Coming in second: Influence mechanism of alternative choice on employee taking charge and time theft behaviors

A comparison of two alternative behavioral choice mechanisms for household auto ownership decisions

Under the dual impacts of digital transformation and the post-pandemic era, organizational sustainability increasingly relies on employees' proactive taking charge behavior. Against this backdrop, this study constructs a moderated mediation model based on proactive motivation theory within Chinese organizational contexts, aiming to uncover the influence mechanism of social face consciousness on employee taking charge behavior and its boundary conditions. Through purposive sampling of employees from multiple enterprises and institutions, 631 valid questionnaires were collected. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical regression analysis. The findings reveal that both face-gaining consciousness and face-losing consciousness positively influence thriving at work. Thriving at work significantly enhances taking charge behavior; face-gaining consciousness and face-losing consciousness directly and positively affect taking charge behavior; thriving at work mediates the positive relationships between face-gaining/face-losing consciousness and taking charge behavior; general self-efficacy positively moderates the effect of thriving at work on taking charge behavior.

Hotels expect front-line staff to demonstrate greater flexibility and proactively take on more responsibility beyond their job duties, which helps to provide better customer service in an environment of uncertainty and change. Accordingly, employees’ taking charge behaviors have received widespread attention in academia and practice. Through a three-wave online survey of 352 front-line employees and their supervisors from 13 high-star hotels in the Greater Bay Area of China, this study examined the influence mechanisms of role clarity and job competence on the employees’ taking charge behavior and the moderating effect of supervisor developmental feedback. The findings indicate that frontline employees’ role clarity and job competence can enhance taking charge behavior by increasing their organization-based self-esteem. It empirically validates Proactive Motivation Theory and clarifies that employees’ proactive engagement in extra-role responsibilities depends not only on their willingness but also on sufficient competence and a clear understanding of their job roles. Supervisor developmental feedback is more acceptable to employees as a form of informational support and can enhance the impact of role clarity and job competence on frontline employees’ taking charge behaviors.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influencing mechanism of shared leadership (SL) on taking charge behavior (TCB) based on cognitive–affective system theory. Specifically, the current study intends to build a model of perceived insider status and emotional intelligence that mediate the relationship between SL and TCB from a dual cognitive–affective perspective. Further, given the nature of SL that develops through social interactions, we propose and examine the moderating role of social media use in the relationship between SL and TCB. We used multilevel and multi-sourced data to test the theoretical model and used a social network approach to measure SL in teams. Our findings provide a significant contribution to the literature in that this paper shows perceived insider status and emotional intelligence as a crucial dual mediating mechanism through which SL influences TCB and affords fresh thoughts for IT-related contextual conditions.

With the advent of the new employer economy centered around employees, the human resource management practices of organizations are gradually shifting from “filling gaps” to “emphasizing advantages”. Strengths-based psychological climate can have a positive impact on the attitude and behavior of employees. Taking charge behavior, as a key factor in improving organizational performance, has received widespread attention from both academia and practice. Therefore, based on the proactive motivation model, this study used multiple linear regression to test the collected 351 valid questionnaires, to explore the impact of strengths-based psychological climate on employee taking charge behavior, as well as the mediating effect of job competence and job crafting and the moderating effect of task difficulty. The results indicate that: (1) Strengths-based psychological climate positively affects employees’ taking charge behavior; (2) Both job competence and job crafting partially mediate the relationship between strengths-based psychological climate and taking charge behavior; (3) Task difficulty has a positive moderating effect on the impact of strengths-based psychological climate on job competence and job crafting. This study enriches existing theoretical research to a certain extent and has certain reference for management practice.

When the outcome of a choice is less favorable than expected, humans and animals typically shift to an alternate choice option on subsequent trials. Several lines of evidence indicate that this “lose-shift” responding is an innate sensorimotor response strategy that is normally suppressed by executive function. Therefore, the lose-shift response provides a covert gauge of cognitive control over choice mechanisms. We report here that the spatial position, rather than visual features, of choice targets drives the lose-shift effect. Furthermore, the ability to inhibit lose-shift responding to gain reward is different among male and female habitual cannabis users. Increased self-reported cannabis use was concordant with suppressed response flexibility and an increased tendency to lose-shift in women, which reduced performance in a choice task in which random responding is the optimal strategy. On the other hand, increased cannabis use in men was concordant with reduced reliance on spatial cues during decision-making, and had no impact on the number of correct responses. These data (63,600 trials from 106 participants) provide strong evidence that spatial-motor processing is an important component of economic decision-making, and that its governance by executive systems is different in men and women who use cannabis frequently.

In this issue of Genes & Development, Lu and colleagues (pp. 663-677) have discovered a key new mechanism of alternative promoter choice that is involved in differentiation of spermatocytes. Promoter choice has strong potential as mechanism for differentiation of many different cell types.

We have explored the structure and pattern of expression of a gene designated mdm-1, which is amplified 25-30-fold in transformed mouse cells containing numerous double minute particles. This gene is expressed in all mouse tissues examined but exhibits elevated and altered patterns of expression in the testis. Multiple transcripts are generated from the mdm-1 gene via mechanisms of alternative splicing and polyadenylation signal choice. These mRNAs have the potential to produce a minimum of three distinct protein products ranging in size from 25 to 77 kilodaltons. Antiserum generated against a synthetic peptide from the mdm-1 gene was used in immunoblotting studies and revealed that at least one of the protein products is present in the nucleus. This antiserum stained nuclear structures producing a distinct punctate or speckled pattern.

Time theft is a disservice to the organization, both economically and productively. This research aims to examine the effect of transformational leadership and organizational justice on employee time theft in Mandailing Natal Regency. Sample of this research is civil servant (N=377) at 34 government institution in Mandailing Natal Regency. This type of research is correlational research. The method used to measure variables using self-report. Data analysis using multiple linear regression. The result showed that transformational leadership did not have a significant effect on the time theft (β = -0,032 p>0,05), meanwhile organizational justice have a significant effect on time theft (β = -0,209 p<0,05). The negative regression coefficient value showed the direction of the negative relationship between the organizational justice and time theft, means that the higher the organizational justice felt by employees, the lower the chances of that person committing time theft. Vice versa, the lower organizational justice felt by employees, the higher the chance that person will commit time theft behavior. Keywords: Time Theft, Transformational Leadership, Organizational Justice.

The prevailing viewpoint has long depicted employee time theft as inherently detrimental. However, this perspective may stem from a limited understanding of the underlying motives that drive such behavior. Time theft can paradoxically be motivated by neutral and even laudable intentions, such as promoting work efficiency, thus rendering it potentially beneficial and constructive. Across three mixed-methods studies, we explore the motives behind employee time theft, develop and validate an instrument to assess these motives, and examine how they differentially predict time theft behavior. Specifically, in Study 1, we use a qualitative method and identify 11 types of time theft motives. Study 2 embarks on the development of measures of these motives, subsequently validating their factor structure. Study 3 examines their incremental variance in predicting time theft behavior by controlling for personality and demographic variables. Overall, these studies reveal that employees' engagement in time theft can be driven not solely by self-oriented motives but also by others- and work-oriented motives. Further, each of these motives provides incremental value in understanding time theft behavior. Implications for both research and practice emanating from these findings are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Time theft—time that employees waste or spend not working during their scheduled work hours—poses serious costs to many employers. Although previous research has suggested the importance of social norms for understanding time theft behavior, experimental studies are lacking. This paper presents the results of two preregistered experiments that examined if information about whether most people engage in time theft or not (descriptive norms) has effects on intentions and attitudes to steal time at work. The results confirmed that people are less willing to conduct time theft if they are led to believe that others avoid such behaviors (Experiment 1, N = 170). However, the same norm information did not alter people's moral judgments of coworkers who engage in time theft (Experiment 2, N = 183). The findings tentatively suggest that the less time theft employees see, the less time theft they will commit.

Time theft is a prevalent, costly, and generally discreet employee activity in firms; nonetheless, very limited research is available on it. To explore why, how, and when employees exhibit time theft, we investigate the influence mechanism of work-related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) on time theft from the perspective of resource gain and loss. Our study found that W_ICTs significantly promotes employee time theft. Emotional exhaustion and moral disengagement play a mediating role in the relationship between W_ICTs and time theft, respectively, and these two variables have a chain-mediating role in the relationship above. Perceived organizational support moderates this chain mediation by moderating the positive effect of W_ICTs on emotional exhaustion. Overall, the findings have important theoretical and managerial implications for research on W_ICTs and time theft.

The mechanism of the alternative choice by a fungal organism between the sexual and asexual developmental pathways remains unclear despite intense study of gene expression in ontogeny. A possibility to control the life cycle of Neurospora crassa by varying the cultivation condition makes this ascomycete fungus a convenient model for experimental analysis of ontogenetic processes. The development of mycelial cells to form sexual or asexual reproductive structures can be determined by depriving the organism of certain nutritive substrates. Carbon starvation leads to formation of asexual spores, conidia, whereas a lack of nitrogen induces the development of female reproductive structures, protoperithecia. In the latter case, the orientation of an organism to the sexual cycle is not absolute, and some conidia are formed, too [1]. The realization of the ontogenetic program in N. crassa also depends on illumination [2]. The DNA methylation is known to protect the genome against foreign genetic elements [3] and control some developmental processes [4, 5]. The N. crassa genome is mostly unmethylated [6]. Nevertheless, the 5-methylcytosine content in the N. crassa DNA has been shown to vary during the development from the germinating conidia to a mature vegetative mycelium [7]. The DNA methylation is also involved into the appearance, during meiosis, of the so-called RIP (repeat-induced point) mutations [8], as well as with “quelling,” i.e., a suppressed gene expression in vegetative development [9]. We obtained the data indicating a participation of DNA methylation in a choice between the sexual and asexual development of N. crassa. To reveal the role of methylation, an inhibitor (5-azacytidine (4-amino- 1- β - D -ribofuranoside-5-triazine-2[1H]-one)) was used, which makes the DNA molecule inaccessible to methyl transferases through substituting the cytosine residues. The conidia suspension of N. crassa (FGSC wt 3834) was evenly spread on the surface of a cellophane film (2 〈 10 5 spores per 100 cm 2 ); placed in a Petri dish with a modified Vogel agar medium [10] containing 1% sorbose, 0.1% glucose and 4 mM NH 4 Cl ; and cultivated for three days in the dark at 23 ° C. Then, the film with the mycelium was transferred to a fresh medium of the same composition, except for a complete absence of the nitrogen source. Before the transfer, 5-azacytidine had been added to this medium. After 24 h, some of the plates were irradiated with a 2-min pulse of blue light ( λ = 300‐500 nm, 1 W m —2 ), and the others were used as a dark control. All plates were incubated in the dark for another two days, when the number of protoperithecia on the plates was counted using a binocular microscope with a dim red light illumination. After two more days in dark, the conidia were harvested from the mycelium and plated to the Vogel agar medium to determine their yield.

To address the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicle market and the challenges it poses to urban charging infrastructure, this study takes Urumqi as an example, aiming to deeply analyze user charging behavior engineering and the core influence mechanisms of charging service satisfaction in the new energy charging market. Based on an analysis of 978 valid user questionnaires and using multiple linear regression, K-prototype clustering, structural equation modeling (SEM), and random forest models, the research constructs a multi-dimensional and multi-level integrated analysis framework. The findings indicate that the rational distribution of charging stations (β=0.249) and charging speed (β=0.247) are the primary factors influencing user satisfaction, with their importance surpassing that of charging costs. User groups can be clearly classified into three types: “high-frequency practical users,” “price-sensitive users,” and “tech enthusiasts,” with significant differences in charging behaviors, technology preferences, and policy attitudes among them. Additionally, the random forest model identifies that public expectations for the market outlook (feature importance: 63.6%) and perceptions of the speed of charging facility construction (feature importance: 30.3%) are the key psychological drivers of support for new energy policies. By quantifying the impact paths and weights of these key factors, this study reveals the central contradictions in the current urban charging market and the heterogeneous needs of user groups, providing scientific data support and decision-making references for optimizing charging network planning, formulating precise operational strategies, and enhancing policy effectiveness.

In this paper, a high-field magnet experimental system is setup to investigate the dielectric properties of epoxy resin in the presence of high magnetic field. An asymmetric ferromagnetic electrode system is used to build gradient magnetic field and investigate its effect on tree characteristics of epoxy resin. Influence mechanisms of gradient magnetic field on dielectric properties and tree characteristics of epoxy resin are discussed through combining experimental results and simulation calculation. Experimental results show that electrical trees are more easily to be initiated and spread more rapidly in gradient magnetic field. The conductivity of the epoxy resin increases with the increase of magnetic field strength due to energy level splitting, which is analyzed through electrodynamics calculation. The relative permittivity decreases, and the dielectric loss tangents increase when high magnetic field is applied. Changes of conductivity and relative permittivity affect the charge behavior and electric field distribution in epoxy resin, resulting in the particular electrical tree.