Multi-wave Studies Research Articles

Upward leader-member exchange social comparison and organizational citizenship behaviour: the mediating role of interpersonal justice and moderating role of competitive climate

ABSTRACT Our research aims to extend the understanding of how and when leader – member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) influences followers’ work behaviour. Although previous research has highlighted the positive effects of downward LMXSC (i.e. comparisons with co-workers who have poorer LMX relationships), much less is known about upward LMXSC (i.e. comparisons with co-workers who have higher LMX). To address this gap, the present study explores the effects of upward LMXSC on follower organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) beyond downward LMXSC. Across two multisource (i.e. leaders and followers) and multi-wave studies, we observed a negative, indirect relationship between upward LMXSC and leader-rated OCB through perceived interpersonal justice. This relationship was found controlling for downward LMXSC, suggesting that upward LMXSC has unique effects on employee behaviour via feelings of interpersonal (in)justice. Furthermore, the negative relationship between upward LMXSC and interpersonal justice was accentuated by employee-perceived competitive climate in both studies. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Coping with work-nonwork stressors over time: A person-centered, multistudy integration of coping breadth and depth.

Coping is a dynamic response to stressors that employees encounter in their work and nonwork roles. Scholars have argued that it is not just whether employees cope with work-nonwork stressors-but how they cope-that matters. Indeed, prior research assumes that adaptive coping strategies-planning, prioritizing, positive reframing, seeking emotional and instrumental support-are universally beneficial, suggesting that sustaining high levels of these strategies is ideal. By returning to the roots of coping theory, we adopt a person-centered, dynamic approach using latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis across three multiwave studies (N = 1,370) to consider whether employees combine coping strategies and how remaining in or shifting between such combinations also matters. In a pilot study (N = 361), we explored profiles and their transitions during a time frame punctuated with macrolevel transitions that amplified employees' work-nonwork stressors (i.e., COVID-19), which revealed three profiles at Time 1 (comprehensive copers, emotion-focused copers, and individualistic copers) and a fourth profile at Time 2 (surviving copers). In Study 1 (N = 648), across all three time points, we replicated three profiles and found evidence for constrained copers instead of emotion-focused copers. In Study 2 (N = 361), across both time points, we replicated all four profiles from Study 1 and tested hypotheses regarding the profiles, their transition patterns, and implications of such patterns for work, well-being, and social functioning outcomes. Altogether, our work suggests that maintaining high-coping depth or increasing depth is generally beneficial, whereas maintaining or increasing coping breadth is generally harmful. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

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).

Wearing different hats enriches "outside the box" thinking: Examining the relationship between personal life activity breadth and creativity at work.

People wear many salient hats across the different parts of their lives and recent advances in the work-life literature have called attention to the necessary addition of personal life activities to be studied as a unique facet of nonwork to better understand interrole relationships. We therefore draw on enrichment theory to examine why and when employees' participation in personal life activities can positively influence creativity at work through nonwork cognitive developmental resources. Moreover, by integrating insights from construal level theory, this research sheds new light on the ways people think about their personal life activities as playing a discernible role in how people can generate and/or apply resources from their activities. Results of two multiwave studies revealed that people who tend to engage in a greater breadth of personal life activities can gain nonwork cognitive developmental resources (i.e., skills, knowledge, and perspectives) that, in turn, enhance their creativity at work. Personal life construal level also moderated the resource generation stage of enrichment, but not resource application to work; people who adopted lower construal level (i.e., more concretely: how they do activities) were more likely to generate cognitive developmental resources from their participation in personal life activities versus those with higher construal level (i.e., more abstractly: why they do activities). This research meets at the convergence of real-world trends on parallel "work" and "nonwork" sides of the interface as well as offers novel and nuanced theoretical insights into instrumental personal life-to-work enrichment processes which can benefit employees and organizations alike. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

When and how ESM affects creativity: The role of communication visibility and employee agility in a cross-cultural setting

Drawing on insights from communication visibility theory, the primary objective of this research was to evaluate the associations between ESM usage and employee creativity through employee agility. Furthermore, we explore the moderating role of communication visibility on our theorized relationships. Our results are based on two cross-cultural and multi-wave studies. Study 1 (N = 233) was conducted in the collectivistic culture of the Peoples' Republic of China, where three-wave data were obtained from workers employed by a range of organizations utilizing ESM technology at work. We replicated our findings in Study 2 (N = 215), using two-wave data from employees in the United States (an individualistic culture). The findings reveal positive correlations between ESM usage and employee agility, and ESM usage and employee creativity while employee agility was found as an important underlying psychological process in the association between ESM usage and employee creativity. In addition, communication visibility has shown significant moderating effects on some of our hypothesized relationships. We discuss how our findings can help organizations and managers better understand ESM usage and the implications for both employee agility and creativity.

Socially responsible human resource management and employee green behavior at work: the role of learning goal orientation and moral identity

Drawing on self-regulation theory, we developed and tested a model to investigate the positive correlation between socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) and employee workplace green behavior (WGB). We tested and found support for our theoretical model using multi-wave studies within one organization and across multiple organizations. Based on a sample of 261 employees from a food chain company (Study 1) and 259 employees from 43 organizations (Study 2), we identified a direct relationship between SRHRM and employee WGB and an indirect relationship mediated by learning goal orientation and moral identity. Additionally, coworker support moderated the effects of SRHRM on learning goal orientation and moral identity. These conclusions provide a new entry point for exploring why SRHRM affects employee WGB.

They were uncivil, and now I am too: A dual process model exploring relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility.

Incivility from customers is a common occurrence for employees working in service-oriented organizations. Typically, such incivility engenders instigated mistreatment, both towards customers and colleagues. Not much is understood, however, about the mechanisms underlying the relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility. Answering recent calls from incivility scholars, the present research, drawing from Self-Regulatory Resource Theory and Stressor-Emotion models of workplace behaviour, explored cognitive (i.e., self-regulatory resource depletion) and affective (i.e., negative affect) pathways that would explain relations between customer incivility and instigated incivility towards others. Through two multi-wave studies with different time lags (N1 =180, weekly lags; N2 =192, within-week lags) and different operationalizations of the instigated incivility construct (i.e., broad [unidimensional] and narrow [multidimensional]), we find consistent support for the mediating effects of the affective pathway. While our first study finds that customer incivility is linked to broad instigated incivility through negative affect, our second study finds that customer incivility is linked to, more specifically, gossip, exclusionary behaviour, and hostility through negative affect. In both studies, however, no support was found for the mediating effects of the cognitive pathway. Implications for both research and practice are discussed, and future research directions are offered.

Financially insecure and less ethical: Understanding why and when financial insecurity inhibits ethical leadership

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, among other crises (e.g., Russia–Ukraine conflicts and recession projections) threatening organizations’ financial conditions across the globe, supervisors may not only encounter challenges such as job cuts that test their ethical leadership, but also experience financial insecurity themselves. However, our knowledge of why and when supervisors’ ethical leadership behaviors may be affected in such a situation remains quite limited. In this research, we draw on uncertainty management theory (UMT) to examine the potential influence of financial insecurity on ethical leadership. Specifically, we suggest that financial insecurity triggers anxiety in supervisors, which inhibits their demonstration of ethical leadership. We also propose organizational pay fairness as a boundary condition for this process, such that supervisors who perceive their pay as fair are less susceptible to the anxiety resulting from financial insecurity than those who perceive their pay as unfair. Results from two multi-source, multi-wave studies supported our hypothesized model. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

ESM Usage, Employee Agility, and Creativity: Role of Communication Visibility in a Multi-Wave Cross-

Despite the increasing popularity of enterprise social media (ESM) technology in the workplace, little research has explored the relationship between its usage and employee creativity. Drawing on insights from communication visibility theory, this study investigates the relationship between ESM usage and employee creativity via employee agility. The study further explores the moderating role of communication visibility. Our results are based on two cross-cultural and multi-wave studies. Study 1 (N = 233) was conducted in the Peoples’ Republic of China, where three-wave data were collected from employees working in a variety of organizations utilizing ESM technology at work. We replicated our findings in Study 2 (N = 215), using two-wave data from employees in the United States of America (USA). The results reveal a positive relationship between ESM usage and employee agility, and subsequently, employee creativity in organizations. In addition, communication visibility has shown significant moderating effects on some of our hypothesized relationships. We discuss how our findings can help organizations and managers better understand ESM usage and the implications for both employee agility and creativity.

Encouraging Better Treatments Through Macro Faultlines

Drawing upon demography and intergroup relations theory, we introduce the novel construct of macro-faultlines that separate groups of interdependent organizations into distinct subgroups of organizations based on their similar demographic and intrapersonal profiles. We test these ideas in three multi-level, multi-source, and multi-wave studies spanning 10 years of research based on national samples of substance abuse disorder (SUD) treatment centers, organized into regionally selected groups of organizations intended as collaborative platforms for the execution of clinical trials. We found that faultlines based on employee life events (e.g., addiction) overpowered demographic faultlines in their effects on adoption of innovation. Divides within client populations (e.g., relapse status) encouraged innovation via information availability, whereas divides within employee populations discourage innovation. Finally, both employee and client-based faultlines were related to increased adoption of evidence-based treatments over a ten-year period. Implications for innovative responses to the opioid epidemic and substance abuse treatment in general are discussed.

Why should I let them know? Effects of workplace incivility and cynicism on employee knowledge hiding behavior under the control of ethical leadership

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine if individual cynicism mediates the relationship between workplace incivility (WI) and knowledge hiding (KH). Additionally, it is examined whether ethical leadership has a moderating role regarding the effect of WI on KH.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two multi-wave studies, each with two times of data collection. Study 1 included data from 390 members of 30 teams from knowledge-intensive organizations. In study 2, data was collected from 437 software professionals working in diverse organizations.FindingsResults showed that cynicism mediated the impact of WI on KH. Furthermore, the positive direct and indirect effect of WI on KH was shown to be moderated by perceived ethical leadership such that high ethical leadership mitigates the effects.Originality/valueThis study extends the research on knowledge management by explaining a new mechanism and framework in which KH can occur and provides important practical recommendations for human resource managers to contribute to the overall organization's success.

Emerging Marketing Research on Healthcare and Medical Decision Making: Toward a Consumer-Centric and Pluralistic Methodological Perspective

Emerging Marketing Research on Healthcare and Medical Decision Making: Toward a Consumer-Centric and Pluralistic Methodological Perspective

Leadership Styles and Psychological Empowerment: A Meta-Analysis

Psychological empowerment has become a popular construct in organizational research and practice. Leadership ranks high among the best predictors of employees’ psychological empowerment, yet little is known about which leadership styles prove more effective than others. This meta-analysis investigates the effects of four leadership styles on psychological empowerment. More specifically, we test whether empowering leadership evokes more psychological empowerment than transformational leadership, servant leadership, or transactional leadership. We found that empowering, transformational and servant leadership contribute almost equally to psychological empowerment. No relationship was found with transactional leadership. In an explorative manner, we tested the effects on the different dimensions of psychological empowerment. We found that the leadership styles had a weaker influence on the competence dimension of psychological empowerment. We also investigated the effects of several moderators on the relationships with psychological empowerment: country culture (power balanced freedom (PBF)), study design (cross-sectional vs. multi-wave studies) and publication status (published vs. unpublished). We found no moderating effects of culture, which indicates the universally empowering effects of the leadership styles. The relationships between leadership and empowerment were somewhat weaker when data were collected at different measurement points, and publication bias does not seem to be an issue in this research field.

Voice as a Signal of Human and Social Capital in Team Assembly Decisions

Team membership in today’s open talent economy is more fluid and interchangeable than ever before. In light of these dynamics, we consider how team members’ signaling of human and social capital, in the form of challenging or supportive voice, informs our understanding of how individuals across an organizational network self-assemble into temporary work teams. We test our hypotheses in two separate multiwave studies and find support for our hypotheses above and beyond the effects of homophily. In Study 1, we find support for a human capital pathway in which challenging voice in a team fosters perceptions of quality work that enhance one’s personal reputation in the broader network. Personal reputation, in turn, predicts team assembly decisions. In Study 2, we consider a social capital pathway alongside the human capital pathway. We find that supportive voice in a team fosters friendship that enhances the extent to which one is trusted in the broader network, and trust subsequently influences team assembly decisions. Potential team members appear to prioritize the social capital signaled by supportive voice more so than the human capital signaled by challenging voice, although those who possess both human and social capital are also highly sought during team formation. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literatures on voice and team assembly.

Assessing the state of the art in longitudinal L2 pronunciation research

Abstract Longitudinal research methods often call to mind studies of various lengths. However, longitudinal research involves complex decisions related to study length, number of sessions, and session spacing, and these longitudinal choices must be coordinated with other aspects of research methodology. In this synthesis, I analyze 39 longitudinal L2 pronunciation studies that were published between 2006 and 2021 and did not include a pronunciation-specific intervention. I examine longitudinal design choices in light of participant sample characteristics such as age and context of learning, and measurement framework characteristics, which include choices related to target structures and tasks. Among other findings, results point to a lack of longer-term, multiwave studies dealing with pronunciation development. I offer suggestions for future work that can enhance the scope of L2 pronunciation research as well as recommendations for conducting and reporting longitudinal research.

Identities as Resources: The Role of External Relational Identification in Newcomer Socialization

Although research regarding socialization processes recognizes the importance of organizational identification for newcomer adjustment outcomes, it has less frequently considered the impact of newcomer identification with targets external to the organization. Through two multi-wave studies, we investigate whether relational identification with identities external to the organization can be beneficial for socialization outcomes. We found that stronger relational identification with identities external to the organization is positively related to job engagement through the dual mediation of social support and psychological well-being, a relationship we explain through Conservation of Resources Theory. At a time when newcomers are expending resources and may not have a support system inside the organization, important identities foster success through building a resource base of support available to the newcomer. These external resources encourage well-being and free newcomers to invest in becoming physically, emotionally, and cognitively engaged with their new jobs. Our research suggests that external relational identities are a neglected and important element influencing the socialization process.

A Social Learning Perspective on the Trickle-Down of Psychological Empowerment from Supervisor to Subordinate

Abstract. Because of its relevance for organizations and their employees, psychological empowerment (PE) has received a great deal of attention in research and practice. Supervisors play an important role in the promotion of subordinates’ PE. In the present article, and on the basis of social learning theory, we examine how the supervisor’s perceived and self-reported PE influence the subordinate’s PE. The results of two multi-wave studies involving more than 1,000 participants suggest that the supervisor’s perceived PE can predict the subordinate’s PE. The supervisor’s self-reported PE did not affect the subordinate’s PE: PE does not seem to trickle down from supervisor to subordinate. The relationship between the supervisor’s perceived PE and the subordinate’s PE was stronger when trust in the supervisor was higher. Supervisors who want to promote subordinates’ PE through modeling should therefore ensure that they are perceived as psychologically empowered and invest in relationships of trust with their subordinates.

Mental health problems in the general population during and after the first lockdown phase due to the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic: rapid review of multi-wave studies.

The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic and the lockdown response are assumed to have increased mental health problems in general populations compared to pre-pandemic times. The aim of this paper is to review studies on the course of mental health problems during and after the first lockdown phase. We conducted a rapid review of multi-wave studies in general populations with time points during and after the first lockdown phase. Repeated cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that utilised validated instruments were included. The main outcome was whether indicators of mental health problems have changed during and after the first lockdown phase. The study was registered with PROSPERO No. CRD42020218640. Twenty-three studies with 56 indicators were included in the qualitative review. Studies that reported data from pre-pandemic assessments through lockdown indicated an increase in mental health problems. During lockdown, no uniform trend could be identified. After lockdown, mental health problems decreased slightly. As mental health care utilisation indicators and data on suicides do not suggest an increase in demand during the first lockdown phase, we regard the increase in mental health problems as general distress that is to be expected during a global health crisis. Several methodological, pandemic-related, response-related and health policy-related factors need to be considered when trying to gain a broader perspective on the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and the first phase of lockdown on general populations' mental health.

The impact of leader moral humility on follower moral self-efficacy and behavior.

This study utilizes social-cognitive theory, humble leadership theory, and the behavioral ethics literature to theoretically develop the concept of leader moral humility and its effects on followers. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model wherein leader moral humility and follower implicit theories about morality interact to predict follower moral efficacy, which in turn increases follower prosocial behavior and decreases follower unethical behavior. We furthermore suggest that these effects are strongest when followers hold an incremental implicit theory of morality (i.e., believing that one's morality is malleable). We test and find support for our theoretical model using two multiwave studies with Eastern (Study 1) and Western (Study 2) samples. Furthermore, we demonstrate that leader moral humility predicts follower moral efficacy and moral behaviors above and beyond the effects of ethical leadership and leader general humility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Opposing Affective and Cognitive Effects of Prevention Focus on Counterproductive Work Behavior

Purpose Regulatory focus is a crucial self-regulation variable that influences employee workplace behavior. However, research findings to date have been equivocal with respect to the relation of prevention focus with counterproductive work behavior (CWB). On the one hand, prevention focus sensitizes people to experience high activation negative emotions. Such emotions prompt aggressive behavior, suggesting a positive relation of prevention focus with CWB through this affective route. On the other hand, prevention focus also sensitizes people to fulfill obligations and abide by rules. Such obligations align employee behavior with organizational norms, suggesting a negative relation of prevention focus with CWB through this cognitive route. To better understand the nature of this prevention focus–CWB relationship, we examined these underlying affective and cognitive mechanisms simultaneously in two multi-wave studies.