Situational moderators of leader reward and punishment behaviors: fact or fiction?

One assumption shared by many contemporary models of leadership is that situational variables moderate the relationships between leader behaviors and subordinate responses. Recently, however, R. J. House and J. L. Baetz (1979 in B. Staw & L. Cummings, Eds., Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 1), Greenwich, Connecticut, JAI Press) have suggested that the effects of some leader traits and behaviors may be relatively invariant; that is, have the same effects in a variety of situations. One possible class of leader behaviors which may have relatively consistent effects across situations are those known as leader reward and punishment behaviors. The first goal of the research reported here was to increase our understanding of the relationships between leader contingent and noncontingent reward and punishment behaviors and subordinate responses. Contingent reward behavior was found to have the most pronounced relationships with subordinate performance and satisfaction, followed by noncontingent punishment behavior. Neither leader noncontingent reward nor contingent punishment behavior were found to be related to either subordinate performance or satisfaction, with the exception that noncontingent reward behavior was negatively related to subordinates' satisfaction with work. The second goal of the research was to examine the effects of a variety of potential moderators on the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and subordinate responses. The results of this study suggest that the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and subordinates' performance are relatively free of moderating effects.     

Behavioral change and consistency across contexts

The degree to which behavior changes across situations is often conflated with the cross-situational consistency of individual differences. The current study assesses the extent of behavioral change and consistency, the relationship between them, and variables associated with behaviors’ differing patterns of change and consistency. Two hundred fifty-six participants were observed in three different, three-person interactions. In line with previous research, behaviors showed a great deal of both change and consistency. Behavioral change across situations was unrelated to the degree to which individual differences in these same behaviors were maintained, demonstrating that behavioral consistency does not imply lack of situational adaptation. Behaviors rated as relatively broad and as relatively automatic showed more consistency; behaviors rated as relatively controlled showed more change.     

Attribution in sport psychology: seeking congruence between theory,research and practice

ObjectivesThis paper urges revision of the way attributions are conceptualised, investigated, and applied in sport psychology. There has been a recent decline in attribution research in sport psychology, despite the generally accepted relevance of attributions in applied settings. In seeking closer links between attribution theory, research, and practice, we argue that there is a mismatch between research and practice in sport psychology.MethodsRelevant literature is reviewed and theoretical arguments offered within seven sub-headings: attribution theory in practice; linking consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to attribution dimensions; controllability as the primary attribution dimension; the generalisability of controllability; assessing attributions; implications for practice; and the social context.Results and conclusionsResearch within sport psychology should focus on the central issue of how controllability attributions generalise across time, situations, and people. Measurement should reflect this approach to research within the field of attributions and, to this end, researchers might consider using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry. Practitioners should use consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to challenge clients' attributional thinking and help them attain adaptive perceptions of controllability. Practitioners should also help clients to be their own psychologist. Future research and practice should include a consideration of the social context in which attributions are shaped.     

A qualitative study of leader behaviors perceived to enable salesperson performance

Abstract

This study builds on and extends previous sales leadership research by exploring sales professionals’ perceptions of effective leadership behaviors. Semistructured interviews with both sales leaders and salespeople working in a global enterprise software company were examined through a qualitative analysis. Results indicated that participants believed sales leadership played an important role in influencing sales performance. When asked to describe specific sales leader behaviors that best enable salesperson performance, sales professionals – both sales leaders and salespeople – overwhelmingly referenced coaching, followed by collaborating, championing, and customer engaging. We define and describe these four key sales leader behaviors and identify four potential mediating variables (trust, confidence, optimism, and resilience), from which emerges a conceptual framework of sales leader behaviors perceived to enable salesperson performance. We examine these four key sales leader behaviors and mediators in the broader context of leadership theory, particularly transformational, servant, authentic, and adaptive leadership theories. The key contribution of this study is the identification of a set of leader behaviors that are likely to be especially effective in modern sales organizations given that they originated from the perceptions of sales professionals themselves.     

行为的跨情境一致性及人格与行为的关系——对人格内涵及其中西方差异的理论与实证分析

旨在对行为的跨情境一致性和人格的内涵等问题进行跨文化的理论和实证分析。人格内容被划分为4个层次,包括个体的外显行为、内心体验、动机和神经生理基础等,文化对人格的不同内容都会产生一定的影响。同时,不同情境下的行为由于受到来自个体内部不同动机（自我统一性动机与适应环境要求的动机）的影响而出现跨情境的一致或不一致。文中从理论和实证角度对上述问题进行了分析,并提出了进一步研究的方向     

Relationships between leader reward and punishment behavior and subordinate attitudes,perceptions, and behaviors: A meta-analytic review of existing and new research

Despite decades of research on the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and employee attitudes, perceptions, and performance, no comprehensive examination of these relationships has been reported in the literature. This paper reports the results of two studies that address this issue. In the first study, data from 20 new samples were gathered on the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and some criterion variables that have not been examined extensively in previous research. In the second study, a meta-analytic review was conducted incorporating both the new and existing research in order to provide estimates of the bivariate relationships between these leader behaviors and a variety of employee criterion variables across 78 studies containing 118 independent samples. Results of regression analyses designed to control for the effects of the other leader behaviors showed that: (a) the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and employee attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors were more functional when the rewards or punishments were administered contingently than when they were administered non-contingently, and (b) these leader reward and punishment behaviors were strongly related to two variables (employees’ perceptions of justice and role ambiguity) that were expected to be key mediators of the relationships between these leader behaviors and the employee criterion variables. In addition, meta-analytic evidence from longitudinal studies suggested that the same leader behavior can be a cause of some employee criterion variables, and a consequence of others. Implications of these findings for future research in the area are discussed.     

Leadership in the Organizational Context: A Conceptual Approach and its Applications1

The present research reviewed the literature on leadership, and noted the lack of a well-founded theoretical conception of leadership that would provide a general, cross-situational approach to leadership identification and develoment. Subsequently, it was suggested systems theory might be used to gain some understanding of leadership as it occurs in bureaucratic organizations. This led to the hypothesis that formal leadership activities will always be focused on the attainment of certain goals specified in the leadership role, and so will represent a form of problem-solving activity. The literature supporting this hypothesis was reviewed. The personal characteristics of a leader which would be likely to facilitate goal attainment and problem solving across situations were outlined as well as certain problem-specific processes. Finally, some implications of this approach to leadership identification and development were considered.     

Establishing the Cross-Situational Convergence of the Ability to Identify Criteria: Consistency and Prediction Across Similar and Dissimilar Assessment Center Exercises

In selection contexts, applicants’ ability to identify criteria (ATIC) refers to individual differences in the accuracy of perceptions with regard to what is required to be successful in evaluative situations. Despite promising findings regarding this construct, the cross-situational consistency necessary to infer that ATIC is a stable characteristic has generally been assessed in situations that have similar demands in terms of the competencies required for success. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the theory underlying the construct by examining convergence in ATIC scores across assessment center (AC) exercises with very different demands. Participants (N?=?173) of a developmental AC completed 6 exercises and made ATIC judgments following the completion of each exercise. These judgments were used to create ATIC scores and to examine the consistency of these scores across exercises with similar and dissimilar demands. Results showed that ATIC scores converged across both similar and dissimilar exercises. Furthermore, participants who shifted their perceptions across dissimilar exercises the most were those who scored high in ATIC, whereas across similar exercises those who scored high in ATIC were those who evaluated the situations more similarly. Overall, ATIC demonstrated strong predictive ability, as it correlated with overall AC performance (r = .40) and predicted performance equally well across pairs of similar and dissimilar exercises.     

Responses to the Michelangelo Computer Virus Threat: The Role of Information Sources and Risk Homeostasis Theory1

Computer users were surveyed before and after the Michelangelo trigger date (March 6, 1992) to examine risk perceptions and performance of risky and protective behaviors. Consistent with Risk Homeostasis theory, population risk perceptions changed over the course of the risk period, while personal risk perceptions remained unchanged. Protective behaviors also changed over the virus threat period and were dependent on the passage of the virus trigger date, prior virus experience, and experience during the period of the risk event. This study: (a) provides a scaling of risky and protective behaviors that others may use in future research, (b) suggests a more vivid picture of risk related behavior can be obtained by evaluating personal versus population risk perceptions and risky versus protective behaviors separately, and (c) suggests that training to reduce risks will be most effective if focused on behaviors that are least central to work activities.     

Attribution of Influence and Charisma to the Leader: The Romance of Leadership Revisited1

This study examined the impact of performance outcomes, leadership type, leader behaviors, and observers' general belief in the importance of leadership on attributions of influence and charisma to a leader. Subjects (N= 549) read 24 versions of an organizational vignette representing all possible combinations of two performance levels, two leadership roles, and six leader behavior conditions, and were asked to evaluate the leader's level of causal influence and charisma. Results supported and extended Meindl's (1990) claim that observers' tendency to romanticize the role of a specific leader is affected by the group performance outcomes and by observers' general beliefs in the importance of leadership in organizations. The results further suggested that more influence may be attributed to a prototypical leadership role than to a less prototypical role. However, information about leader behaviors did not affect the attributions of influence and charisma to the leader. These results are discussed with reference to Conger and Kanungo's (1987) attributional theory of charismatic leadership and leadership categorization theory (Lord, 1985).     

Do Supervisors and Subordinates See Eye-to-Eye on Job Enrichment?

The Social Information Processing Model states that employees' perceptions of their job characteristics are influenced in part by others (e.g., supervisors). This study compared supervisors' and their subordinates' perceptions of the subordinates' job enrichment. The convergence of these perceptions were then examined in relation to the subordinates' job satisfaction, performance, and organizational commitment. Fifty-two supervisor-subordinate pairs from an university in the northeastern United States were the subjects in this study. Results indicted that: (1) supervisors and their subordinates perceive subordinates' job characteristics differently, and (2) the supervisors' perceptions have limited relationships with critical work outcomes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Understanding Attributions of Blame in Stranger Rape and Date Rape Situations: An Examination of Gender,Race, Identification,and Students' Social Perceptions of Rape Victims1

This study examined factors that may influence attributions of rape victims. Three hundred and three university students completed a questionnaire, which included a measure of dispositional empathy and a vignette depicted either a date rape or a stranger rape situation. Subjects rated the extent that they blamed the rape victim as well as the degree to which they identified with the victim and perpetrator. Results indicated that male students blamed the victim to a greater extent than did female students; students consistently attributed more blame to the victim in date rape situations than they did in stranger rape situations; and, while empathy was not associated with students' attributions, perceptions of similarity to the rape victim and perpetrator were both related to attributions of blame. These findings are consistent with the notion of “judgmental leniency” presented in Shaver's defensive attribution theory (1970). Implications for rape prevention efforts and future research are also discussed.     

Taking the reins: the effects of new leader status and leadership style on team performance

New leaders face a challenging task when they take charge of their teams. They have to determine how best to guide the work process, and they must understand how their behaviors will affect the members of their team. This research examines how a newly assigned team leader's status moderates subordinates' reactions to different leadership styles to affect assessments of the leader's self-confidence and effectiveness, and how this impacts team performance. Across 2 experimental studies, results demonstrate that low-status leaders are rated as more effective when they use a directive style, whereas high-status leaders are viewed as more effective when they use a participative style, and this relationship is mediated by perceptions of self-confidence. In addition, teams whose leaders are viewed more favorably perform better on a complex group task. These findings imply that low-status individuals are able to enhance their level of personal power by drawing on whatever positional power they hold, whereas high-status individuals are better off relying solely on their personal power to influence others. This research also provides a clear demonstration that assessments of new leaders' behaviors are subject to an appraisal that is clouded by observers' status perceptions and attributions.     

下属组织公民行为对领导信任下属的影响

对于组织内的垂直信任,以往研究出于增加领导效能的考虑,多集中于下属对领导的信任。本研究则关注领导对下属的信任。通过对多家IT企业领导-下属的配对问卷调查,采用层次线性模型(HLM)和回归等方法,考察下属组织公民行为、可信任性、领导对下属的信任和泛化信任等变量之间的关系。结果发现:下属组织公民行为表现越多,领导越信任下属;领导对下属的可信任性判断中介了两者的关系;领导的泛化信任作为调和变量,影响领导对下属可信任性的判断。研究结果加深了对信任的认识,有助于提高组织内的信任。     

An Application of Generalizability Theory to the Consistency-Specificity Problem: The Transsituational Consistency of Behavioral Persistence

We assessed the behavioral persistence of 65 elementary school children in five situations to explore further the consistency-specificity, or trait-situation, issue. We predicted that the cross-situational consistency of persistence would co-vary with gender, socioeconomic status, and intelligence. The data were analyzed within the context of generalizability theory, and some of our predictions were supported by the results. We contend that the consistency-specificity issue can be profitably studied by direct behavioral assessments within the context of generalizability theory. The implications of the findings for the consistency-specificity issue, and for personality assessment in general, are discussed.     

When supervisors feel supported: relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance

The authors surveyed full-time retail employees and their supervisors to investigate relationships of supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) with subordinates' perceptions of support from their supervisors (perceived supervisor support [PSS]), POS, and in-role and extra-role performance. The authors found that supervisors' POS was positively related to their subordinates' perceptions of supervisor support. Subordinates' PSS, in turn, was positively associated with their POS, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Beyond these bivariate relationships, subordinates' perceptions of support from the supervisor mediated positive relationships of the supervisors' POS with the subordinates' POS and performance. These findings suggest that supervisors who feel supported by the organization reciprocate with more supportive treatment for subordinates.     

Creeping dispositionism: the temporal dynamics of behavior prediction

Four studies tested the hypothesis that temporal distance increases the weight of global dispositions in predicting and explaining future behavior. Study 1 found that the correspondence bias was manifested more strongly in predictions of distant future behavior than of near future behavior. Study 2 found that participants predicted higher cross-situational consistency in distant future behavior than in near future behavior. Study 3 found that participants sought information about others' more global dispositions for predicting distant future than near future behavior. Finally, Study 4 found that participants made more global causal attributions for distant future outcomes than for near future outcomes. The results were interpreted as supporting the assumption of construal level theory that perceivers use more abstract representations (higher level construals) to predict and explain more distant future behaviors.     

Cross-situational consistency of affective experiences across cultures

This study examined cross-situational consistency of affective experiences using an experience-sampling method in Japan, India, and the United States. Participants recorded their moods and situations when signaled at random moments for 7 days. The authors examined relative (interindividual) consistency and absolute (within-person) consistency. They found stable interindividual differences of affective experiences across various situations (mean r =.52 for positive affect.51 for negative affect) and cultural invariance of the cross-situational consistency of affective experiences. Simultaneously, the authors found a considerable degree of within-person cross-situational variation in affective experiences, and cultural differences in within-person cross-situational consistency. Thus, global affective traits exist among non-Western samples, but the degree to which situations exert an influence on the absolute level of affective experience varies across cultures.