Proactive Motivation Research Articles

Does Angry Temperament Undermine the Beneficial Effects of Expatriates' Proactive Personality?

Personal proactivity and emotional self‐regulation have been shown to be central aspects in a successful international relocation process. However, we do not know how these elements function in combination. Drawing from the proactive motivation model, we examine if and how low emotional self‐regulation, in the form of angry temperament, interacts with proactive personality in the prediction of expatriate performance outcomes. Results from regression analyses based on a sample of 531 business expatriates in East Asia confirm our proposed moderated mediation model. Thus, findings indicate that angry temperament inhibits the beneficial effects of proactive personality on time to proficiency. Moreover, results suggest that time to proficiency functions as a mediator in the relationship between proactive personality and performance. This mediation effect was found to be conditional and accordingly hinges on the level of expatriates' angry temperament. Our research implies that organizations should consider expatriates' personality and particularly assess proactive personality and angry temperament in selection processes.

Enjoy your evening, be proactive tomorrow: How off-job experiences shape daily proactivity.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989) and the model of proactive motivation (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010), this research employs experience sampling methods to examine how employees' off-job experiences during the evening relate to their proactive behavior at work the next day. A multilevel path analysis of data from 183 employees across 10 workdays indicated that various types of off-job experiences in the evening had differential effects on daily proactive behavior during the subsequent workday, and the psychological mechanisms underlying these varied relationships were distinct. Specifically, off-job mastery in the evening related positively to next-morning high-activated positive affect and role breadth self-efficacy, off-job agency in the evening related positively to next-morning role breadth self-efficacy and desire for control, and off-job hassles in the evening related negatively to next-morning high-activated positive affect; next-morning high-activated positive affect, role breadth self-efficacy, and desire for control, in turn, predicted next-day proactive behavior. Off-job relaxation in the evening related positively to next-morning low-activated positive affect, and off-job detachment in the evening had a decreasingly positive curvilinear relationship with next-morning low-activated positive affect. However, as expected, these two types of off-job experiences and low-activated positive affect did not relate to next-day proactive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Customer-Initiated Support and Employees’ PCSP: An Examination of Proactive Motivation as Mediator

Customer-Initiated Support and Employees’ PCSP: An Examination of Proactive Motivation as Mediator

Sustainable Human Resource Management Nurtures Change-Oriented Employees: Relationship between High-Commitment Work Systems and Employees’ Taking Charge Behaviors

In today’s business world, the environment is changing rapidly. Employers need to rely upon their employees in order to produce long-term competitive advantage and sustainable performance. However, little research has investigated whether sustainable human resource management could prompt change-oriented behaviors in employees. By integrating the job demands–resources (JD-R) model and the proactive motivation model with the existing literature on sustainable human resource management, we explored the relationship between high-commitment work systems (HCWS) and the employees’ taking charge behaviors. Data from 352 employees of 96 organizations provided support for the positive effect of HCWS on the employees’ taking charge behaviors. The results of this study showed that HCWS affect the employees’ taking charge behaviors through their work engagement only when they felt a high level of impact. Based on these results, we not only provide several theoretical contributions to the literature on HCWS and taking charge, but also provide some practical suggestions for how to nurture change-oriented employees using sustainable human resource management within the organizations.

How leader secure-base support facilitates hotel employees’ promotive and prohibitive voices

PurposeThis study aims to extend the prior literature on voice behavior by integrating leader secure-base support, psychological capital (PsyCap) and regulatory foci with promotive and prohibitive voices. The current research draws on the notions of the proactive motivation model and regulatory focus to provide insights into why and when the influences of PsyCap on a certain type of voice are determined by its relevant regulatory focus.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a sample of 278 supervisor–subordinate dyads from Taiwan hotels. Hypothesis tests were conducted using AMOS 21.0 and the SPSS application PROCESS (Hayes, 2013).FindingsThe current study determined that PsyCap mediated the positive relationships between leader secure-base support and two types of voices. Promotion focus moderated the relationships between PsyCap and promotive voice and the indirect effect of leader secure-base support on promotive voice. This indirect relationship is more pronounced when promotion focus is low than when it is high.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has a few implications for future research. First, the use of PsyCap to explain the voice behavior of employees may extend the application of the proactive motivation model. Second, leader secure-base support should be viewed as a promising leadership behavior owing to its value as a PsyCap predictor. Third, results show that PsyCap can mediate the relationship between such support and two types of voices. Finally, incorporating the concept of ecological congruence provides improved insights into the role of regulatory foci.Originality/valueFirst, this study extends the notions of the proactive motivation model by elucidating the effects of PsyCap on promotive and prohibitive voices. Second, our findings indicate that leader secure-base support can enhance PsyCap, which in turn facilitate voice behaviors in hotel work settings. Finally, his study contributes to theory of regulatory focus by integrating the notion of Hobfoll’s (1998) ecological congruence to explain how each of the promotion and prevention focus can determine the path from PsyCap to different types of voices.

Received Respect and Constructive Voice: The Roles of Proactive Motivation and Perspective Taking

This study advances voice research by offering a social-relational view of the drivers of voice, a theoretical approach to voice that is seldom considered within the current paradigm largely focused on personality traits, job conditions, and organizational characteristics. One overlooked yet important social-relational antecedent of voice is received respect. Our core premise is that when employees believe they are respected by coworkers, they experience psychological changes to their control beliefs (representing “can-do” proactive motivation) and positive mood (representing “energized-to” proactive motivation), which then motivate voice. We further consider another social-relational variable—perspective taking—as a predictor of received respect and therefore as an indirect predictor of voice. Through a multimethod, multisample research program comprising four studies (two experiments involving more than 400 subjects in total, a sample involving more than 700 matched employee-coworker and subordinate-supervisor dyads, and a 9-week within-person field investigation of more than 400 university alumni), we provide evidence to support the proposed model. That is, received respect was associated with employees’ voice through control beliefs and positive mood, and perspective taking was a prominent predictor of received respect.

Proactivity towards workplace safety improvement: an investigation of its motivational drivers and organizational outcomes

ABSTRACTInitiating a safety oriented change—or safety initiative—is conceptually distinct from other forms of safety participation and safety citizenship behaviour, yet little attention has been given to its performance outcomes or its motivational antecedents. An initial study with a sample composed of middle managers (N = 86) showed that safety initiative predicted objective improvement actions 6 months later, whereas, showing differential validity, safety compliance predicted the implementation of monitoring actions. Two subsequent studies focused on motivational antecedents. First, using a sample of team leaders (N = 295), we tested a higher-order structure of proactive motivation that incorporates three domains: “can do”, “reason to” and future orientation. Second, in a longitudinal study of chemical work operators (N = 188), after checking for the influence of potential confounders (past behaviours; accidents experience; perceived risk), we showed that safety initiative was predicted only by proactive motivation. Instead, safety compliance was found to be associated with affective commitment and scrupulousness, whereas safety helping was found to be associated with affective commitment. Self-reported behaviours were validated against rater assessments. This study supports the importance of distinguishing safety initiative from other safety behaviours, indicating how to create an organizational context supporting a proactive management of workplace safety.

Not Too Tired to be Proactive: Daily Empowering Leadership Spurs Next-morning Employee Proactivity as Moderated by Nightly Sleep Quality

Building on the Model of Proactive Motivation, we hypothesize that a leader’s daily empowering leadership behaviors function as a motivator for employees to display a greater amount of proactive go...

Impact of benevolent leadership on follower taking charge

PurposeThe topic of employees’ taking charge behaviors has garnered increasing interest in both practical and academic fields. Leaders play a critical role in influencing followers’ taking charge behaviors, yet few studies have explored the predicting role of benevolent leadership. Drawing from proactive motivation literature, this paper aims to investigate a moderated mediation model that examines work engagement as the mediator and role-breadth self-efficacy as the moderator in the relationship between benevolent leadership and taking charge.Design/methodology/approachMatched data were collected from 297 followers and their group leaders in three subsidiaries of a large telecommunication company in China. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that benevolent leadership was positively related to followers’ work engagement and consequently their taking charge behaviors. Moreover, such moderated mediation relationship was stronger among followers who had low rather than high levels of role-breadth self-efficacy.Research limitations/implicationsThe primary contribution of this study is building a contingent model for the effect of benevolent leadership on follower taking charge and thereby extending the nomological networks of both benevolent leadership and taking charge literatures. Another contribution is that this research provides a new perspective to understand how leadership leads to followers’ taking charge behaviors.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate how and when benevolent leadership predicts follower taking charge.

Idiosyncratic deals and taking charge: The roles of psychological empowerment and organizational tenure

Taking charge has been promoted as an effective proactive behavior for improving work efficiency in organizations. Building on the proactive motivation model and human capital theory, our primary purpose in this study was to investigate how and when idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) promote recipients' taking charge. We collected data from 237 employees and found that receiving i-deals had a positive effect on recipients' taking charge, psychological empowerment mediated the relationship between i-deals and taking charge, and organizational tenure moderated the mediation effect, which became stronger as tenure increased. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Perceptions of Discretion in Street-Level Public Service: Examining Administrative Governance in Romania

ABSTRACTStreet-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implementation, often occupying unique positions that encompass executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Osborne’s concept of the New Public Governance addresses concepts of policy implementation and interpretive activities that characterize street-level bureaucracy. Current understanding of street-level bureaucracy is, however, dominated by research focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which demonstrate differences from countries in Eastern Europe. This study uses survey data to examine street-level bureaucracy in Romania, with attention to the determinants of bureaucratic perceptions of discretion. Results indicate that proactive personality, prosocial motivation, autonomy, job satisfaction, and years of experience are related to individual perceptions of discretionary latitude among front-line workers.

Off-Job Experiences and Daily Proactive Behavior

Drawing on self-regulatory resource theory (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) and the model of proactive motivation (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010), we examined how employees’ off-job experiences during...

Increasing middle school students’ awareness and interest in manufacturing through digital game‐based learning (DGBL)

AbstractThe change of the societal appeal of manufacturing among younger generations is a key element in order to address the talent shortage that is currently affecting the sector. In order to pursue this objective, the use of interactive learning environments such as digital games (DGs) can play an important role. Therefore, this paper presents the results of an exploratory study aimed at understanding the impact of digital game‐based learning (DGBL) on the awareness and interest of middle school students in manufacturing. In particular, the students had to deal with the management of EcoFactory, a simplified industrial plant where they had to take care of the main decisions that are typical in the modern manufacturing industry. The study was based on a pre‐test–post‐test quasi‐experimental design conducted in a public middle school in Northern Italy. The research triangulated the results of different methodologies, namely drawings analysis and questionnaires. The results showed a significant impact of the DG both on the awareness and interest of participants, especially in the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Thus, the outcomes revealed the high potential that DGs have in explaining the complex concepts that are typical of manufacturing and in enhancing students’ proactive motivation toward them. Finally, implications and suggestions for further research derived from these findings are discussed.

Corporate social and environmental reporting practices

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) practices and motivations in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed-methods approach, the paper attempts to understand what corporate social and environmental issues Bangladeshi firms are reporting and why. The paper first explores the motivations for CSER in line with O’Dwyer’s (2003) proposed classifications of proactive and reactive motivations through interviews and frames its findings using stakeholder theory. To provide a more holistic view, content analysis adapted from CSR Asia (2008) categorization (broadly guided by GRI) was conducted to enhance findings from engagement-based interviews with managers.FindingsThe paper finds that “community investment and development” and “governance codes and policies” received the highest amount of disclosure, while the least amount of disclosure was found in the “workplace/human rights” category. Although a philanthropic tone was found behind “community investment”, such as poverty alleviation activities, disclosure in this area is mostly motivated by proactive rationales with enlightened self-interest and image-building activities. In terms of reactive motivations underpinning CSER, the paper finds that companies also report reactively to reduce pressure from powerful stakeholders such as international buyers and government agencies. Contrary to other studies regarding reactive motivations, the authors argue that a director’s proactive motivation is the prime determinant of CSER in a developing country. They also argue that low-level disclosures on workplace environment/human rights need to be given more importance by policymakers, management and other relevant stakeholders.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is one of the few engagement-based field studies that uses a mixed-methods approach to seek managerial perspectives in an attempt to understand CSER practices in an emerging country context.

Psychological processes in young bullies versus bully-victims.

Some children who bully others are also victimized themselves (“bully‐victims”) whereas others are not victimized themselves (“bullies”). These subgroups have been shown to differ in their social functioning as early as in kindergarten. What is less clear are the motives that underlie the bullying behavior of young bullies and bully‐victims. The present study examined whether bullies have proactive motives for aggression and anticipate to feel happy after victimizing others, whereas bully‐victims have reactive motives for aggression, poor theory of mind skills, and attribute hostile intent to others. This “distinct processes hypothesis” was contrasted with the “shared processes hypothesis,” predicting that bullies and bully‐victims do not differ on these psychological processes. Children (n = 283, age 4–9) were classified as bully, bully‐victim, or noninvolved using peer‐nominations. Theory of mind, hostile intent attributions, and happy victimizer emotions were assessed using standard vignettes and false‐belief tasks; reactive and proactive motives were assessed using teacher‐reports. We tested our hypotheses using Bayesian model selection, enabling us to directly compare the distinct processes model (predicting that bullies and bully‐victims deviate from noninvolved children on different psychological processes) against the shared processes model (predicting that bullies and bully‐victims deviate from noninvolved children on all psychological processes alike). Overall, the shared processes model received more support than the distinct processes model. These results suggest that in early childhood, bullies and bully‐victims have shared, rather than distinct psychological processes underlying their bullying behavior.

Understanding information proactiveness and the content management system adoption in pre-implementation stage

The overall technology acceptance literature does not pay sufficient attention to the issue of the mandated use of systems as the traditional acceptance models (e.g. TAM) were originally built, tested, and validated by being applied to technologies that were mainly voluntary in nature, that is, the users had the choice of whether to use or not use the technology. Few have studied end users' proactive motivation to use information and attitude toward newly implemented technologies within organizational contexts, before end-users start using the technology or pre-implementation stage. This research proposes that information proactiveness has influences on the content management systems adoption beliefs such as perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The proposed model was empirically tested using the data collected from content management systems end-users. As theorized, information proactiveness was found to be a significant determinant of system users' perceived ease of use but not perceived usefulness in pre-implementation stage. Furthermore, perceived behavioral control was found to be a strong determinant of systems users' attitude. The study findings provide important insights on enhancing system users' adoption behavior in pre-implementation stage.

The Impact of High-Commitment HR Practices on Hotel Employees’ Proactive Customer Service Performance

To explore the organizational antecedents of proactive customer service performance (PCSP), we developed and tested a multi-level model of the impact of high-commitment human resource (HR) practices on PCSP in the hospitality industry. Drawing on the proactive motivation model, the mediating roles of work-related self-efficacy, perceived organizational support, and harmonious passion for work are examined simultaneously in the relationship between high-commitment HR practices and PCSP. Using time-lagged data from 94 hotels in China, we found that high-commitment HR practices positively influenced service employees’ PCSP via work-related self-efficacy, perceived organizational support, and harmonious passion for work. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of this research and also give some suggestions on how to effectively adopt and implement high-commitment HR practices.

Drivers of internationalization success: a conjoint choice experiment on German SME managers

Internationalization is a common growth strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs face several challenges within the internationalization process. As SMEs are characterized by limited resources, managers are constantly involved in a decision-making process concerning the allocation of the SMEs’ resources. Therefore, internationalization can be understood as a complex, multidimensional decision process. Based on a set of 2244 internationalization decisions made by German SME managers, the present study examines how eight strategic and structural factors drive the perceived international success of SMEs. When applying conjoint choice analysis, the results suggest that especially equity financing in the internationalization process, an appropriate market selection as well as proactive motives, and a long-term scope can drive SMEs’ international success. Moreover, it becomes evident that strategic factors are more relevant for successful internationalization than structural factors.

Abuse for status: A social dominance perspective of abusive supervision.

Abusive supervision in the workplace is an important issue because it is detrimental to organizations and their performance. However, little is known about antecedents of supervisors' abusive behavior. To better understand the antecedents of abusive supervision, we develop a model that illustrates why, how and when supervisors display sustained abusive behavior toward their subordinates. Focusing on status, we propose that a motivation for status enhancement mediates the relationship between supervisors' status-related dispositional traits (their social dominance orientation) and their abusive behavior. We also propose that this mediated relationship is stronger when supervisors experience positional instability, when they perceive low internal respect, and when their organizations have a mechanistic structure or a hostile climate. Overall, our conceptual model sheds new light on the proactive motivation for abusive supervision.

Proactive role-orientation toward workplace safety: Psychological dimensions, nomological network and external validity

In the light of the relevance of workers’ participation and initiative in improving safety in the workplace, a new measurement tool is presented to assess multiple psychological drivers (proactive motivations; future orientations) which support a proactive orientation by individuals toward safety management and accident prevention in the workplace. This validation study was developed with a survey methodology in two industrial samples (N=327; 196) from the chemical and manufacturing sectors. The factor structure of the tool was tested with CFA’s. The analyses evidenced the goodness of a multidimensional structure, with a general superordinate dimension indicator of the overall construct of individuals’ proactive safety-role orientation. Moreover, the analysis of the nomological network of the new model showed positive correlations with both behavioral criteria (safety voice; safety initiative) and supervision antecedents (safety-specific transformational leadership) which were measured at the individual level. Finally, the external validity was positively verified by significant correlations with organizational outcomes assessed at the team level through external measures (supervisor evaluations; data archives) which were collected at team level (N=32) in the following six months from the main survey. Theoretical and practical implications with indications for future research conclude the article.