The role of personal resources in the job demands-resources model.

This study examined the role of three personal resources (self-efficacy, organizational-based self-esteem, and optimism) in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The authors hypothesized that personal resources (1) moderate the relationship between job demands and exhaustion, (2) mediate the relationship between job resources and work engagement, and (3) relate to how employees perceive their work environment and well-being. Hypotheses were tested among 714 Dutch employees. Results showed that personal resources did not offset the relationship between job demands and exhaustion. Instead, personal resources mediated the relationship between job resources and engagement/exhaustion and influenced the perception of job resources. The implications of these findings for the JD-R model are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived organizational support: Inferior versus superior performance by wary employees.

Retail employees in Study 1 and employees from multiple organizations in Study 2 completed a questionnaire investigating the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship of employees' fear of exploitation in exchange relationships (reciprocation wariness) and their in-role and extra-role job performance. When POS was low, reciprocation wariness was negatively related to in-role and extra-role job performance. With high POS, reciprocation wariness was positively related to extra-role performance and either positively related to in-role performance (for retail employees) or showed no reliable relationship with in-role performance (for the multiorganizational sample). In deciding on their work effort, reciprocation-wary employees considered how much the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. Implications for employee–employer exchange relationships and workforce cynicism are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes.

In this article, we develop and meta-analytically test the relationship between job demands and resources and burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes in the workplace. In a meta-analysis of 203 independent samples (N = 186,440), we found support for a health impairment process and for a motivational process as mechanisms through which job demands and resources relate to safety outcomes. In particular, we found that job demands such as risks and hazards and complexity impair employees' health and positively relate to burnout. Likewise, we found support for job resources such as knowledge, autonomy, and a supportive environment motivating employees and positively relating to engagement. Job demands were found to hinder an employee with a negative relationship to engagement, whereas job resources were found to negatively relate to burnout. Finally, we found that burnout was negatively related to working safely but that engagement motivated employees and was positively related to working safely. Across industries, risks and hazards was the most consistent job demand and a supportive environment was the most consistent job resource in terms of explaining variance in burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. The type of job demand that explained the most variance differed by industry, whereas a supportive environment remained consistent in explaining the most variance in all industries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job characteristics, flow, and performance: The moderating role of conscientiousness.

The present article aims to show the importance of positive work-related experiences within occupational health psychology by examining the relationship between flow at work (i.e., absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation) and job performance. On the basis of the literature, it was hypothesized that (a) motivating job characteristics are positively related to flow at work and (b) conscientiousness moderates the relationship between flow and other ratings of (in-role and out-of-role) performance. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 113 employees from several occupations. Results of moderated structural equation modeling analyses generally supported the hypotheses. Motivating job characteristics were predictive of flow, and flow predicted in-role and extra-role performance, for only conscientious employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Safety behavior: Job demands, job resources, and perceived management commitment to safety.

The job demands-resources model posits that job demands and resources influence outcomes through job strain and work engagement processes. We test whether the model can be extended to effort-related “routine” safety violations and “situational” safety violations provoked by the organization. In addition we test more directly the involvement of job strain than previous studies which have used burnout measures. Structural equation modeling provided, for the first time, evidence of predicted relationships between job strain and “routine” violations and work engagement with “routine” and “situational” violations, thereby supporting the extension of the job demands-resources model to safety behaviors. In addition our results showed that a key safety-specific construct 'perceived management commitment to safety' added to the explanatory power of the job demands-resources model. A predicted path from job resources to perceived management commitment to safety was highly significant, supporting the view that job resources can influence safety behavior through both general motivational involvement in work (work engagement) and through safety-specific processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and health outcomes among police officers: The mediating role of police cynicism and engagement.

This study examined the relationship between personality variables (Type A), job demands and job resources, and police cynicism and engagement, and also examined the mediating role of cynicism and work engagement in predicting both work and health related outcomes among police officers. The participants were 150 Norwegian police officers, and data were collected using questionnaires. Results showed that Type A behavior was related to both cynicism and engagement. As predicted, both job demands and lack of job resources were related to cynicism, and job resources were positively related to engagement. A series of regression analyses indicated direct relationships between Type A behavior, job demands and health complaints with no mediating effect of cynicism. Work engagement partially mediated the effects of individual characteristics, job demands and job resources on organizational commitment and self-efficacy. However, direct links between demands and resources and organizational commitment were also found, as well as direct links between Type A behavior, work demands and self-efficacy. The implications of work engagement for organizations were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Longitudinal Study of Employee Adaptation to Organizational Change: The Role of Change-Related Information and Change-Related Self-Efficacy.

This study examined the role of information, efficacy, and 3 stressors in predicting adjustment to organizational change. Participants were 589 government employees undergoing an 18-month process of regionalization. To examine if the predictor variables had long-term effects on adjustment, the authors assessed psychological well-being, client engagement, and job satisfaction again at a 2-year follow-up. At Time 1, there was evidence to suggest that information was indirectly related to psychological well-being, client engagement, and job satisfaction, via its positive relationship to efficacy. There also was evidence to suggest that efficacy was related to reduced stress appraisals, thereby heightening client engagement. Last, there was consistent support for the stress-buffering role of Time 1 self-efficacy in the prediction of Time 2 job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance.

A correlational study examined relationships between motivational orientation, self-regulated learning, and classroom academic performance for 173 seventh graders from eight science and seven English classes. A self-report measure of student self-efficacy, intrinsic value, test anxiety, self-regulation, and use of learning strategies was administered, and performance data were obtained from work on classroom assignments. Self-efficacy and intrinsic value were positively related to cognitive engagement and performance. Regression analyses revealed that, depending on the outcome measure, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and test anxiety emerged as the best predictors of performance. Intrinsic value did not have a direct influence on performance but was strongly related to self-regulation and cognitive strategy use, regardless of prior achievement level. The implications of individual differences in motivational orientation for cognitive engagement and self-regulation in the classroom are discussed. (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)     

Effects on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress.

The authors of this study sought to examine the relationships among teachers' years of experience, teacher characteristics (gender and teaching level), three domains of self-efficacy (instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement), two types of job stress (workload and classroom stress), and job satisfaction with a sample of 1,430 practicing teachers using factor analysis, item response modeling, systems of equations, and a structural equation model. Teachers' years of experience showed nonlinear relationships with all three self-efficacy factors, increasing from early career to mid-career and then falling afterwards. Female teachers had greater workload stress, greater classroom stress from student behaviors, and lower classroom management self-efficacy. Teachers with greater workload stress had greater classroom management self-efficacy, whereas teachers with greater classroom stress had lower self-efficacy and lower job satisfaction. Those teaching young children (in elementary grades and kindergarten) had higher levels of self-efficacy for classroom management and student engagement. Lastly, teachers with greater classroom management self-efficacy or greater instructional strategies self-efficacy had greater job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of creative process engagement on employee creative performance and overall job performance: A curvilinear assessment.

Integrating theories addressing attention and activation with creativity literature, we found an inverted U-shaped relationship between creative process engagement and overall job performance among professionals in complex jobs in an information technology firm. Work experience moderated the curvilinear relationship, with low-experience employees generally exhibiting higher levels of overall job performance at low to moderate levels of creative process engagement and high-experience employees demonstrating higher overall performance at moderate to high levels of creative process engagement. Creative performance partially mediated the relationship between creative process engagement and job performance. These relationships were tested within a moderated mediation framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives.

Research shows consistent relations between personality and job performance. In this study the authors develop and test a model of job performance that examines the mediating effects of cognitive-motivational work orientations on the relationships between personality traits and performance in a sales job (N=164). Covariance structural analyses revealed proximal motivational variables to be influential mechanisms through which distal personality traits affect job performance. Specifically, striving for status and accomplishment mediate the effects of Extraversion and Conscientiousness on ratings of sales performance. Although Agreeableness was related to striving for communion, neither Agreeableness nor communion striving was related to success in this sales job. The importance of the proposed motivational orientations model is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The crossover of daily work engagement: Test of an actor–partner interdependence model.

This study of 62 dyads of employees (N = 124) examined the crossover of work engagement—a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. We hypothesized that work engagement crosses over from an employee (the actor) to his or her colleague (the partner) on a daily basis. The frequency of daily communication was expected to moderate the crossover of daily work engagement, which in turn would relate to colleagues’ daily performance. Participants first filled in a general questionnaire and then completed a diary study over 5 consecutive workdays. The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using an actor–partner interdependence model. Results confirmed the crossover of daily work engagement, but only on days when employees within a dyad interacted more frequently than usual. Moreover, we found that actor’s work engagement (particularly vigor), when frequently communicated, had a positive indirect relationship with partner’s performance through partner’s work engagement. Finally, results showed that actor’s vigor was negatively related to partner’s performance when communication was low. However, this negative effect was counteracted when mediated by the vigor of the partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test of a model linking employee positive moods and task performance.

Past empirical evidence has demonstrated that employees' positive mood states predict task performance. This study extends previous research by proposing and testing a model that examines mediating processes underlying the relationship between employee positive moods and task performance. Two longitudinal studies used data collected from 306 (Study 1) and 263 (Study 2) insurance sales agents in Taiwan. The results showed that employee positive moods predicted task performance indirectly through both interpersonal (helping other coworkers and coworker helping and support) and motivational (self-efficacy and task persistence) processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Related factors contributing to the healthy lifestyle of urban employees through the PRECEDE model

The purpose of this study was to assess the related factors to the healthy lifestyle of 1147 urban employees. The theoretical framework of this study was the PRECEDE model. The model included three factors: 1. predisposing factors cardiovascular disease knowledge, general self-efficacy, health related diet and exercise self-efficacy, attitude for maintaining healthy life-style, health value, health status and illness history of family); 2. enabling factors (health resource availability, health resource utility); and 3. reinforcing factors (social support, feelings of colleagues health practice); The three factors were measured by 12 scales, through which the reliability and validity were assessed. According to the stepwise multiple regression analysis, diet and exercise self-efficacy, attitude for maintaining healthy life-style, marital status, cardiovascular disease knowledge, health status, occupational level, social support and feel of colleague health practice were the significant factors which accounted for 38.2% of variance. Predisposing factors and reinforcing factors were the important factors of healthy lifestyle on urban employees.     

Role of ability and prior knowledge in complex training performance.

A causal model of the role of general cognitive ability and prior job knowledge in subsequent job-knowledge acquisition and work-sample performance during training was developed. Participants were 3,428 US Air Force officers in pilot training. The measures of ability and prior job knowledge came from the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test. The measures of job knowledge acquired during training were derived from classroom grades. Work-sample measures came from check flight ratings. The causal model showed that ability directly influenced the acquisition of job knowledge. General cognitive ability influenced work samples through job knowledge. Prior job knowledge had almost no influence on subsequent job knowledge but directly influenced the early work sample. Early training job knowledge influenced subsequent job knowledge and work-sample performance. Finally, early work-sample performance strongly influenced subsequent work-sample performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent constructs of proximal and distal motivation predicting performance under maximum test conditions.

The concept of a maximum-typical performance dimension has received theoretical and empirical support in research on the construct of job performance. The critical distinction between maximum and typical performance resides in the postulate that under maximum test conditions motivational factors will be constant and maximal. The present study challenges the notion of the maximum performance paradigm by testing the effects of proximal (self-efficacy) and distal (need for achievement) motivation on performance under maximum test conditions. The authors used a walk-through performance test to evaluate the performance of 90 employees. The structural model demonstrates significant pathways between latent measures of motivation and performance ratings. The findings confirm the explanatory power of the motivation construct under maximum test conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multigroup analysis of the job demands-resources model in four home care organizations.

The job demands-resources (JD-R) model was tested in a study among 3,092 employees working in 1 of 4 different home care organizations. The central assumption in the model is that burnout develops when certain job demands are high and when job resources are limited because such negative working conditions lead to energy depletion and undermine worker motivation and learning opportunities, respectively. A series of multigroup structural equation modeling analyses provide strong evidence for the JD-R model. Specifically, results showed that job demands are primarily and positively related to the exhaustion component of burnout, whereas job resources are primarily related to cynicism (negatively) and professional efficacy (positively). The theoretical and practical implications of the JD-R model are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of goal orientation, ability, need for achievement, and locus of control in the self-efficacy and goal--setting process.

This study integrates ability, goal setting, self-efficacy, and multiple personality traits into a common framework that explains and predicts individual performance. A mediational model was tested using LISREL 8. Ability, learning goal orientation, and locus of control were positively related to self-efficacy, whereas performance goal orientation was negatively related to self-efficacy on an academic task. Self-efficacy and need for achievement were positively related to goal level, which was positively related to performance in combination with ability and self-efficacy. In addition to showing that personality traits can influence the motivational process at various stages, the results highlight the unique contributions of self-efficacy and goal level to the motivational process after the effects of ability and other individual differences have been identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives: Test of the mediating effects of goal setting.

Used 91 sales representatives to test a process model that assessed the relationship of conscientiousness to job performance through mediating motivational (goal-setting) variables. Linear structural equation modeling showed that sales representatives high in conscientiousness are more likely to set goals and are more likely to be committed to goals, which in turn is associated with greater sales volume and higher supervisory ratings of job performance. Results also showed that conscientiousness is directly related to supervisory ratings. Consistent with previous research, results showed that ability was also related to supervisory ratings of job performance and, to a lesser extent, sales volume. Contrary to expectations, 1 other personality construct, extraversion, was not related to sales volume or to supervisory ratings of job performance. Implications and future research needs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)