Learning to de-escalate: The effects of regret in escalation of commitment

The current research investigates whether and how individuals are able to learn from one escalation situation to another, hypothesizing that post-escalation regret will reduce subsequent escalation. In Experiment 1, individuals participated in an escalation task after escalating their commitments in a first escalation situation. In Experiment 2, participants’ regret was manipulated by asking them to imagine engaging in an escalation situation. The experiments expand our theoretical and practical understanding of how to prevent escalation of commitment by demonstrating that escalation-specific regret—either experienced from an earlier escalation or primed through imagining an escalation scenario—reduced subsequent escalation in a different context. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical impact of regret and emotions in general in escalation of commitment.     

Relationships between perceptions of organizational size and the organizational choice process

Expectancy theory concepts were used to predict (a) the attractiveness of, (b) the amount of effort directed toward entering, and (c) the eventual choice of a job in relatively big and small work organizations. It was found, among a group of graduating seniors from a technical college, that antecedent perceptions regarding organizational size (expectancy, valence, instrumentality) were significantly related to the relative attractiveness of different-sized organizations and the number of job interviews taken with relatively big and small companies. In addition, economically tied extrinsic outcomes were seen as more readily attainable in big organizations, whereas certain intrinsic outcomes were perceived to be more easily obtained in small organizations.     

Effects of organizational citizenship behaviors on selection decisions in employment interviews

This article reports on an experiment examining the effects of job candidates' propensity to exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) on selection decisions made in the context of a job interview. We developed videos that manipulated candidate responses to interview questions tapping task performance and citizenship behavior content in 2 administrative positions. Results obtained from 480 undergraduates provided support for our hypotheses that job candidates who exhibited higher levels of helping, voice, and loyalty behaviors were generally rated as more competent, received higher overall evaluations, and received higher salary recommendations than job candidates who exhibited lower levels of these behaviors. These effects held even after taking into account candidate responses regarding task performance. We also found that candidate responses to OCB-related questions tended to have a greater effect on selection decisions for the higher level position (supervisor of administrative personnel) than for the lower level one (administrative assistant). Finally, content analyses of open-ended responses indicated that participants' selection decisions were particularly sensitive to candidates who exhibited low levels of voice and helping behaviors. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Situational and dispositional factors as antecedents of ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings

This study examined both situational and dispositional antecedents of four ingratiatory behaviors: other-enhancing, opinion conformity, favor rendering, and self-promotion. The two situational variables (i.e., role ambiguity and leader-member exchange) and the four dispositional variables (i.e., self-esteem, need for power, job involvement, and shyness) were considered as antecedents to each of the ingratiatory behaviors. Results from a sample of 136 full-time employees suggested that each of the ingratiatory behaviors had a unique set of antecedents and that the dispositional variables explained significant additional variance beyond the variance explained by the situational variables.     

Preliminary relation between followers' locus of control and organizational citizenship behaviors

This study estimated the relationship between followers' locus of control and organizational citizenship behaviors for a sample of 375 government employees, whose M age was 46 yr. 53% were women; 42% earned bachelor's degrees. Analyses showed a significant positive correlation of .35 between followers' locus of control and their organizational behaviors. More complex models and research designs are necessary to generalize.     

组织情境下的不道德行为现象:来自道德推脱理论的解释

为什么企业中的不道德行为会屡屡发生?这是一直以来困扰组织管理实践者和学者们的难题,不道德行为的发生与发展机制已经成为心理学研究的一个重要领域。其中,心理学视角下的道德推脱理论为这一难题提供了解释思路。在企业的现实情况中,可以从员工个体和组织领导两方面维度研究各自对应的组织情境因素通过道德推脱机制对不道德行为产生的影响。未来研究的关键在于探讨和实证检验组织情境下道德推脱机制的选择偏好对不道德行为的影响作用,不断丰富和加强道德推脱对员工个体以及领导不道德行为影响机理的研究。     

The relation of organizational process orientation to effectiveness and efficiency in elementary public schools

Organizational psychology has identified four recurrent organizational models (rational goal, open systems, human relations, and internal processes), each placing different emphases on internal and external organizational processes. Using a sample of 122 elementary schools in a large suburban school district located outside a metropolitan area, the present study examined the relation of school emphases on internal and external processes to school effectiveness and efficiency. Consistent with hypotheses, inefficient schools (lower-than-average student achievement test scores, adjusted by the percentage of students enrolled in the free and reduced-price meal program and per-pupil expenditures) were identified by the human relations model or as inward-directed with emphasis on the quality of student-school staff interpersonal relationships, by higher levels of student enjoyment, and by smaller student enrollments and smaller student-faculty ratios. Contrary to expectation, results showed that effective schools (higher-than-average student achievement test scores) were best described in terms of the rational goal model or as outward-directed, with emphasis on involving and empowering parents and on internal structure, control, and inflexibility (i.e., more school order and discipline). Results are discussed in terms of the broader organizational literature, specifically, competing organizational value orientations, effects of organizational structure and member characteristics on organizational process orientation, and the use of organizational process orientation as means to achieve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.     

Group decision process and incrementalism in organizational decision making

In two studies examining resource allocation, support is found for the notion that group decisions are affected in systematic ways depending on whether or not there was individual consideration of the problem before meeting as a group. Specifically, compared to no prior consideration groups, prior consideration groups (1) escalate their commitment more in progress (i.e., ongoing) decisions, and (2) are less willing to concentrate resources on a single project in adoption (i.e., resource utilization) decisions. The findings challenge the blanket assertion that promoting divergent views in a group decision context is always related to better decisions.     

Unwrapping the organizational entry process: disentangling multiple antecedents and their pathways to adjustment

This 4-wave longitudinal study of newcomers in 7 organizations examined preentry knowledge, proactive personality, and socialization influences as antecedents of both proximal (task mastery, role clarity, work group integration, and political knowledge) and distal (organizational commitment, work withdrawal, and turnover) indicators of newcomer adjustment. Results suggest that preentry knowledge, proactive personality, and socialization influences from the organization, supervisors, and coworkers are independently related to proximal adjustment outcomes, consistent with a theoretical framework highlighting distinct dimensions of organizational and work task adjustment. The proximal adjustment outcomes partially mediated most of the relationships between the antecedents of adjustment and organizational commitment, work withdrawal, and turnover.     

The relationship of emotional exhaustion to work attitudes,job performance,and organizational citizenship behaviors

The authors investigated the negative consequences of emotional exhaustion for individual employees and their employers. On the basis of social exchange theory, the authors proposed that emotional exhaustion would predict job performance, 2 classes of organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions. In addition, the authors posited that the relationship between emotional exhaustion and effective work behaviors would be mediated by organizational commitment. With only a few exceptions, the results of 2 field studies supported the authors' expectations. In addition, emotional exhaustion exerted an independent effect on these criterion variables beyond the impact of age, gender, and ethnicity.     

A moderated mediation model of the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors and job performance

Addressing numerous calls for future research on understanding the theoretical mechanisms that explain the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and job performance, this study focused on how an employee's relationships with coworkers mediate the relationship between his or her OCBs and his or her job performance. It also looked at how task autonomy might moderate this mediated relationship. The results of an empirical study involving 364 jewelry designers, 310 coworkers, and 284 supervisors indicated that coworker relations mediated the relationship between OCBs and job performance. In addition, task autonomy positively moderated both paths of this mediated relationship. Finally, these results hold for OCBs that are targeted at individuals but not for OCBs that are targeted toward organizations.     

Mediating effect of cooperative norm in predicting organizational citizenship behaviors from procedural justice climate

Although the relationships between procedural justice climate and organizational citizenship behaviors have been examined in recent years, little research has explored the mechanism by which procedural justice climate shapes individual employee prosocial behaviors in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of a group-level cooperative norm on the relationships between the group-level procedural justice climate and individual-level organizational citizenship behaviors. The survey involved 45 work groups in four different industry fields in Taiwan, including manufacturing, technology, banking, and insurance, and each of the groups was composed of one supervisor and three subordinates. Cross-level analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) indicated that the cooperative norm fully mediated the relationship between procedural justice climate and individual helping behaviors. Procedural justice climate indirectly affects individual helping behaviors through their effects on the cooperative norm.     

Before escalation: behavioral and affective forecasting in escalation of commitment

This research examines preinvestment forecasting processes in escalation of commitment, considering two questions: whether individuals are able to accurately predict their behavior and affect in escalation situations and how forecasting processes may be linked to actual escalation. Three experiments demonstrated that individuals underpredicted their escalation and overpredicted their postescalation regret. Two of the experiments also indicated that the less individuals predicted being entrapped, the more they escalated. Counter to expectations, anticipated regret did not predict escalation. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical importance of forecasting on escalation and on the importance of understanding both behavioral and affective forecasting effects simultaneously.     

From the perverse pact to universal conflicts

We psychoanalysts – as split subjects – are not immune to charismatic leaders who preach violence against selected targets depicted as the cause of all evils. Freud, in Group psychology and the analysis of the ego, alerted us against such leaders, who can manipulate by transforming us into an uncritical mass. This would be the social equivalent of the perverse pact in repressive desublimation between the superego and the id at the expense of the ego: the latter is put to sleep, and the superego exhorts the id to do violence and regress. Socially, these perverse pacts often take place with the superego represented by charismatic leaders who foster identification with themselves, put the egos of their audiences to sleep through manipulation and thus address an amorphous mass that they can direct towards violence and destruction. An event in which such a phenomenon apparently occurred will be discussed to show how urgent it is to revisit psychoanalytic writings on these matters in order to withstand the temptation to be herded by manipulative leaders. This will certainly protect psychoanalysis and allow for its transmission. It is up to us to exercise the critical analysis that psychoanalytic tools equip us for so that we can detect such summons to perverse pacts and denounce them.     

The five-factor model of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors: a meta-analysis

Using meta-analytic tests based on 87 statistically independent samples, we investigated the relationships between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors in both the aggregate and specific forms, including individual-directed, organization-directed, and change-oriented citizenship. We found that Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness/Intellect have incremental validity for citizenship over and above Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, 2 well-established FFM predictors of citizenship. In addition, FFM personality traits predict citizenship over and above job satisfaction. Finally, we compared the effect sizes obtained in the current meta-analysis with the comparable effect sizes predicting task performance from previous meta-analyses. As a result, we found that Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Extraversion have similar magnitudes of relationships with citizenship and task performance, whereas Openness and Agreeableness have stronger relationships with citizenship than with task performance. This lends some support to the idea that personality traits are (slightly) more important determinants of citizenship than of task performance. We conclude with proposed directions for future research on the relationships between FFM personality traits and specific forms of citizenship, based on the current findings.     

A comparison of attitude, personality, and knowledge predictors of service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors

Attitude, personality, and customer knowledge antecedents were compared in their predictive ability of 3 service-oriented forms of employee organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs): loyalty, service delivery, and participation. For the 1st study, 236 customer-contact employees provided data concerning their OCBs and the attitude, personality, and knowledge antecedents. The 2nd investigation relied on data provided by 144 contact employees from a network of university libraries. Using hierarchical regression in both studies, the authors found that each of the 3 types of service-oriented OCBs was best predicted by different subsets of the antecedents. Job attitudes accounted for the most unique variance in loyalty OCBs, personality accounted for the most unique variance in service delivery OCBs, and customer knowledge and personality jointly were the best predictors of participation OCBs.     

Motivation,altruism, and generalized compliance: a field study of organizational citizenship behaviors

This study tests the relations among five sources of motivation and two organizational citizenship behaviors. 175 employees from 31 locations of two agriculturally based companies completed the Motivation Sources Inventory and were rated by their supervisors for demonstrated organizational citizenship behaviors. There were significant positive correlations for employees' Self-concept-Internal Motivation with Altruistic Behavior of employees; while employees' Self-concept-External Motivation showed a significant negative relation with Altruistic Behavior by employees. Surprisingly, no correlation between employees' Goal Internalization Motivation and Altruistic Behavior by employees was found. Interpretation of these findings and further research are suggested.     

Contribution of content, context, and process to understanding openness to organizational change: two experimental simulation studies

The authors examined the contribution of the content, context, and process of organizational transformation to employees' openness to change. The authors predicted that 5 factors would have a positive effect on openness to change: (a) threatening character of organizational change (content related), (b) trust in executive management (context related), (c) trust in the supervisor (context related), (d) history of change (context related), and (e) participation in the change effort (process related). The authors tested their hypotheses in 2 separate studies (N = 828 and N = 835) using an experimental simulation strategy. The first study crossed 4 variables in a completely randomized 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Results showed significant main effects for content, context, and process but no significant interaction effects. A second study, with a completely randomized 2 x 2 factorial design, crossed two context variables. Results showed a significant main and an interaction effect: Openness to change decreased dramatically only when history of change and trust in executive management were low.     

An alternative perspective on sex differences in organizational settings: The process of legitimation

This article takes a sociological approach to a problem that has usually been considered as a psychological phenomenon. It addresses the problem of male—female interactions in work situations utilizing the organizational concepts of division of labor and legitimacy. Traditional explanations evoking sex-role socialization are reviewed and rejected for purposes of experimentation and intervention. An alternative argument, focusing on the structural arrangements of organizational settings, is presented as an explanation for behavioral effects previously attributed to inherent sex differences. The results of a pilot study are briefly described, and directions for further experimentation and possible intervention strategies are suggested.The bibliographic search and initial conceptualization of this research was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation under the auspices of the Center for Research on Women at Stanford University. We are grateful to Miriam Rosen for much of the bibliographic work. The pilot study was supported in part by funds from the Guggenheim Foundation and by a grant from the Spencer Foundation. We also wish to thank Richard Torres and Christie Timberlake for their invaluable assistance on this project.     

An integrative process model of organizational commitment for working women and men

Previous organizational commitment models may not be complete since few combined more than one theory, none looked at gender differences, and nearly all ignored the impact of a feedback mechanisms on the overall process. A new model presented here shows a three-stage organizational commitment process. The first, or preorganizational, stage consists of personal characteristics. These are modified in stage two by job and other external characteristics, and in stage three all of these moderate the six independent variables that have major direct impact on organizational commitment. They are 1. need satisfaction, 2. work/job satisfaction, 3. job commitment, 4. work commitment, 5. role stress, and 6. personal/organizational goal congruence. Implications are discussed.Leonard H. Chusmir is an Associate Professor of Management at Florida International University. He received his Ph.D. in Management/Psychology from the University of Miami. He has written numerous articles for management, organizational behavior, and psychology journals, and presented papers at several academic conferences. He is the author of the bookMatching Individuals to Jobs: A Motivational Answer to Personnel and Guidance Professionals. AMACOM Books, 1985.