Values as Predictors of Anticipated Socio‐cultural Adaptation Among Potential Migrants from Russia to Finland

This study examined the role of value patterns of potential migrants from Russia to Finland (N = 229) in predicting expectations of post‐migration socio‐cultural adaptation. Furthermore, the fit between migrants' personal values and the values they expect to encounter in the new home country (i.e. perceived value congruence) was hypothesized to predict anticipated socio‐cultural adaptation (ASCA). The study took into account perceived cultural distance variables as well as socio‐demographic controls traditionally related to adaptation outcomes among migrants. According to the results, familiarity with the host country (i.e., the number of Finnish friends/relatives in Finland), the openness to change value and perceived value congruence significantly predicted potential migrants' ASCA. When using four sub‐scales (interpersonal relations, cognitive understanding, impersonal perils and bureaucracy) of the ASCA‐scale, a more complex picture emerged. The results suggest that future work should include values, particularly perceived value congruence, in the analysis of the cultural fit hypothesis, as well as find better means of supporting immigrant adjustment starting at the pre‐migration stage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Arrogant or self-confident? The use of contextual knowledge to differentiate hubristic and authentic pride from a single nonverbal expression

Two studies tested whether observers could differentiate between two facets of pride-authentic and hubristic-on the basis of a single prototypical pride nonverbal expression combined with relevant contextual information. In Study 1, participants viewed targets displaying posed pride expressions in response to success, while causal attributions for the success (target's effort vs. ability) and the source of this information (target vs. omniscient narrator conveying objective fact) were varied. Study 2 used a similar method, but attribution information came from both the target and an omniscient narrator; the congruence of these attributions was varied. Across studies, participants tended to label expressions as authentic pride, but were relatively more likely to label them as hubristic pride when (a) contextual information indicated that targets were arrogant and (b) no mitigating information about the target's potential value as a hard-working group member (i.e., that success was actually due to effort) was presented.     

Arrogant or self-confident? The use of contextual knowledge to differentiate hubristic and authentic pride from a single nonverbal expression

Two studies tested whether observers could differentiate between two facets of pride—authentic and hubristic—on the basis of a single prototypical pride nonverbal expression combined with relevant contextual information. In Study 1, participants viewed targets displaying posed pride expressions in response to success, while causal attributions for the success (target's effort vs. ability) and the source of this information (target vs. omniscient narrator conveying objective fact) were varied. Study 2 used a similar method, but attribution information came from both the target and an omniscient narrator; the congruence of these attributions was varied. Across studies, participants tended to label expressions as authentic pride, but were relatively more likely to label them as hubristic pride when (a) contextual information indicated that targets were arrogant and (b) no mitigating information about the target's potential value as a hard-working group member (i.e., that success was actually due to effort) was presented.     

Motivational orientations and task autonomy fit: effects on organizational attraction

The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is congruence between applicant needs (i.e., motivational orientations) and what is available (i.e., task autonomy) from an organizational perspective based on the fit between needs and supply. The fit between work motivation and task autonomy was examined to see whether it was associated with organizational attraction. This experimental study included two phases. Phase 1 participants consisted of 446 undergraduate students, of whom 228 were recruited to participate in Phase 2. The fit relations between task autonomy and intrinsic motivation and between task control and extrinsic motivation were characterized. Findings indicated that the fit between work motivation and task autonomy was positively associated with organizational attraction. Based on these results, it may be inferred that employers should emphasize job characteristics such as autonomy or control orientations to attract individuals, and focus on the most suitable work motivations for their organizations.     

Fit between decision mode and processing style predicts subjective value of chosen alternatives

Intuition is associated with a global processing style, whereas deliberation is associated with a local processing style. Drawing on previous research on the effects of decisional fit on the subjective value attached to chosen alternatives, we examined the possibility that a fit between processing style and decision mode results in greater subjective value than a lack of fit. In three experiments employing various combinations of naturally occurring and experimentally manipulated processing styles and decision modes, we found that when congruence was high (i.e., global processing style and intuitive judgment, or local processing style and deliberative judgment), participants judged their chosen item to be more expensive than when congruence was low. These findings indicate that increased fit resulted in higher estimated value. We discuss implications for judgment and decision‐making.     

Autonomous vs. comparative status: Must we be better than others to feel good about ourselves?

Previous research has shown that people's self-esteem and their group-oriented behavior are influenced by their judgments about the status of the groups to which they belong (pride) and assessments of their status within those groups (respect). These findings are important to justice researchers because the key antecedent of such status judgments is typically found to be the assessment of the fairness of group procedures (i.e., procedural justice). Research suggests that (1) procedural justice shapes status and that (2) status shapes self-esteem and group-oriented behavior. The paper reports the results of three studies comparing two different forms of these status judgments. The first form are autonomous judgments of pride and respect that are linked to the characteristics associated with membership in different groups. People link such judgments to inclusion or membership in the group. The second are comparative judgments of pride and respect that are linked to comparisons of one's status to the status of other people or groups. The results indicate that, within groups, people are influenced primarily by autonomous assessments of status based on their internal standards, which develop from the status associated with prototypical characteristics linked to inclusion in a group. People are less strongly influenced by comparisons of their status to the status of external comparison standards. Further, justice-based status inferences are shown to be primarily autonomous, and not comparative, in nature.     

Work-to-family conflict, positive spillover, and boundary management: a person-environment fit approach

This study adopted a person-environment fit approach to examine whether greater congruence between employees’ preferences for segmenting their work domain from their family domain (i.e., keeping work matters at work) and what their employers’ work environment allowed would be associated with lower work-to-family conflict and higher work-to-family positive spillover. Different facets of work-to-family conflict (time-based and strain-based) and positive spillover (affective and instrumental) were examined. According to latent congruence modeling of survey data from 528 management employees, congruence was negatively related to both time-based and strain-based work-to-family conflict and positively related to work-to-family instrumental positive spillover as expected. However, contrary to expectations, congruence was negatively related to work-to-family affective positive spillover. Implications for how boundary management processes may affect both positive and negative experiences of the work-family interface are discussed.     

The effects of person–innovation fit on individual responses to innovation

Drawing on the person–environment fit literature, we propose that cognitive comparisons between person and innovation on meaningful dimensions determine organizational members' affective and behavioural responses to innovations. Specifically, we hypothesize that two different types of person‐innovation fit constructs (value fit and ability fit) differentially predict employees' commitment to implementation and implementation behaviour. The results of this study indicate that congruence between innovation values and personal values is more strongly related to employees' commitment to implementation than to implementation behaviour, whereas the congruence between required abilities and current abilities is more strongly associated with implementation behaviour than with commitment to implementation. In addition, commitment to implementation was more strongly associated with environmental characteristics (innovation values), whereas implementation behaviour was associated more strongly with personal characteristics (personal values, current abilities). This study expands the person–environment fit and innovation implementation literature by applying the fit concept to a new domain and by identifying and testing cognitive processes that determine employees' affective and behavioural responses to innovations.     

Can We Really Have It All? The Attainment of Work and Family Values

We discuss the role values and value attainment play in the complex and dynamic process of balancing work and family demands. We contend that an individual experiences conflict between work and family demands because of value incongruence between that individual and a pivotal family member (i.e., lack of value similarity) or because of the incongruent values between that individual and the organization (i.e., lack of value congruence). We further argue that work-family conflict leads to job and life dissatisfaction for individuals because this conflict frustrates the attainment of important work and family values. We develop and propose a conceptual model, capturing both work and family values as they relate to work-family conflict, value attainment, and outcomes.     

A longitudinal and multi-method examination of interest–occupation congruence within and across time

Remarkably little research has addressed change and stability in person–environment fit across time. The objective of the current study was to address this gap in the literature by investigating Holland interest–occupation congruence across time for a sample of college alumni (N = 167) that were tracked during the first third of their professional career. Congruence was examined in all its complexity, including a repeated assessment of both occupations and interests, the use of objective (O*NET) and subjective (self-report) environment assessment methods, and adopting sophisticated congruence calculation methods (i.e., Euclidean distance and profile correlation). This resulted in a total of 12 interest–occupation comparisons within and across time that could be related to general and career specific well-being. The results first indicated moderate levels of stability in interests and occupations across the 15-year time interval, yet also with room for change. Congruence analyses indicated significant interest–occupation fit at the beginning of the career and 15 years later, with the magnitude of congruence slightly varying depending on which occupation assessment and which congruence method was used. Profile correlation congruence did not change over time in absolute terms and evidenced relative stability. Euclidean distance indices had little relative stability over time but did manifest some absolute changes in levels of congruence. Finally, job change moderated the association between interest–occupation congruence and life satisfaction in such a way that higher levels of satisfaction were reported only when little job change was present.     

Target Meaning-Making of Workplace Incivility Based on Perceived Personality Similarity with Perpetrators

Abstract

Target meaning-making of incivility (i.e., the ways targets assess uncivil events) has received attention as an important mediating mechanism in explaining the varied outcomes of incivility. The present study draws on person-environment (PE) fit theory, as well as the similarity-attraction paradigm and repulsion hypothesis, to uncover how perceived personality (dis)similarity affects both cognitive (i.e., attribution, negative appraisal) and emotional reactions (i.e., hostility) to incivility. Specifically, we examine whether incongruence between target personality and perceived perpetrator personality worsens target meaning-making (vice versa for personality congruence). Study 1 (N?=?479 employees) addressed (dis)similarity in agreeableness, while Study 2 (N?=?296 working adults) addressed (dis)similarity in neuroticism. Based on polynomial regressions with response surface modeling, the results generally supported the hypotheses. Along the line of dissimilarity, targets often assessed (i.e., attributed intent to, appraised, reacted emotionally to) uncivil events more negatively when they perceived personality dissimilarity with perpetrators. However, similarity in personality did not always have the opposite effect by buffering against negative assessments; meaning-making was worse when both parties scored high on neuroticism. Implications for workplace incivility and PE fit literatures are discussed, along with practical implications that highlight information elaboration and perspective taking.     

Does it matter how I perceive my nation? National symbols,national identification and attitudes toward immigrants

We examined how the ways of imagining one's own nation relate to the relationship between national identification and individuals’ attitudes towards immigrants. National imagination is studied through two types of national symbols representing the nation in terms of confrontation between groups (i.e., war and sports) and a unique entity (i.e., nature and traditional culture). We found that national identification was positively associated with the degree to which individuals perceived their nation through a historical war and sports, which, in turn, enhanced negative attitudes toward immigrants. Unexpectedly, the degree to which individuals perceived their nation through nature and traditional culture was positively associated with positive intergroup attitudes. The results emphasize that the degree to which individuals perceive their nation through different national symbols is an important factor for understanding intergroup relations.     

Cultural affordances and emotional experience: socially engaging and disengaging emotions in Japan and the United States

The authors hypothesized that whereas Japanese culture encourages socially engaging emotions (e.g., friendly feelings and guilt), North American culture fosters socially disengaging emotions (e.g., pride and anger). In two cross-cultural studies, the authors measured engaging and disengaging emotions repeatedly over different social situations and found support for this hypothesis. As predicted, Japanese showed a pervasive tendency to reportedly experience engaging emotions more strongly than they experienced disengaging emotions, but Americans showed a reversed tendency. Moreover, as also predicted, Japanese subjective well-being (i.e., the experience of general positive feelings) was more closely associated with the experience of engaging positive emotions than with that of disengaging emotions. Americans tended to show the reversed pattern. The established cultural differences in the patterns of emotion suggest the consistent and systematic cultural shaping of emotion over time.     

Can children recognize pride?

Recent research has shown that pride, like the "basic" emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise, has a distinct, nonverbal expression that can be recognized by adults (J. L. Tracy & R. W. Robins, 2004b). In 2 experiments, the authors examined whether young children can identify the pride expression and distinguish it from expressions of happiness and surprise. Results suggest that (a) children can recognize pride at above-chance levels by age 4 years; (b) children recognize pride as well as they recognize happiness; (c) pride recognition, like happiness and surprise recognition, improves from age 3 to 7 years; and (d) children's ability to recognize pride cannot be accounted for by the use of a process of elimination (i.e., an exclusion rule) to identify an unknown entity. These findings have implications for the development of emotion recognition and children's ability to perceive and communicate pride.     

The role of career values for work engagement during the transition to working life

The present longitudinal study examined the role of career values for work engagement across the transition from university education to working life. Finnish young adults reported on their career values (intrinsic, rewards, and security values) at the age of 23; and the degree of person–organization fit (value congruence, and congruence between one's education and the job), subjective income and economic stress two years later at the age of 25. Work engagement was assessed at both measurement points. Structural equation modeling results showed, first, that intrinsic but not rewards or security career values were related to work engagement. Second, value congruence and having a job which was related to young adults' educational field were positively associated with work engagement. Our findings suggest that along with person–organization fit, intrinsic career values are a significant factor in shaping and facilitating successful transitions from education to work.     

The role of career values for work engagement during the transition to working life

The present longitudinal study examined the role of career values for work engagement across the transition from university education to working life. Finnish young adults reported on their career values (intrinsic, rewards, and security values) at the age of 23; and the degree of person–organization fit (value congruence, and congruence between one's education and the job), subjective income and economic stress two years later at the age of 25. Work engagement was assessed at both measurement points. Structural equation modeling results showed, first, that intrinsic but not rewards or security career values were related to work engagement. Second, value congruence and having a job which was related to young adults' educational field were positively associated with work engagement. Our findings suggest that along with person–organization fit, intrinsic career values are a significant factor in shaping and facilitating successful transitions from education to work.     

Perceptual dimensions differentiate emotions

Individuals often describe objects in their world in terms of perceptual dimensions that span a variety of modalities; the visual (e.g., brightness: dark–bright), the auditory (e.g., loudness: quiet–loud), the gustatory (e.g., taste: sour–sweet), the tactile (e.g., hardness: soft vs. hard) and the kinaesthetic (e.g., speed: slow–fast). We ask whether individuals use perceptual dimensions to differentiate emotions from one another. Participants in two studies (one where respondents reported on abstract emotion concepts and a second where they reported on specific emotion episodes) rated the extent to which features anchoring 29 perceptual dimensions (e.g., temperature, texture and taste) are associated with 8 emotions (anger, fear, sadness, guilt, contentment, gratitude, pride and excitement). Results revealed that in both studies perceptual dimensions differentiate positive from negative emotions and high arousal from low arousal emotions. They also differentiate among emotions that are similar in arousal and valence (e.g., high arousal negative emotions such as anger and fear). Specific features that anchor particular perceptual dimensions (e.g., hot vs. cold) are also differentially associated with emotions.     

JUDGMENTS OF FIT IN THE SELECTION PROCESS: THE ROLE OF WORK VALUE CONGRUENCE

Work values were examined as an antecedent of recruiters' judgments of applicant fit with the organization. Data were collected on the work values of recruiters, their organizations, and job applicants in actual job interviews conducted through the placement center of a large university. Following the interviews, recruiters evaluated applicants' general employability and organization-specific fit. Approximately 4 months following the interviews, data on whether the applicants were invited for a second interview were also obtained. Work value congruence between the applicant and the recruiter was found to be related to judgments of general employability and organization-specific fit. Congruence between the applicant and the organization (as perceived by the recruiter) was not related to judgments of employability and organization-specific fit. Recruiter ratings of employability were related to the decision to invite the applicant for a second interview. Work value congruence was not related to second interview decisions. It is concluded that if work values and judgments of applicant fit influence the personnel selection process, they are more likely to do so at later stages when job offer decisions are made. Work values and judgments of applicant fit seem to have minimal impact on decisions to retain the applicant for additional consideration in early stages of the selection process.     

A Person-Centered Approach to P-E Fit Questions Using a Multiple-Trait Model

The current study first longitudinally examines the validity of person-environment (P-E) RIASEC congruence, adopting a job analytic method to assess the environment and using P-E difference scores to compute congruence, to predict a range of intrinsic career outcomes—including job satisfaction, skill development, work involvement, and perceived stress—in a sample of 401 college seniors involved in the labor market. Second, the incremental validity of an alternative conceptualization of the P component (i.e., the Five-Factor Model of personality [FFM]) is examined over and beyond RIASEC congruence scores. Congruence across RIASEC types significantly predicted job satisfaction and skill development, but FFM traits significantly and substantially contributed to the prediction of all intrinsic career outcomes. Finally, a person-centered perspective to P-E questions is introduced, demonstrating that cluster analysis of individuals' FFM scores resulted in two clusters (i.e., internalizers/externalizers and resilients) showing very different positions on the labor market and reporting differing initial career outcomes. It is concluded that RIASEC P-E fit congruence studies should be complemented with FFM assessment to increase predictive validity. Applications of an FFM-based, person-centered approach in I/O and P-E fit research and practice are discussed.