Personality as a moderator in the relations between perceptions of organizational justice and sickness absence

This longitudinal study examined whether hostility and neuroticism moderated the effect of organizational justice perceptions on short-term sickness absence among 506 male and 3570 female hospital employees. Organizational justice perceptions were assessed using a questionnaire on procedural and relational justice. Self-certified sickness absence records at baseline and during the two-year follow-up were derived from employers’ registers. Hierarchical moderated Poisson regression models suggest that low procedural justice perceptions related to increased sickness absence more in hostile men than in other male employees. Low relational justice perceptions were a greater risk for sickness absence for male employees with higher neuroticism than for their colleagues with lower neuroticism.     

HR practices as a mediator between organizational culture and transformational leadership: Implications for employee performance

Studies pertaining to human resource (HR) management in India have revealed a variety of factors that significantly affect employee performance not the least of which are organizational culture and leadership issues. The present study posits firm level HR practices as a mediator between organizational culture and transformational leadership whose outcomes are hypothesized as lower levels of individual employees’ intention to quit the organization and higher level of performance. For this purpose, data were collected from mangers/executives (N=357) and subjected to multivariate analysis. The results reveal that culture and leadership are significant predictors of intention to quit and employee performance. The results also show that HR practices are important mediators in transmitting the influence of the predictor variables to the criterion variables.     

Social influence: Self-confidence and prestige determinants

The Psychological Record -     

Collective stress and coping in the context of organizational culture

We examined from a cultural perspective how well-being was collectively defined, what were the sources of collective stress, and what kind of collective coping mechanisms were used to alleviate such stress in three divisions of a multinational company. In the first phase of the study we collected data on organizational culture by using individual thematic interviews (N = 63). Applying the grounded theory methodology and an inductive analysis, specific cultures describing the divisions were identified. In terms of co-operation we found the following fundamental cultural recipes: joint focused efforts on money-making, despite the awareness of the common goals employees interested only in fulfilling their own role (jig-saw puzzle), and the awareness of the common goals lacking (scattered islands). In the second phase we conducted group interviews (N = 32) using the critical incident technique to assess collective definitions of well-being, sources of collective stress and respective collective coping mechanisms. These data were complemented with observations at the work site, participant observations at meetings, and analysis of documents. The definitions of well-being varied across cultures as regards their emphasis either on work or on other life domains as sources of well-being. Furthermore, the more hectic the organizational context, the more permissive the collective conception of well-being was. Collective stress emerged as a response to two types of signals: (1) adaptation to the environment of the division or work unit was imperfect (fluctuation, risk of unemployment, continuously changing customer needs, poor client satisfaction, multinational game, group bonus, culture shock due to a merger, work overload, and pressure toward more extensive autonomy), or (2) friction inside the community (undervaluation of a group of employees, and the “penal colony” reputation). Of the corresponding coping mechanisms, a large proportion were found to be collective, learned uniform responses to remove the stressor, to change the interpretation of the situation or to alleviate negative feelings. In conclusion, our results suggest that stress experiences and coping strategies have collective qualities. Culture not only seems to moderate the appraisal of stress, but also contains collective coping responses to stressors, which seem to have their origin either in the organizational environment or inside the community itself.     

Personality determinants of the commitment to the profession of art

The model of commitment presented in the present report postulates personality to be the crucial element in the development and maintenance of commitment to the profession of art. The objectives of the research reported here were to (a) demonstrate the typicality of the artist personality and (b) identify the traits which characterize committed and uncommitted artists. Three groups of artists were compared: mature established artists described as committed over a lifetime, committed art students, and uncommitted art students. The instrument used to evaluate personality was the Adjective Check List (ACL; Gough 8c Heilbrun, 1983). Both committed and uncommitted artists presented a typical personality structure; but in contrast to the committed, the uncommitted were characterized by low self‐esteem, a negative self‐image, impaired motivation, low staying power, and an inability to find a clear direction. Both art students and mature artists agreed about the order of importance of 11 factors considered to be determinants of committment. They both placed particular emphasis on autonomy, possibility to experiment, ease of inspiration, and early identification with the profession.     

Personality as Performance

Abstract— As people seek to understand events within the world, they develop habitual tendencies related to categorization. Such tendencies can be measured by tasks that determine the relative ease or difficulty a person has in making a given distinction (e.g., between threatening and nonthreatening events). Researchers have sought to determine how categorization tendencies relate to personality traits on the one hand and emotional outcomes on the other. The results indicate that traits and categorization tendencies are distinct manifestations of personality. However, they often interact with each other. Three distinct interactive patterns are described. Categorization clearly does play a role in personality functioning, but its role goes beyond assimilation effects on behavior and experience.     

Perceived organizational support as a mediator between relational exchange and organizational identification

Using cross-level data from 364 supervisor–subordinate dyads, we examined how relational exchange quality, perceived organizational support (POS), and organizational identification interrelate. We found subordinate POS mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange (i.e., LMX) and organizational identification. We also found the relational context matters—namely, the immediate supervisor’s relationship with his or her manager (i.e., leader–leader exchange, LLX). Our findings suggest higher quality LLX creates a spillover of resources and reduces the negative association between lower quality LMX and POS. Our study extends both social exchange and social identity theories. First, we delineate how relational exchange quality associates with one’s identity in the organization—placing POS as an integrative mechanism between exchange and identity. Second, we expand the purview of social exchange theory by including other proximal (and interpersonal) relationships as context for social exchange between the individual and organization. Limitations, future research directions, and practical implications are also discussed.     

Mobbing: its relationships with organizational culture and personal outcomes

A study dealing with the effects of both organizational culture and mobbing on personal and organizational outcomes of a sample of Spanish emergency workers, is reported here. It was found that there is a strong impact of organizational culture dimensions on mobbing, and that mobbing affects job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour. Results concerning organizational commitment show that this variable is not a mere effect of mobbing in general, but rather that it is also a direct impact of culture on this outcome.     

Personality, motivational and situational determinants of regular and occasional use of smokeless tobacco

This study evaluated the effects of personality, motivational, and situational factors on Regular (n=191) and Occasional (n=80) users of smokeless tobacco (SLT) products. The participants completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), Spielberger’s State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI) and Anger Expression (AX) Scale, and questionnaires designed to evaluate the reasons why SLT-Users begin, continue, and are motivated to use smokeless tobacco. Occasional Users had higher scores than Regular Users on the EPQ Extraversion scale; no other personality differences were found between these groups. Ratings of the importance of the reasons for beginning to use tobacco products were quite similar for the Regular and Occasional Users; novelty and enjoyment were ranked highest by both groups. In contrast, Regular Users rated 7 of the 10 reasons for continuing to use tobacco as significantly more important than Occasional Users; enjoyment, stimulation and management of emotions were ranked as most important by both groups. Findings that smokeless tobacco products enhanced positive affect and intellectual stimulation, and reduced anxiety and boredom were generally consistent with Eysenck’s Diathesis Stress Model.