating blood. The case study findings suggest a high level of readiness of using mobile apps for blood donation among the younger generation

Thinking of how you think of me: working cancer survivors\u27 metaperceptions of competence and why they matter

Purpose: Cancer-related stigma is a troubling challenge faced by working cancer survivors and organizations aiming to promote inclusive work environments. Research suggests that a harmful stereotype faced by cancer survivors is that the cancer survivors are low in competence. Leveraging the concept of the looking glass self and social cognitive theory, the authors develop a theoretical model about psychological processes through which cancer survivors\u27 competence metaperceptions are related to work outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The authors recruited 200 working cancer survivors from online research panels and empirically test a theoretical model on how cancer survivors\u27 metaperceptions of competence are related to the survivors\u27 turnover intention and vigor at work. The authors additionally conducted an experimental vignette study among a sample of 133 students to examine confounds concerning causal order. Findings: The authors found that favorable competence metaperceptions were related to decreased turnover intentions and increased vigor through cancer survivors\u27 enhanced self-efficacy, especially for survivors high in need for emotional support. Practical implications: This study suggests that inclusive organizations should pay attention to employees with cancer histories as a hidden disadvantaged group. To protect and motivate working cancer survivors, managers need to create a positive socio-cognitive working environment where cancer survivors are respected and valued. Originality/value: By examining cancer survivors\u27 metaperceptions and showing that survivors may internalize others\u27 stereotype about individuals with a history of cancer, the authors advance the understanding about cancer survivors\u27 return-to-work challenges