Proactive Socialization and Behavioral Self-Management

The purpose of this study was to examine behavioral self-management as a form of newcomer proactive socialization behavior. A longitudinal field study was conducted with a sample of 153 entry-level professionals who completed questionnaires during their first month of entry and 6 months after entry. The results indicated that self-management behavior was related to newcomers’ general anxiety and stress at entry, and to internal motivation, ability to cope, and task-specific anxiety 6 months later. In addition, anxiety and stress at entry were found to mediate the relationships between self-management and ability to cope and task-specific anxiety. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed. It is recommended that future research integrate the self-management and information seeking perspectives to provide a more complete theory of proactive socialization.     

On the meaning of Maslach's three dimensions of burnout

The dimensionality of Maslach's (1982) 3 aspects of job burnout--emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment--was examined among a sample of supervisors and managers in the human services. A series of confirmatory factor analyses supported the 3-factor model, with the first 2 aspects highly correlated. The 3 aspects were found to be differentially related to other variables reflecting aspects of strain, stress coping, and self-efficacy in predictable and meaningful ways. Implications for better understanding the burnout process are discussed.     

Work-Unit Structure and Processes and Job-Related Stressors as Predictors of Managerial Burnout1

Research on the antecedents of burnout has focused largely on such job-related stressors as role conflict, ambiguity, and overload. The present study expands the focus by also examining the role of organizational structure and processes, notably work-unit standardization, formalization, and communication. It is hypothesized that the effect of organizational structure and processes on burnout is in fact largely mediated by job-related stressors. Self-report data from supervisors and managers in a public welfare setting provide strong support. More broadly, these findings suggest that the impact of “macro” variables on the individual is at least partially mediated by “micro” variables. Specific associations between aspects of structure/process and stressors and between stressors and dimensions of burnout are also examined.     

The search for meaning in (new) work: Task significance and newcomer plasticity

Using temporally-lagged data from 146 business and engineering newcomers, we found evidence for a “positive side” of plasticity theory (Brockner, 1988, p. 547) in fostering newcomer adjustment. Specifically, as predicted, we found that higher newcomer generalized self-efficacy positively moderates the association between job design (i.e., task significance of the newcomer's job) and newcomer attitudes (in our study, organizational identification, job satisfaction, intentions to quit). Our findings promote plasticity theory as readily applicable to both newcomer adjustment and positive organizational scholarship.     

Extending the expanded model of organizational identification to occupations

We extend Kreiner and Ashforth's (2004) research on the expanded model of organizational identification to the occupational level of self. A survey of 251 customer service representatives from an Indian call center indicates that occupational identification, occupational disidentification, ambivalent occupational identification, and neutral occupational identification are empirically differentiable. Further, each form of identification in the expanded model was related to certain predictors from a set of ten situational and individual difference variables, and to certain outcomes from a set of five adjustment variables. The differing patterns of antecedents and outcomes for each form of occupational identification suggest that each form constitutes a relatively unique phenomenon.     

Curiosity adapted the cat: the role of trait curiosity in newcomer adaptation

Using longitudinal data from 123 newcomers across 12 telemarketing organizations, we examined the role of 2 forms of trait curiosity (specific and diversive) as antecedents of proximal adaptation behaviors (information seeking and positive framing) and more distal, in-role and extra-role behaviors (job performance and taking charge). Results suggest that specific curiosity predicts information seeking behaviors, whereas diversive curiosity promotes positive framing. Results also support the relationship between positive framing and performance and the extra-role behavior of taking charge. Overall, the study validates the role of curiosity as a multifaceted individual difference that serves as an antecedent to newcomer adaptation.     

Prospective associations between marital adjustment and life satisfaction

Actor and partner effects for the 2‐year longitudinal associations between marital adjustment and life satisfaction were evaluated in a population‐based sample of middle‐aged and older adults (N = 1,385 couples). Results showed that (a) higher marital adjustment at baseline predicted higher life satisfaction at follow‐up, (b) higher life satisfaction at baseline predicted higher marital adjustment at follow‐up, (c) marital adjustment more strongly predicted life satisfaction than life satisfaction predicted marital adjustment for women, and (d) higher partner marital adjustment at baseline predicted higher life satisfaction at follow‐up. Results suggest that marital adjustment and life satisfaction influence one another in a bidirectional fashion and that the direction is predominantly from marital adjustment to life satisfaction in women.     

Socialization tactics, proactive behavior, and newcomer learning: Integrating socialization models

The purpose of the study was to examine how socialization processes (socialization tactics and proactive behavior) jointly affect socialization content (i.e., what newcomers learn) and adjustment. Longitudinal survey data from 150 business and engineering graduates during their first 7 months of work indicate that: (1) institutionalized socialization and proactive behavior are each associated with newcomer learning, (2) the socialization processes and learning are each associated with various forms of adjustment, and (3) the socialization processes are associated with adjustment, while controlling for learning. These findings suggest that how newcomers are socialized has substantive and symbolic value over and above what they actually learn.     

Socialization Tactics and Newcomer Information Acquisition

Research on organizational socialization has usually focused on what organizations do to socialize newcomers or on what newcomers do to socialize themselves. The purpose of this study was to integrate these two perspectives of socialization by investigating the relationships between socialization tactics, newcomers' information acquisition (i.e. feedback and observation) and socialization outcomes. Consistent with previous research, socialization tactics and information acquisition were related to socialization outcomes. Furthermore, institutionalized socialization was positively related to the frequency of newcomers' feedback and observation and the frequency of newcomers' feedback and observation was found to mediate several of the relationships between socialization tactics and outcomes. These results suggest that what newcomers can do to socialize themselves (e.g. acquire information through feedback and observation) is partly a function of what organizations do to socialize newcomers (e.g. the use of specific socialization tactics). The implications of these findings are discussed for the development of a more complete and integrated theory of organizational socialization.     

On the Dimensionality of Jones' (1986) Measures of Organizational Socialization Tactics

One of the most theoretically developed models of organizational socialization is Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) typology of six tactics. Jones' (1986) operationalization of these tactics has been used in most survey studies of the Van Maanen and Schein model. However, questions remain concerning the dimensionality of the operationalization. Self-report data from business school graduates after 4 months (n = 295) and 10 months (n = 222) on the job indicate that: (1) a 6-factor model better approximates the covariance matrix of the socialization items than do competing 1- and 3-factor models, (2) the 6-factor model better predicts certain work adjustment variables than the 3-factor model, and the 3-factor model better predicts certain variables than the 1-factor model, and (3) the collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture tactics are positively interrelated, suggesting a structured program of early work experience.