The effects of positive versus negative impact reflection on change in job performance and work-life conflict.

M Teresa Cardador

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01370

Abstract

Research on task significance and relational job design suggests that information from beneficiaries of one’s work fosters perceptions of impact, and thus improved work outcomes. This paper presents results from a longitudinal field experiment examining the effect of another strategy for fostering perceptions of impact – engaging employees in regular reflection about how their work benefits others. With a sample of professionals from multiple organizations, this longitudinal study examined the effect on job performance and work-life conflict of both positive and negative impact reflection. Results show that negative impact reflection had a pronounced negative effect on job performance, but no effect on work-life conflict. Positive impact reflection had a weak positive effect on work-life conflict, but no significant effect on job performance. The direction of effects seen in the no intervention condition mirrored that of the negative impact reflection condition, suggesting a possible buffering effect for positive impact reflection. This research provides empirical and theoretical contributions to the literatures on relational job design and task significance.

Highlights

Employees are increasingly interested in doing work that makes a difference (Colby et al, 2001), and organizations – recognizing the benefits – are actively looking to provide employees with opportunities to experience their work as more impactful (Grant, 2011)
MANIPULATION CHECKS It was expected that the effect of the impact manipulation would be higher levels of perceived positive impact in the positive impact reflection condition, and higher levels of perceived negative impact in the negative impact reflection condition
Contrast analysis showed that reported levels of perceived positive impact were significantly higher in the positive impact reflection condition as compared to the other two conditions, F(10,175) = 5.84, p = 0.02, η2 = 0.03

Summary

Introduction

Employees are increasingly interested in doing work that makes a difference (Colby et al, 2001), and organizations – recognizing the benefits – are actively looking to provide employees with opportunities to experience their work as more impactful (Grant, 2011). Job design researchers have adopted a social information processing perspective on task significance (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978; Zalesny and Ford, 1990; Pollack et al, 2000; Parker et al, 2001; Morgeson and Campion, 2003), suggesting that impact perceptions are subjective and shaped by the salience of the social context surrounding one’s tasks (Grant, 2008a). Studies of this approach – termed relational job design – have shown that impact perceptions are increased when employees have interpersonal contact with, or receive social information from, beneficiaries of their work (e.g., Grant, 2007, 2008b; Grant et al, 2007; Grant and Hofmann, 2011)

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