Discretionary Behavior Research Articles

Migrants serving migrants? Representative bureaucracy at the front lines of migration management

Abstract The ways in which minority street-level bureaucrats construe their identities as state representatives and as representatives of minority clients are known to inform their discretionary behavior toward clients, thereby shaping policy outcomes. While existing studies have examined race and ethnicity as shared identities between minority bureaucrats and clients, the role of “migrant” identity has been overlooked. Focusing on the so-called European migration crisis of 2015–2017, this study addresses this gap. Drawing on qualitative interviews with migrant bureaucrats, it examines how being simultaneously a migrant and a migration policy implementer shapes bureaucratic discretion. This article introduces the notion of “migrant representative” and identifies four profiles of migrant bureaucrats, each corresponding to different degrees of identification with the local migration management system and the migrant clients. In doing so, it contributes to the literature on representative bureaucracy and the debate on the linkage between passive and active representation.

Moving Engagement Theory Forward: My Practical Insights on Activation's Centrality to Understanding Gender Differences in Discretionary Workplace Commitment

This article explores the concept of activation as a missing theoretical link for understanding gender differences in discretionary workplace commitment. Activation refers to an individual's readiness to take action and has been shown to influence engagement outcomes through its impact on effort and attention levels. The article first reviews key academic literature establishing engagement theory and the role of activation. It then shares real-world examples where activation helps explain observed gender differences in discretionary behaviors beyond basic job duties. Differences in situational job demands and available resources that differentially impact women's activation reserves are also examined. The article argues that conceptualizing engagement through an activation lens can help address why discrepancies occur and suggest impactful job redesign strategies. Recommendations focus on boosting activation for all employees through initiatives like flexible scheduling, social support programs, and inclusive cultures. The discussion proposes advancing engagement theory by considering the understudied yet important role of activation, particularly regarding gender.

완벽주의의 긍정적 측면: 안전 행동 및 변화지향 조직시민행동을 견인하는 직원의 완벽주의 성향

This study examined the positive side of perfectionism and its effect on employees’ safety performance and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB-CH). For this purpose, we proposed a moderated mediation model in which feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) was theorized as a mediating mechanism underlining why workers are involved in those discretionary behaviors from their perfectionism. Moreover, each recognition and appraisal form of respect was assumed to be a relevant boundary condition to moderate such relationships. Data were collected using a field survey research design. The participants included 213 workers at construction sites and manufacturing plants, along with military personnel and firefighters, all of which are regarded as high-risk occupations in Korea. SPSS 25, AMOS 22, and PROCESS macro were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that perfectionism impacts both safety performance and OCB-CH directly and through their FSB. Meanwhile, perceived mutual recognition respect negatively moderates the relationship between perfectionism and FSB, whereas perceived appraisal respect has no moderating effect. There may be a trade-off relationship between safety and change. Through offering a perfectionism-FSB link, the results of this study provided an understanding of positive perfectionism as a desirable personality trait that potentially engenders those discretionary behaviors. We further discussed the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and identified directions for future research.

The chains of the past: A life course perspective on childhood adversity and organizational attitudes and behaviors.

Childhood adversity stains the past of millions of working adults worldwide. The impact on health and well-being is substantial-a now-acknowledged public health crisis. Yet, research in the organizational sciences has failed to recognize the burden that individuals with this difficult history carry with them into the workforce. By synthesizing an interdisciplinary body of scholarship into a cohesive theoretical framework, we provide a foundation for emerging work in occupational health psychology. Empirically, across two single-level multiwave studies, we demonstrate the importance of adversity in one's childhood and its impact on the workplace specifically showing that child adversity, directly and indirectly, impacts worker attitudes and discretionary behaviors. Further, providing one of the few examinations of stress proliferation theory in the workplace, we demonstrate adulthood adversity as an essential mediating mechanism that leads to these work outcomes. From an applied perspective, our results highlight a need to focus on the healing and recovery of adult survivors as they work toward breaking the chains of the past in their lives and at work. In presenting this life course perspective on organizational attitudes and behaviors, our work offers a unique and vital contribution to occupational health theory, practice, and research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Unveiling the mechanisms by which inclusive leadership influences the good soldier syndrome among health-care employees

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between inclusive leadership (IL), psychological safety (PS), affective commitment (AC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) at the workplace. By understanding the sequential linkages, the research aims to provide insights for fostering a positive organizational culture that promotes employee commitment and employees’ willingness to go the extra mile for the organization.Design/methodology/approachThe authors study how IL and OCB are related through PS and AC. For this purpose, cross-sectional data from 384 nursing professionals in India was collected and structural equation modeling was conducted on the same using IBM AMOS.FindingsThe study found that IL has a major impact on OCB. The study further found that perceived IL leads to PS which is associated with OCB through AC.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has many theoretical and practical implications. This study uses a framework that is based on Affective events theory. In a health-care environment, IL can foster AC by promoting a culture of respect, collaboration and value for diverse perspectives, which enhances health-care professionals’ emotional attachment to their work and the organization. Additionally, by encouraging open communication and a sense of belonging, IL contributes to OCB, as health-care staff are more likely to engage in discretionary behaviors that support the overall effectiveness and positive functioning of the health-care team if PS is improved, ultimately improving patient care outcomes.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the primary studies that looks into the sequential mechanism through which IL impacts OCB.

Are Both I-Deals? The Mediating Role of I-Task and I-Incentive in the Relationship between Supervisor Support and Employees’ Silence and Voice

Informed by Social Exchange Theory, this study has developed a mediation model that explains the role of I-deals in the relationship between perceived supervisor support and employees’ discretionary behaviors (i.e., voice and silence). Using a sample of 140 Chile employees, results from our structural equation modeling, indicated that the relationship between supervisor support and employees’ voice (positive) and silence (negative) was mediated by task I-deals. However, we found that the relationship between supervisor support and employees’ voice (negative) was mediated by task I-incentive while this type of I-deals did not mediate the relationship between supervisor support and employees’ silence. This research expands the I-deals literature by focusing on the provision of I-deals to their subordinates and by analyzing the outcomes of incentive I-deals and task I-deals to employees’ discretionary behaviors. Supervisors and HR departments might utilize task I-deals to help facilitate desirable employee outcomes, namely more voice and less silence.

Driving employee organizational citizenship behaviour through CSR: An empirical study in the context of luxury hotels

In the recent years, there has been a rising interest among luxury brands to be environmentally responsible and promote employee discretionary behaviour. However, the underlying mechanisms that explain why, when, and how employees demonstrate discretionary environmental attitudes and behaviour in luxury contexts are not well-known. To accelerate this discourse; the current study examines the impact of environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment. Drawing insights from social cognitive theory, this study empirically validates a conceptual model through the data collected from 406 employees of luxury hotels and analysed using structural equation modelling. The results confirm the significant effect of environmental CSR on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment. The results also reveal that employee environmental commitment and green work engagement partially mediate the proposed relationship. Moreover, contrary to expectations, gender did not moderate the influence of environmental CSR on employee environmental commitment and employee green work engagement, whereas the relationship between environmental CSR and organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment was stronger for males than females. We argue that creative environmental CSR assignments in luxury hotel chains help employees develop engagement, identification, and commitment with the environmental strategy of the hotels towards solving grave environmental problems that modern societies are grappling with.

Mapping the Literature and Future Research Agenda of Employee Engagement: A Bibliometric Analysis of the past 20 years

Purpose: The aim of this study is to highlight the intricacies involved in the conceptualization and theorization of Employee Engagement in the past twenty years. By analyzing the antecedents and, this study aims to identify the gaps in the present literature so that future research directions can be deliberated.
 Design/methodology/approach: This research applies a bibliometric analysis approach in order to synthesize upcoming themes in the area of employee engagement.
 Findings: Employee Engagement as a concept has been widely conceptualized and mainly differentiated into two dimensions – psychological or attitudinal and behavioural. Less research has taken place on the behavioural front of the topic wherein the extra-role performance by engaged employees’ discretionary behaviour should be studied. Also, factors like the nature of work and leadership, and emotional intelligence need attention.
 Limitations: The present study has only undertaken articles and has not focused on book chapters, conference proceedings and focused on English language research papers. Also, the study excluded research studies where engagement was examined as a moderator or mediator as the emphasis was on understanding the antecedents of engagement.
 Implications: Since engagement levels have dropped in the past decade, it becomes imperative for practitioners to overhaul it’s understanding and make every employee’s experience a unique one by engaging them.

How do depositors respond to banks' discretionary behaviors? Evidence from market discipline, deposit insurance, and scale effects

We investigate how depositors respond to the U.S. bank's discretionary behaviors. We document higher deposit rates for banks that engage more in earnings management, suggesting evidence of market discipline. The quantile regressions, which dissect bank behavior at the right tail of deposit costs distribution, point out that the leveraged effect of earnings management is more significant in low- and high-deposit costs banks. Additionally, we note that depositors monitor banks' discretionary behavior to a greater extent before and during the crisis; however, they become less severe after the crisis. Interestingly, there is strong evidence of depositors monitoring large banks before, during, and after the crisis, suggesting the “too-big-to-fail” perception does not hold for our sample. The study also documents evidence of monitoring by insured and uninsured depositors over the sample period. After the crisis, we find a “wake-up call” for uninsured depositors, and more importantly, insured depositors remain sensitive to banks' reporting quality despite a weakening of incentives due to the increase of deposit insurance limit. The evidence is crucial when confirming that a deposit insurance scheme does not completely remove the deposit discipline. Our findings are useful for regulators and policymakers concerned about strengthening the market discipline.

Peers’ unethical behavior and employees' discretionary behavior: Role of employees’ duty orientation

As unethical behavior is of significant concern for organizations, this study examines the effect of peers’ unethical behavior (PUB) in the hospitality sector. Though earlier research suggests the impact of PUB on employees’ ethical intentions, the influence of PUB on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and interpersonal deviance (ID) is unexplored. To address this gap, this study uses social learning theory and social information process theory to examine the effect of PUB on OCB and ID through psychological safety as a mediating mechanism and duty orientation as a moderating variable. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling on a three-wave (time lag) survey of a sample of 316 frontline employees in the hotel industry, findings suggest PUB reduces employees’ perception of psychological safety and subsequently reduces OCB and enhances ID. However, high-duty orientation helps to mitigate the negative effect of PUB on employees’ OCB and IDs. The paper concludes with suggestions to reduce unethical behavior and create a positive work context.

Impact of corporate social responsibility on employees’ attractiveness in hospitality industry

This study begins the conversation on the impact that applicant CSR orientation has on a major phase of workforce development—employer attractiveness. There is also virtually no research that investigates CSRO and workforce development. Meanwhile, this present research effort provides evidence that there is some basic relationship between CSRO and employer attractiveness. The data comes from 280 participants who are interested in joining the hospitality and tourism industries in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results showed that all four dimensions are significant predictors of employers‘ attractiveness. More specifically, the ethical aspect of CSR has a stronger impact on employers’ attractiveness, whereas discretionary behavior in CSR has the least impact. The implications for academicians, researchers, and managers in the hospitality industry are given in detail.

Impact of corporate social responsibility on employees’ attractiveness in hospitality industry

This study begins the conversation on the impact that applicant CSR orientation has on a major phase of workforce development—employer attractiveness. There is also virtually no research that investigates CSRO and workforce development. Meanwhile, this present research effort provides evidence that there is some basic relationship between CSRO and employer attractiveness. The data comes from 280 participants who are interested in joining the hospitality and tourism industries in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results showed that all four dimensions are significant predictors of employers‘ attractiveness. More specifically, the ethical aspect of CSR has a stronger impact on employers’ attractiveness, whereas discretionary behavior in CSR has the least impact. The implications for academicians, researchers, and managers in the hospitality industry are given in detail.

A project-as-practice perspective on helping behavior and reciprocity in an inter-organizational project

Much research on project management links clear roles and responsibilities stemming from formal job descriptions to successful project performance and processes. However, research on discretionary behavior suggests that individuals’ voluntary commitments, which are not part of the contractual tasks, such as giving help, also contribute to organizational success. Drawing on ethnographic data and a practice theoretical perspective, we investigate the role and impact of helping on the social life of an inter-organizational project. We show how actors engaging in acts of helping assume roles of receivers and givers of help. We show that the establishment of these roles prompts behavior on behalf of the actors, which may have an adversarial impact on the contractually defined roles and thus pose central challenges for the rational management of projects. We conclude by arguing that the connection between practice and social life applies to all social practices, which means that project managers should pay close attention to the actualities of project practices.

The Influence of Job Security and Psychological Contract Fulfilment on Organisational Citizenship Behaviour in Indian Private Life Insurance Sector

The goal of the article is to empirically link the employment security to the employee’s organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) with examining the impact of psychological contract fulfilment (PCF). The discretionary behaviour of the employees towards the organisation and towards other employees of the organisation is very crucial as this is the element which affects the productivity of the employees in the organisation and how much an employee is attached to his organisation is related to his OCB which he exhibits. This study proposes to interpret and examine the associations between psychological contract and OCB and job security (JS) in the Indian Life Insurance sector so as to raise the light for the managers in Life Insurance sector to improve JS, providing a better experience in terms of psychological contract which will improve their citizenship behaviour. The Life Insurance companies are at a struggle point of retaining their talented manpower as this sector is the budding sector of India which is growing at a rate of 32% annually. For this, promising the JS is the tool in their hand which will directly impact their OCB also and hence their performance will also boost up. Data was collected from 288 full time employees of private life insurance companies and then structural equation modelling was applied to study the relationship. The results demonstrate the positive and significant relationship of JS and PCF on the OCB in the private life insurance sector.

The Influence Of Social Support, Work Engagement And Organizational Citizenship Behavior On Work Commitment Of Medical Workers

Organizational citizenship behavior is discretionary behavior that plays a role in the psychological and social environment at work. A successful organization or company definitely needs workers who can be responsible and work harder than expected. This can also affect a nurse's professional commitment. This research aims to find out how work involvement and social support influence professional commitment and organizational citizenship behavior with research subjects at general hospitals. This research uses a quantitative approach using purposive sampling techniques to determine the sample size of 100 people. Data was collected using a questionnaire, which was then analyzed using path analysis. The results of this research show that path one, or sub-structural one, namely work involvement and social support, has a significant influence on professional commitment, both simultaneously and partially. Work participation, social support, and professional commitment the outcomes of route or sub-structural two have a major impact on organizational citizenship behavior, partially and simultaneously.

It’s about time (management)!: Role overload as a bridge explaining relationships between helping, voice, and objective sales performance

Although organizations benefit from employees’ discretionary behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), there are personal costs associated with these behaviors. These can include work-related strains that lead to negative job performance consequences. We develop and test a conceptual model to explain why these negative consequences emerge, and among which employees they may be most likely. Building from the implications of resource allocation theory, we frame role overload (i.e., insufficient time to complete work tasks) as a mediator of the indirect relationships between discretionary behaviors and downstream objective sales performance, and time management skill as a moderator of this indirect relationship. In a lagged, multi-source field study of 302 sales employees, and 74 supervisors, we find that time management skill can offset experienced role overload associated with helping and voice behaviors. These results speak to the critical role of resource allocation competence for predicting downstream objective sales performance consequences associated with discretionary behaviors like helping and voice. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our results.

What Can Reform Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Unwarranted Discretionary Behaviors? Principles? Principals? Or Both?

In this paper, we ask whether principles—relevant institutions, including administrative reform, legal and judicial support, and information and communication technology (ICT)—and principals—ordinary people that are capable, knowledgeable, and willing—can help enhance accountability of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) by mitigating unwarranted discretionary behaviors. We examined the New York City Police Department by constructing and analyzing a unique dataset drawn from multiple sources and by using the SLB literature to inform our empirical model specification. Fixed effects regression analysis revealed the potential of principles and principals in motivating or reducing police officers’ use of force resulting in substantiated civilian complaints. Specifically, proactive policing strategies, exonerated civilian complaint dispositions, court summons following arrests, and ICT are the principles, and a low-poverty population served by police are the principals we found to influence discretionary police behavior.

The effects of leaders’ economic and stakeholder values on subordinates’ discretionary behaviors as antecedents of perceived ethical leadership: a multilevel investigation

The effects of leaders’ economic and stakeholder values on subordinates’ discretionary behaviors as antecedents of perceived ethical leadership: a multilevel investigation

Prioritizing exceptional social needs. Experimental evidence on the role of discrimination and client deservingness in public employees’ and citizens’ discretionary behavior

This study examines how public employees and citizens exercise administrative discretion in a dilemma. To identify and compare the moral reasoning underlying discretionary choices, we conducted a conjoint experiment among public employees, future civil servants, and lay citizens in Germany. In the conjoint, respondents were forced to prioritize between two equally eligible welfare claimants. Claimants’ profiles vary concerning attributes reflecting earned-deservingness (e.g., non-self-inflicted welfare dependency), need-deservingness (e.g., dependent children), and attributes that can be used for unlawful discrimination (e.g., nationality). While some signs of discrimination exist, need-deservingness is the most important factor shaping respondents’ prioritization choices. More importantly, we find no substantial differences in prioritization choices among public employees and citizens, indicating congruence in moral reasoning. From these findings, we conclude that efforts to reflect on national prejudices in the education of civil servants should be intensified, and a renewed emphasis on administrative ethics is required to equip public employees with the ability to make impartial yet balanced judgments in administrative dilemmas.

It’s Not You, It’s Me: Investigating the Consequences of Abusive Supervision and the Moderating Role of Impostorism

ABSTRACT The literature on abusive supervision continues to link it to multiple negative workplace outcomes. Yet, much work remains in unraveling the pathways linking abusive supervision to employees’ responses to the perceived abuse. The present study investigated the moderating effects of the impostor phenomenon on employees’ discretionary behaviors when abusive supervision is perceived. Findings from two studies reveal that employees who experience high levels of impostorism feelings indicate they may be more likely to engage in organizational citizenship behaviors and refrain from counterproductive work behaviors than employees who experience low levels of impostorism feelings. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.