Support from the top: Supervisors' perceived organizational support as a moderator of leader-member exchange to satisfaction and performance relationships.

The authors hypothesized that supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) would moderate the relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX), job satisfaction, and job performance. On the basis of social exchange theory, supervisors' exchanges with the organization and subordinates should be interconnected. The authors expected that supervisors with high POS would have more resources to exchange with subordinates. Thus, supervisor POS should enhance the relationships between LMX and job satisfaction and LMX and job performance for subordinates. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis provided support for the hypotheses in a sample of 210 subordinates and 38 supervisors of a grocery store chain. The positive relationship between LMX and job satisfaction was stronger when supervisors had high POS. Moreover, LMX was related to performance only when supervisors had high POS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Store manager performance and satisfaction: Effects on store employee performance and satisfaction, store customer satisfaction, and store customer spending growth.

Based on emotional contagion theory and the value–profit chain literatures, the present study posits a number of hypotheses that show how managers in the small store, small number of employees retail context may affect store employees, customers, and potentially store performance. With data from 306 store managers, 1,615 store customer-contact employees, and 57,656 customers of a single retail chain, the authors examined relationships among store manager job satisfaction and job performance, store customer-contact employee job satisfaction and job performance, customer satisfaction with the retailer, and a customer-spending-based store performance metric (customer spending growth over a 2-year period). Via path analysis, several hypothesized direct and interaction relations among these constructs are supported. The results suggest implications for academic researchers and retail managers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the effort-reward imbalance model among Finnish managers: The role of perceived organizational support.

The present study is aimed at examining the combined effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI), overcommitment (OVC), and perceived organizational support (POS) on turnover intentions and work engagement, among Finnish managers (n = 1,301). Consequently, the study contributes to the research literature by examining how the ERI-outcomes relationship was dependent simultaneously on OVC and POS. The results showed that ERI × OVC × POS interaction was significant only for turnover intentions. The ERI-turnover intentions relationship was strongest under conditions of high OVC and low POS. In addition, the relationship between ERI and decreased work engagement, especially dedication, was strengthened among overcommitted managers, compared to their less committed counterparts. Altogether, the results indicate that interventions aimed at reducing turnover intentions and increasing work engagement by increasing ERI should consider OVC and POS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overt Anger in Response to Victimization: Attributional Style and Organizational Norms as Moderators.

Prior theory and research suggests a positive relation between perceived victimization and overt anger. The authors proposed and tested a theoretical extension of this link by investigating possible moderating effects of individual and contextual variables. A sample of 158 employees of a municipality was used to test hypotheses that the relationship between perceived victimization and overt anger is moderated by hostile attributional style and perceptions of organizational norms. The results showed that the relation between perceptions of direct victimization and overt anger was stronger when the employee had a more rather than less hostile attributional style and when the employee perceived the organizational norms as more rather than less oppositional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Multilevel Effects of Occupational Stressors on Soldiers' Well-Being, Organizational Attachment, and Readiness.

The U.S. Army typifies the stressful nature of many contemporary work settings, as soldiers face a climate of increasing work demands coupled with declining resources. The authors used social identity theory to propose hypotheses regarding contextual and cross-level effects of shared stressors on individual outcomes critical to the functioning of military units (well-being, attachment, readiness). Although the authors found weak support for direct effects of shared stressors on individual outcomes, they found several compelling moderating effects for shared stressors on person-level stressor-outcome relationships. For most effects, shared stressors intensified the effects of person-level stressors on morale, commitment, and depression. However, some shared stressors exerted counterintuitive effects on stressor-outcome relationships. Implications for research and military personnel management are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can “good” stressors spark “bad” behaviors? The mediating role of emotions in links of challenge and hindrance stressors with citizenship and counterproductive behaviors.

The authors combined affective events theory (H. M. Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) and the transactional stress model (R. S. Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) to build and test a model specifying the dynamic, emotion-based relationships among challenge and hindrance stressors and citizenship and counterproductive behaviors. The study employed an experience sampling methodology. Results showed that challenge stressors had offsetting indirect links with citizenship behaviors through attentiveness and anxiety and a positive indirect effect on counterproductive behaviors through anxiety. Hindrance stressors had a negative indirect effect on citizenship behaviors through anxiety and a positive indirect effect on counterproductive behaviors through anxiety and anger. Finally, multilevel moderating effects showed that the relationship between hindrance stressors and anger varied according to employees’ levels of neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention.

Three studies investigated the relationships among employees' perception of supervisor support (PSS), perceived organizational support (POS), and employee turnover. Study 1 found, with 314 employees drawn from a variety of organizations, that PSS was positively related to temporal change in POS, suggesting that PSS leads to POS. Study 2 established, with 300 retail sales employees, that the PSS-POS relationship increased with perceived supervisor status in the organization. Study 3 found, with 493 retail sales employees, evidence consistent with the view that POS completely mediated a negative relationship between PSS and employee turnover. These studies suggest that supervisors, to the extent that they are identified with the organization, contribute to POS and, ultimately, to job retention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When supervisors feel supported: Relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance.

The authors surveyed full-time retail employees and their supervisors to investigate relationships of supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) with subordinates' perceptions of support from their supervisors (perceived supervisor support [PSS]), POS, and in-role and extra-role performance. The authors found that supervisors' POS was positively related to their subordinates' perceptions of supervisor support. Subordinates' PSS, in turn, was positively associated with their POS, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Beyond these bivariate relationships, subordinates' perceptions of support from the supervisor mediated positive relationships of the supervisors' POS with the subordinates' POS and performance. These findings suggest that supervisors who feel supported by the organization reciprocate with more supportive treatment for subordinates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of the pediatrician in the treatment of children with cleft lip and palate

The authors studied the relation between human central dopamine (DA) metabolism and the clinical effects of neuroleptics. The neuroleptic-induced increase in central DA turnover (an indicator for the degree of DA receptor blocking) was found to be positively correlated with the therapeutic effect of neuroleptics and the development of hypokinetic-rigid symptoms. This supplies a direct argument in support of the contention that DA antagonism is related to the occurrence of clinical effects. The authors also found indications that neuroleptics of different chemical types do not significantly differ in their intrinsic ability to provoke hypokinetic-rigid symptoms, that development of these symptoms depends on the patient's individual susceptibility, and that individual susceptibility is based on relatively low DA turnover.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder, anger, and partner abuse among Vietnam combat veterans.

The authors examined interrelationships among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, anger, and partner abuse perpetration among a sample of 60 combat veterans. Compared with PTSD-negative participants, PTSD-positive participants reported higher state anger across time and neutral and trauma prime conditions and higher anger reactivity during the trauma prime condition. PTSD-positive participants also exhibited more anger reactivity during the trauma prime than during the neutral condition. The same pattern of results was not found for anxiety reactivity during trauma memory activation. PTSD symptoms were associated with physical assault and psychological aggression perpetration, and trait anger mediated these relationships. Findings indicate a heightened anger response among PTSD-positive veterans and suggest the salience of dispositional components of anger in abuse perpetration in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are female managers quitters? The relationships of gender, promotions, and family leaves of absence to voluntary turnover.

This study examined the relationships of gender, promotions, and leaves of absence to voluntary turnover for 26,359 managers in a financial services organization. Using Cox regression analyses and controlling for human capital, the authors found that, contrary to their prediction, female managers' voluntary turnover rates were slightly lower than those of their male counterparts. Managers who had been promoted were less likely to resign than nonpromoted managers only if the promotion had occurred within the past 11 months, and promoted women were less likely to resign than promoted men. The authors also found that managers who had taken family leaves had higher voluntary turnover rates than managers who had not taken leaves, and among family leave takers, managers with graduate degrees were less likely to resign than managers with less education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective commitment to the organization: The contribution of perceived organizational support.

Three studies examined the interrelationships among work experiences, perceived organizational support (POS), affective commitment (AC), and employee turnover. Using a diverse sample of 367 employees drawn from a variety of organizations, Study 1 found that POS mediated positive associations of organizational rewards, procedural justice, and supervisor support with AC. Study 2 examined changes of POS and AC in retail employees over a 2-year span (N?=?333) and a 3-year span (N?=?226). POS was positively related to temporal changes in AC, suggesting that POS leads to AC. Study 3 found a negative relationship between POS and subsequent voluntary employee turnover that was mediated by AC in retail employees (N?=?1,124) and in poultry- and feed-processing workers (N?=?262). These results suggest that favorable work conditions operate via POS to increase AC, which, in turn, decreases employee withdrawal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Romantic jealousy and adult romantic attachment

Research on romantic jealousy is consistent with the idea that jealousy is, at least in part, the product of threats to attachment relationships. Attachment theory was used as a framework for examining individual differences in the ways in which people experience and express jealousy. Emotional, behavioral, and cognitive concomitants of romantic jealousy were related to differences in attachment style in ways consistent with attachment theory. For example, anxious participants were relatively more likely than others to resist expressing their anger, avoidant participants were especially likely to turn their anger and blame against the interloper, and securely attached participants were especially likely to express anger toward the partner and to maintain their relationship. Differences in attachment style, not just differences in level of security, are predictive of qualitative individual differences in jealousy experiences.     

CSF amine metabolites, clinical symptoms, and body movement in psychiatric patients

The relationships between CSF monoamine metabolites (HVA and 5HIAA), nurses' ratings of clinical symptoms, and telemetered measures of motor movement of ten schizophrenic and ten depressed patients were investigated. There was a significant negative correlation between CSF 5HIAA and both agitation ratings and motor movement in the schizophrenics. CSF HVA correlated positively to anxiety and anger in the depressives. The schizophrenics had a significantly higher CSF HVA than the depressives which appeared unrelated to motor movement. The effects of serotonin turnover and arousal in schizophrenia and the association between CSF metabolite gradients, stress, motor movement, and biogenic amine levels in depression are discussed.     

Work stress, self-efficacy, Chinese work values, and work well-being in Hong Kong and Beijing.

The authors tested the direct and moderating effects of self-efficacy and Chinese work values on relationships between job stressors and work well-being among employees in Hong Kong and Beijing. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from 105 and 129 employees in Hong Kong and Beijing, respectively. The results revealed that self-efficacy was positively related to job satisfaction in both samples. Self-efficacy was found to be a stress moderator in some of the stressor-work well-being relationships for both samples. The direct effect of Chinese work values on work well-being was minimal, and its moderating effects were partially demonstrated in some of the stressor-job satisfaction relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The work-family interface and job performance: Moderating effects of conscientiousness and perceived organizational support.

Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors hypothesized that two aspects of the work-family interface--family-to-work conflict (FWC) and family-to-work enrichment (FWE)--are related to job performance. The authors also hypothesized that two variables moderate those relationships--individual differences in conscientiousness and aspects of the work environment in terms of perceived organizational support (POS). Data collected from a matched set of 136 private sector workers and their respective supervisors revealed that high FWC was more strongly related to lower job performance: (1) among high- than low-conscientiousness workers and (2) among workers reporting low rather than high levels of organizational support. However, FWE was unrelated to job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What breaks a leader: The curvilinear relation between assertiveness and leadership.

The authors propose that individual differences in assertiveness play a critical role in perceptions about leaders. In contrast to prior work that focused on linear effects, the authors argue that individuals seen either as markedly low in assertiveness or as high in assertiveness are generally appraised as less effective leaders. Moreover, the authors claim that observers' perceptions of leaders as having too much or too little assertiveness are widespread. The authors linked the curvilinear effects of assertiveness to underlying tradeoffs between social outcomes (a high level of assertiveness worsens relationships) and instrumental outcomes (a low level of assertiveness limits goal achievement). In 3 studies, the authors used qualitative and quantitative approaches and found support for their account. The results suggest that assertiveness (and other constructs with nonlinear effects) might have been overlooked in research that has been focused on identifying what makes a leader rather than on identifying what breaks a leader. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, work characteristics and employee well-being: A longitudinal analysis of additive and moderating effects.

This study tested the longitudinal influence of personality (measured by the characteristics growth need strength, negative affectivity [NA], and upward striving) on 3 psychological outcomes (intrinsic work motivation, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention), using a pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and these outcomes as a framework. The study hypotheses were tested in a multioccupational sample consisting of bank employees and teachers, using a 2-wave panel design with a 1-year time interval and structural equation modeling. NA had a cross-lagged direct and additive relationship with emotional exhaustion and also moderated the relationship between Time 1 workload and Time 2 emotional exhaustion. The authors concluded that NA may have multiple effects on emotional exhaustion that persist over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocation of perceived organizational support.

Four hundred thirteen postal employees were surveyed to investigate reciprocation's role in the relationships of perceived organizational support (POS) with employees' affective organizational commitment and job performance. The authors found that (a) POS was positively related to employees' felt obligation to care about the organization's welfare and to help the organization reach its objectives; (b) felt obligation mediated the associations of POS with affective commitment, organizational spontaneity, and in-role performance; and (c) the relationship between POS and felt obligation increased with employees' acceptance of the reciprocity norm as applied to work organizations. Positive mood also mediated the relationships of POS with affective commitment and organizational spontaneity. The pattern of findings is consistent with organizational support theory's assumption that POS strengthens affective commitment and performance by a reciprocation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resource loss, resource gain, and emotional outcomes among inner city women.

The authors examined a dynamic conceptualization of stress by investigating how economic stress, measured in terms of material loss, alters women's personal and social resources and how these changed resources impact anger and depressive mood. Resource change in women's mastery and social support over 9 months was significantly associated with changes in depressive mood and anger among 714 inner city women. Greater loss of mastery and social support was associated with increased depressive mood and anger. Loss of mastery and social support also mediated the impact of material loss on depressive mood and anger. Resource loss and worsening economic circumstances had more negative impact than resource gain and improving economic circumstances had positive impact, suggesting the greater saliency of loss than gain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)