Work Stress,Chinese Work Values,and Work Well-Being in the Greater China

ABSTRACT

Work values influence our attitudes and behavior at work, but they have rarely been explored in the context of work stress. The aim of this research was thus to test direct and moderating effects of Chinese work values (CWV) on relationships between work stressors and work well-being among employees in the Greater China region. A self- administered survey was conducted to collect data from three major cities in the region, namely Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei (N = 380). Work stressors were negatively related to work well-being, whereas CWV were positively related to work well-being. In addition, CWV also demonstrated moderating effects in some of the stressor–job satisfaction relationships.     

Good Work

Work is on one side a central arena of self‐making, self‐understanding, and self‐development, and on the other a deep threat to our flourishing. My question is: what kind of work is good for human beings, and what kind bad? I first characterise work as necessary productive activity. My answer to my question then develops a perfectionist account of the human good: (1) the good is the full development and expression of human potentials and capacities; (2) this development and expression happens over a lifetime through appropriate practice. Work is thus a problem of human development, and I address that problem by considering three central human capacities: that we are passionate choosers, skilled makers, and social negotiators. For each, I ask: what does this capacity need from our work if it is to develop towards full and flourishing expression? Answering that question leads to a three‐part account of good work as requiring: (1) a distinctive kind of pleasure, involving both unselfconscious flow and supervisory self‐attention; (2) skill, which I describe via the ideal of craft; and (3) democracy, which I define as a form of life in which each is able to develop and use both expressive and receptive capacities.     

Work transitions

Individuals make choices in, and adjust to, a world of work that is often a moving target. Because work is so central to human functioning, and transitions in and out of work can have major mental health repercussions, the authors argue that applied psychologists in health services need to understand those transitions. This article focuses on the different types of transition throughout a person's working life and the resources needed at different stages to ensure the success of these transitions. The authors start by examining the roles of capability and adaptability in supporting and facilitating adjustment to work transitions and their relation to identity development. They then examine the role of social and institutional contexts in shaping work transitions and their outcomes. The authors focus on voluntary versus involuntary transitions and then broaden the lens in discussing the policy implications of research on work transitions.     

Work Centrality and Post-Award Work Behavior of Lottery Winners

Individuals who had won the lottery responded to a survey concerning whether they had continued to work after winning. They were also asked to indicate how important work was in their life using items and scales commonly used to measure work centrality. The authors predicted that whether lottery winners would continue to work would be related to their level of work centrality as well as to the amount of their winnings. Individuals who won large amounts in the lottery would be less likely to quit work if they had relatively greater degrees of work centrality. After controlling for a number of variables (i.e., age, gender, education, occupation, and job satisfaction), results indicated that work centrality and the amount won were significantly related to whether individuals continued to work and, as predicted, the interaction between the two was also significantly related to work continuance.     

Work Values and Their Effect on Work Behavior and Work Outcomes in Female and Male Managers

A longitudinal sample of over 800 MBA graduates surveyed across a 16-year period was recruited to investigate the relationship of work values to work effort, salary levels, and other work outcomes. As predicted, certain work values were related to higher salary levels and to the number of hours worked. Changing companies more often and receiving more promotions were also significantly related to work values. Work values did not differ for women and men in the sample, except that women were higher in the value of wanting to do an excellent job. Controlling for work values did not explain significantly higher salaries for men as compared to women. Implications of these data are discussed.     

Work Passion Through the Lens of Culture: Harmonious Work Passion,Obsessive Work Passion,and Work Outcomes in Russia and China

Purpose

This cross-cultural study with employee–supervisor dyads in Russia and China examines links between harmonious and obsessive work passion and four job- and organization-focused outcomes (job satisfaction, intentions to quit, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors) and two career-focused outcomes (career satisfaction and occupational commitment).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from employee–supervisor dyads in Russia (N = 223) and China (N = 193). We undertook a series of hierarchical regressions to examine the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

We found considerable support for the harmonious passion–work outcome relationships and less support for the obsessive passion–work outcome relationships. In both Russia and China, harmonious passion predicted all six hypothesized outcomes. However, obsessive work passion predicted job satisfaction and occupational commitment in Russia, but was unrelated to any of the hypothesized outcomes in China. We also identified several culture-specific work passion–outcome relationships.

Implications

Our research extends the duality of the work passion construct to non-Western cultures. The examination of a variety of work passion outcomes provides a finer-grained approach to how two types of passion uniquely link to different work consequences. Several culture-specific findings refute the traditionally held assumption that harmonious passion relates to solely positive outcomes, whereas obsessive passion relates to solely negative outcomes. Collectively, the results augment the nomological framework of the passion construct. The study informs managerial practices by suggesting when work passion needs to be encouraged or tamed.

Originality/Value

This is the first study that examines a variety of job-, organization-, and career-focused outcomes of work passion in non-Western organizations.

     

Meaningful Work and Affective Commitment: A Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Work Reflection and Work Centrality

Empirical research on both meaningful work and organizational commitment has been criticized because research in both fields is largely unsystematic. By integrating the cognitive appraisal theory and identity theory into the meaningful work and affective commitment literatures, we examined the mediating role of positive work reflection (study 1 and study 2) and the moderating role of work centrality (study 2) in the relation between meaningful work and affective commitment. We conducted two independent studies with two-wave data to examine our hypotheses through mediation and moderated mediation bootstrapping procedures. Both study 1 and study 2 found that positive work reflection mediated the relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment. In addition, study 2 revealed that the positive relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment was stronger for those who place less importance on work (i.e., low work centrality). The meaningful nature of one’s work may motivate those who view work as peripheral to recall positive moments of their work, which, in turn, impacts their affective commitment to the organization. Thus, in order to increase affective commitment, promoting meaningful work might be particularly important for those with low work centrality. This is one of the first studies to examine positive work reflection as a cognitive pathway linking meaningful work to affective commitment and identify a boundary condition where meaningful work may not be associated with affective commitment for those who are high in work centrality.     

Work Ethic and Work Outcomes in an Expanded Criterion Domain

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between dimensions of work ethic and dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from employed individuals in MBA and undergraduate management courses and their work supervisors (N = 233). Participants represented diverse occupations with respect to job levels and industries. Participants completed the work ethic inventory, and participants’ managers completed ratings of OCB and CWB.

Findings

The work ethic dimension of centrality of work was positively related to both dimensions of OCB (i.e., OCB-I and OCB-O), and the work ethic dimension of morality/ethics was negatively related to one of the dimensions of CWB (i.e., CWB-I).

Implications

Modern perspectives on job performance recognize the multidimensional nature of the domain (i.e., the expanded criterion domain). In addition, noncognitive predictors such as work ethic have value as individual differences that are associated with performance outcomes. The assessment of such constructs can help inform selection and placement activities where a focus on OCB and CWB is important to managers.

Originality/Value

This study provides additional evidence on the relationship between work ethic and performance outcomes. Previous research has provided limited information on the relationship between dimensions of work ethic and dimensions of OCB, and no information existed on the relationship between work ethic dimensions and CWB.

     

On Measuring Work Ethic: A Neglected Work Commitment Facet

Work ethic has been underrepresented in work commitment studies, compared to other work commitment facets such as job involvement, career commitment, and organizational commitment. Using exploratory factor analysis on an overall sample of 543 participants, this study identified a four-dimension work ethic concept. The four dimensions found were hard work, nonleisure, independence, and asceticism. Various subsample analyses further supported this four-factor structure. Results and limitations of the study, including the potential incorporation of a shortened 12-item work ethic scale into a more general work commitment measure, are discussed.     

The Complete Work

What is it for a work of art to be complete? In this article, we argue that an artwork is complete just in case the artist has acquired a completion disposition with respect to her work—a disposition grounded in certain cognitive mechanisms to refrain from making significant changes to the work. We begin by explaining why the complete/incomplete distinction with respect to artworks is both practically and philosophically significant. Then we consider and reject two approaches to artwork completion. Finally, we set out and defend our own account.     

企业员工工作伦理、工作满意度和离职意向的关系

目的:考察工作伦理与工作满意度、离职意向的关系。方法:对252名企业员工进行工作伦理问卷调查,并建立结构方程模型考察工作伦理、工作满意度与离职意向的关系。结果:员工的工作伦理能显著预测离职意向(反向),工作满意在工作伦理对离职意向的影响中起着完全中介的作用。结论:企业在招聘员工的过程中要重视员工的工作伦理。     

Work and community

Conclusion I have argued that research and action in the world of work can be a central concern and a major opportunity for community psychologists. Work is central to well being and identity. It is an arena of rapid and turbulent social change where our values are expressed and lived out. Furthermore, work is not a separate life domain, but interpenetrates family and community life. Work is a source of the psychological sense of community and can be made more so. Experiences at work can spill over to family and community and vice versa. Recognizing the myriad paths of this interdependence is an ecological insight that has the possibility of real consequences for well being in our communities. We have only to act on our insight.This article is based on the Presidential Address for Division 27, Community Psychology, of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada, August 26, 1984.     

Nancey Murphy's Work

Nancey Murphy has been influential in the religion-and-science field through her espousal of the work of Imre Lakatos, more recently developed into a three-tier approach to the joint epistemology of scientific and religious thought incorporating also the ideas of Hempel and MacIntyre. She has proposed a substantial influence of the radical reformed tradition on science and has demonstrated the nature of social influences on the form of Darwinism. She has developed important links between ethics and the science-theology debate and has examined in depth ideas associated with hierarchical structuring, supervenience, and the nature of the soul. Together these form a unique and sharply focused contribution to the understanding of the relation between science and religion.     

Dissatisfactions in Work

Abstract

(Tolman, E. C. Drives Toward War. New York: Appleton-Century, 1942. Pp. 118.) Reviewed by Nathan Israeli

(May, M. A. A Social Psychology of War and Peace. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1943. Pp. 281.) Reviewed by Nathan Israeli