Five-factor personality domains and job performance: A second order meta-analysis

Several meta-analyses have investigated the job-related validities of the traits associated with the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The presence of second-order sampling error, however, might complicate the interpretation of these meta-analyses (i.e., random error across different meta-analyses). The current paper therefore evaluates variability across different meta-analyses and tests for key moderators (i.e., performance criteria, sources of ratings, and context). Results suggested that the variation in the predictive validity of several FFM traits and facets across multiple performance criteria was attributable to second-order sampling error. However, true variation existed for some moderators such as sources of personality information (self-reports versus informant reports). The current analyses therefore enhance knowledge about the usefulness and generalizability of personality traits in work contexts.     

Voluntary Retirement and Organizational Turnover Intentions: The Differential Associations with Work and Non-Work Commitment Constructs

The relationships of voluntary retirement and organizational turnover intentions to various commitment constructs in work and non-work settings were examined using a sample of 345 employees near retirement age (mean age = 53.71). The results demonstrated that work centrality and commitment to leisure activities were unique predictors of retirement intentions, while affective organizational commitment predicted turnover intentions but not retirement. Occupational commitment was a significant predictor of both retirement and turnover. The implications for revising the definition of work-role attachment theory and further developing a theoretical model to explain retirement decisions are also discussed.

The Relationship of Mobile Telephony to Job Mobility in China’s Pearl River Delta

In southern China, the use of mobile phones is becoming a ubiquitous part of everyday life for young migrant workers. What could be the possible relationship between mobile telephony and job mobility among migrants? A study of 655 migrant workers conducted in 2006 in the Pearl River Delta found a relationship between job change among migrant workers and the increasing use of mobile phones due to more information on jobs with better pay and working conditions being sent to them by friends, former coworkers, and clansmen. However, this portrait of migrant worker e-actors operating in a “broadband information society” can only be viewed in the context of the migrant labor shortage in southern China since 2004. Of fundamental concern are the vagrant identities of this new generation of young migrant workers who are excluded from the host society in which they work but also feel uncomfortable with their farmer status in their home towns.     

病人自主性与家庭本位主义之间的张力

在中国几千年小农经济和传统文化背景下,个人利益、个人权利一直被置于家庭之下,个人自主性被包含在家庭自主性之内,表现为一种家庭本位主义。源自西方历史、文化的知情同意移植到中国后,受传统文化观念的影响,中国人对知情同意的认知、理解以及实践方式均不同于西方人。这种不同集中表现在人们对家属同意权的认可。以个人本位主义为背景的病人自主性与中国文化中的家庭本位主义之间存在张力。对知情同意在不同文化环境中不同践行方式,应以文化宽容主义的态度对待之。     

Virtual HR: The impact of information technology on the human resource professional

Accelerated investment and innovation in information technology (IT) offers prospects for conducting business in ways that are radically different from the past. Despite the growing presence of IT within organizations, however, we do not have a clear understanding of how IT impacts the role of professionals. We address this issue by investigating how jobs in one professional occupational segment, human resources (HR) professionals are influenced by extensive use of IT within the human resource department. Specifically, we examine how HR professionals handle HR information as well as the expectations placed on them resulting from an increased reliance on IT. Our findings suggest that IT enables HR professionals to more efficiently access and disseminate information while it also influences what is expected of them. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Action-state orientation and the theory of planned behavior: A study of job search in China

Job search is an important element of people’s careers and is especially critical for unemployed individuals. The current study surveyed a sample of 328 unemployed job seekers in China to test hypotheses related to the theory of planned behavior and action-state orientation theory. Results of the three-wave longitudinal study demonstrated that the theory of planned behavior was effective in modeling job-search intention and job-search intensity. Action-state orientation moderated the relationship between attitude and intention, as well as the relationship between intention and intensity. The current study sheds light on the motivational and self-regulatory process of job search and reemployment for Chinese unemployed job seekers.     

Reciprocal relationships between job resources, personal resources, and work engagement

This study examined longitudinal relationships between job resources, personal resources, and work engagement. On the basis of Conservation of Resources theory, we hypothesized that job resources, personal resources, and work engagement are reciprocal over time. The study was conducted among 163 employees, who were followed-up over a period of 18 months on average. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported our hypotheses. Specifically, we found that T1 job and personal resources related positively to T2 work engagement. Additionally, T1 work engagement related positively to T2 job and personal resources. The model that fit best was the reciprocal model, which showed that not only resources and work engagement but also job and personal resources were mutually related. These findings support the assumption of Conservation of Resources theory that various types of resources and well-being evolve into a cycle that determines employees’ successful adaptation to their work environments.     

The impact of role stress on workers' behaviour through job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Dysfunctions in role performance have been associated with a large number of consequences, almost always negative, which affect the well-being of workers and the functioning of organizations. An individual's experience of receiving incompatible or conflicting requests (role conflict) and/or the lack of enough information to carry out his/her job (role ambiguity) are causes of role stress. According to previous theory, role ambiguity and conflict decrease workers' performance and are positively related to the probability of workers leaving the organization. Job satisfaction refers to a positive evaluation of a job, while organizational commitment refers to an employee's attachment to the organization. The affective dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction are considered to be important predictors of turnover intention, absenteeism, and job performance. In the literature, role conflict and ambiguity have been proposed as determining factors of workers' job satisfaction and their commitment towards the organization. The role of job satisfaction and organizational commitment were analysed as variables that should mediate between role ambiguity and conflict and employees' behaviour. The hypotheses were confirmed by means of path analysis carried out with data obtained from a sample of Spanish blue-collar workers employed by a bus company and a water supply company. Role stressors were negatively related to affective commitment mediated through job satisfaction. Affective commitment to the organization exerted a positive influence on performance and reduces the withdrawal behaviour analysed— intention to leave and absenteeism—although the strongest predictor of intention to leave was, in this study, job satisfaction.     

Perceptions of the organizational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of specific features of the organizational context—organizational politics and procedural justice—are related to their evaluations of psychological contract breach and subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Across three studies, we examined the appropriateness of four models for describing relationships among the focal constructs. Results of these studies support (a) an environmental responsiveness model in which psychological contract breach mediates the effects of politics and justice on employee outcomes, and (b) a general fairness evaluation model where politics, justice, and psychological contract breach serve as indicators of a higher order factor that predicts employee attitudes and behavior. Implications and directions for future research are presented.