Room for advancement: The regulatory fit of bottom‐rank intermediate feedback |
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Authors: | Melvyn R. W. Hamstra Bert Schreurs |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Organization and Strategy, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands;2. Department of Business, Economic and Social Sciences & Solvay Business School, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium;3. School of Business and Economics, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | This research tests the hypothesis that promotion‐focused individuals experience regulatory fit from bottom rank, intermediate performance‐feedback. Prior research suggests promotion‐focused individuals experience fit in high social ranks (power). Bottom performance ranks may appear psychologically opposite to high power, which might lead one to expect that promotion‐focused individuals experience fit at top ranks. We propose that the opposite occurs in intermediate performance ranking feedback, in that promotion‐focused individuals experience regulatory fit at a bottom rank, because bottom rank implies having something to gain (yielding eagerness), whereas top rank implies having something to lose (yielding vigilance). Study 1 (N = 261) supports the notion that ranks affect eagerness/vigilance. Study 2 (N = 199) extends these findings by examining engagement from regulatory fit. |
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Keywords: | performance ranking regulatory focus regulatory fit engagement |
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