Political skill as neutralizer of felt accountability—job tension effects on job performance ratings: A longitudinal investigation

This study examined the effects of felt accountability, political skill, and job tension on job performance ratings. Specifically, we hypothesized that felt accountability would lead to higher (lower) job performance ratings when coupled with high (low) levels of political skill, and that these relationships would be mediated by job tension. Data were gathered at multiple times over a one-year period (i.e., baseline performance, attitudinal variables one month later, supervisor reports of subordinate performance six months and one year after baseline performance was measured). Strong support was shown for the total effects model, whereby political skill moderated felt accountability—job performance ratings, felt accountability—job tension, and job tension—job performance ratings relationships. However, more focused analyses demonstrated that political skill most strongly moderated the job tension—job performance ratings linkage. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are provided.     

Lying on Job Applications: The Effects of Job Relevance,Commission, and Human Resource Management Experience

This research examined three factors related to misrepresentations on job applications: the job relevance of the information, the effects of overt misrepresentation compared to omission, and the impact of human resource (HR) management experience. Dependent measures included the extent to which misrepresentations were perceived as lies and influenced hiring intentions. In general, higher job relevance and overt misrepresentations increased the perception of misrepresentations as lies and decreased the hiring intentions. Further, persons with HR management experience were less likely to see misrepresentations as lies and more likely to hire applicants. Implications for future research and managerial practice are discussed.

Psychological Foundations of Trust

ABSTRACT— Trust lies at the foundation of nearly all major theories of interpersonal relationships. Despite its great theoretical importance, a limited amount of research has examined how and why trust develops, is maintained, and occasionally unravels in relationships. Following a brief overview of theoretical and empirical milestones in the interpersonal-trust literature, an integrative process model of trust in dyadic relationships is presented.     

The relationship between core self-evaluations and work and family satisfaction: The mediating role of work-family conflict and facilitation

This study examines the impact of work-family conflict and work-family facilitation on work and family outcomes and explores the influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) among these relationships. CSE is comprised of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and general self-efficacy. CSE was found to be negatively related to work interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) conflicts, but not to work-to-family facilitation (W→FF) or family-to-work facilitation (F→WF). WIF and FIW negatively predicted work and family satisfaction, respectively. Additionally, W→FF was significantly related to job satisfaction in the hypothesized direction, and F→WF positively predicted family satisfaction. Job satisfaction negatively predicted intentions to quit. The research and practical implications, as well as limitations of this study are discussed.     

Need for recovery, home-work interference and performance: Is lack of concentration the link?

This study examines the mechanisms through which experiences in the home domain influence work performance by bringing together the literature on recovery and the work-family interface. A longitudinal study among 123 employees from different organizations was conducted to investigate whether need for recovery and home-work interference (HWI) impeded concentration at work 1 month later, and whether concentration adversely affected in-role performance over time. Structural equation modeling analysis supported these hypotheses. Whereas need for recovery and HWI had negative, lagged effects on concentration, concentration had a positive lagged effect on in-role performance. Moreover, need for recovery and HWI were reciprocal and negatively related over time, suggesting that these two states may create a negative spiral in the home domain that could easily intrude into the work domain. These findings increase our insight in the processes leading to reduced performance at work, and suggest that organizations should facilitate opportunities for recovery.     

Employability during unemployment: Adaptability, career identity and human and social capital

Recently, Fugate et al. [Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Employability: A psycho-social construct, its dimensions, and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 14] defined employability as a psycho-social construct comprised of three dimensions: (i) adaptability; (ii) career identity; and (iii) human and social capital. The aim of the current paper was to empirically test Fugate et al.’s model in a sample of 416 unemployed Australians (n = 126 for longitudinal sample). Specifically, this research explored employability in relation to three aspects of unemployment: (1) self-esteem during unemployment; (2) job search during unemployment; and (3) re-employment (at a 6-month follow-up). Overall, the results of this longitudinal study provide broad support for the psycho-social construct of employability and demonstrate its applicability to the unemployment context.     

Work-family supportiveness organizational perceptions: Important for the well-being of male blue-collar hourly workers?

The current study questions whether organizational perceptions of family supportiveness predict work-family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction for an atypical sample of male hourly workers in a manufacturing organization, and whether those relationships depend on work (number of work hours) and family (number of family roles) demands. A unidimensional factor structure for the family supportiveness scale was not found; however a subscale for the extent that the organization supported work-family balance was strongly related to WFC and job satisfaction. An interaction was found such that those working long hours in the family-supportive work environment had lower WFC than those working long hours in an unsupportive environment, while the number of family roles (e.g., spouse, parent, eldercare) had no moderating effects. Supporting employees’ non-work life is determined to be important for these employees.     

Executive career management: Switching organizations and the boundaryless career

There has been little research examining executives who change jobs by specifically following these individuals both before and after their employer changes. By incorporating research on the boundaryless career [Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. M. (Eds.). (1996). The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. New York: Oxford University Press; Sullivan, S. E., & Arthur, M. B. (2006). The evolution of the boundaryless career concept: Examining physical and psychological mobility. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 19-29] and applying Frank’s theory of relative standing (1985), this study examined factors that may cause executives to change jobs in the context of managing their careers. Our findings revealed that factors, such as age and compensation, were related to the likelihood of job movements as well as declining organizational health. Post-hoc analyses also indicated that executive job-changers received significantly greater increases in total compensation and were more likely to receive increases in organizational status.     

Development and initial validation of a measure of supportive and unsupportive managerial behaviors

Studies documenting the positive consequences of managerial support have continued unabated, despite considerable ambiguity surrounding the conceptualization of this construct and the adoption of measures that lack specificity. Moreover, research on the positive effects of managerial support has overshadowed our understanding of the ways in which managers contribute to job strain. In order to address these gaps, we took an inductive approach, documenting supportive, and unsupportive managerial behaviors reported by a sample of 25 employees working in a variety of occupations. We subsequently developed a new measure of supportive and unsupportive managerial behaviors and validated it with two separate samples (N = 100; N = 247). The measure demonstrated strong internal reliability and convergent validity. Factor analysis of the measure yielded a two-factor model of support and a one-factor structure of unsupportive behaviors. Theoretical and organizational implications of the findings are discussed.     

Job demands and resources as antecedents of work engagement: A longitudinal study

By utilizing a 2-year longitudinal design, the present study investigated the experience of work engagement and its antecedents among Finnish health care personnel (n = 409). The data were collected by questionnaires in 2003 (Time 1) and in 2005 (Time 2). The study showed that work engagement—especially vigor and dedication—was relatively frequently experienced among the participants, and its average level did not change across the follow-up period. In addition, the experience of work engagement turned out to be reasonably stable during the 2-year period. Job resources predicted work engagement better than job demands. Job control and organization-based self-esteem proved to be the best lagged predictors of the three dimensions of work engagement. However, only the positive effect of job control on dedication remained statistically significant after controlling for the baseline level of work engagement (Time 1).