Family mastery enhances work engagement in Chinese nurses: A cross-lagged analysis

Based on Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) theory of work–family enrichment and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of work engagement (Bakker & Demerouti, 2008), this study focused on the family-to-work enrichment process by investigating the effect of family mastery on work engagement in a Chinese context. A sample of 279 Chinese female nurses completed questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal survey. With a cross–lagged analysis, the results indicated that family mastery at Time 1 had a significant positive effect on work engagement at Time 2. Furthermore, the relationship between family mastery and work engagement was stronger in a context of high (vs. low) job demand. These findings suggested that resource generated in family could directly help people stay engaged in the workplace, particularly under stressful working conditions. Our findings have expanded the JD-R model of work engagement and bridged it with theory of work–family enrichment. Implications for theory and practices are discussed.     

Personality and values as predictors of medical specialty choice

Research rarely considers the combined influence of personality traits and values in predicting behavioral outcomes. We aimed to advance a germinal line of inquiry that addresses this gap by separately and simultaneously examining personality traits and physician work values to predict medical specialty choice. First-year medical students (125 women and 119 men) responded to measures of personality and physician work values. After graduation, participants' residency choices were identified. Results indicated that personality traits predict person- or technique-oriented medical specialty choice. Physician work values, whether used alone or in tandem with personality traits, however, did not significantly predict specialty choice. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Sensitive but not sentimental: Emotionally intelligent people can put their emotions aside when necessary

Are emotionally intelligent people sentimental? Does their greater sensitivity handicap them or are they able, as theory would expect, to experience and regulate emotions flexibly, depending on their goals? We examined this issue in organizational settings. Good managers are indeed expected to be both attuned to feelings (theirs as well as their subordinates’) and able to put them aside when needed to take tough (but necessary) decisions. Our results show that emotionally intelligent managers do make better managers, as reflected by greater managerial competencies, higher team efficiency and less stressed subordinates. Moreover, and most importantly, emotionally intelligent managers are not just nicer managers. As our results show, emotional intelligence has nothing to do with sentimentality. Actually, it is managers with low EI who have the greatest difficulties to put their emotions aside and not let them interfere when inappropriate.     

On the temporal stability of self-determined work motivation profiles: a latent transition analysis

ABSTRACT

This study extends the research and theory on work motivation by examining temporal stability and change in employees’ self-determined work motivation profiles and their differential relations to various predictors and outcomes. We gathered data at two time points over a 24-month period from a sample of 438 newly registered public health care nurses. Results of latent profile and latent transition analyses revealed four distinct profiles (strongly, moderately, self-determined, and poorly motivated), estimated from the position of global and specific behavioural regulations on the motivation continuum proposed by self-determination theory. These profiles were entirely stable at the within-sample level, although within-person changes in profile membership occurred for 30–40% of employees. Of particular interest, perceptions of job resources were consistently associated with greater likelihood of membership in the strongly and moderately motivated profiles. These profiles were also consistently associated with lower emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave the occupation and the organization and with higher in-role performance compared to the self-determined and poorly motivated profiles.     

Factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) across occupational groups in Norway

Nerstad, C.G.L., Richardsen, A.M. & Martinussen, M. (2009). Factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) across occupational groups in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The present study investigated the factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) among 1266 participants from ten different occupational groups. Confirmatory factor analyses of the total sample, as well as multi‐group analyses and analyses of each of the ten occupational groups separately, indicated that a three‐dimensional model of both the UWES‐17 and the short version, UWES‐9, provided a better fit to the data than a one‐ and two‐dimensional model. The results of multi‐group analyses and analyses of each of the groups separately, indicated that with a few exceptions, the three‐factor model of work engagement provided the best fit. Results indicated factorial invariance and the internal consistencies were acceptable. The fit of the UWES‐9 was slightly better than the UWES‐17. It is concluded that the Norwegian short version may be recommended over the UWES‐17.     

Value congruence and teachers’ work engagement: The mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation

This study aimed to examine the importance of value congruence in work engagement and to extend the previous literature by investigating the potential mediating effects of autonomous and controlled motivation in this relationship. The Perceived Value Congruence, Autonomous and Controlled Motivation and Work Engagement scales were administered to 767 teachers in Mainland China. Correlation analysis revealed that value congruence, autonomous and controlled motivation and work engagement were significantly correlated with each other. Furthermore, structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that value congruence exerted its indirect effect on teacher’s work engagement through the mediating effect of autonomous and controlled motivation. These findings provide a new perspective to explain the complex association between value congruence and work engagement. The possible explanations and the research limitations are discussed.     

Why employee psychopathy leads to counterproductive workplace behaviours : an analysis of the underlying mechanisms

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine possible explanatory mechanisms linking employee secondary psychopathy to counterproductive workplace behaviour (CWB). Based on the emotion-centred model of voluntary work behaviour we argue that secondary psychopathy is characterized by unfavourable cognitive appraisal tendencies, which in turn positively relate to negative affectivity. We further assume that this cognitive-affective process enhances CWB. We also include primary psychopathy into our research model to test if the presumed mechanism applies to both psychopathy dimensions. We collected daily-survey data from 470 employees (1670 days) and analysed these data using multilevel structured equation modelling. We found strong support for the hypothesized serial mediation model, indicating that secondary psychopathy triggers dysfunctional cognitive-affective tendencies and consequently increases the likelihood of CWB. The proposed model did not hold up for primary psychopathy. Our study outlines the presence of distorted cognition-affective patterns in employee secondary psychopathy only. These patterns seem to play a key role in explaining the link between employee secondary psychopathy and deviant workplace behaviour. Based on this procedural knowledge relevant implications for theory and practice are provided.