Knowledge that Transforms

Conventional wisdom in the advisor-advisee literature predominantly condemns directive advising as detrimental and praises participative advising. However, such theoretical predictions seem inconsistent with existing findings. Our research aimed to reconcile this inconsistency by developing a balanced framework grounded in expectation states theory. We propose that the effect of advising style (i.e., participative vs. directive advising) on recommendation acceptance depends critically on advisors' expertise superiority relative to advisees. Across three studies conducted in different advisor-advisee contexts (i.e., doctor-patient, hairdresser-customer, and lawyer-client), we demonstrate that while participative advising is more acceptable when advisors' expertise superiority is lower, directive advising can be equally effective when advisors' expertise superiority is higher. This pattern emerges because expertise superiority shapes advisees' desired participation, creating different participation expectation validation scenarios under participative versus directive advising. Our research suggests that directive advising can be as effective as participative advising in certain situations, offering novel insights into the contingent effectiveness of participative versus directive advising for recommendation acceptance in advisory relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Recent evidence suggests that prediction models using item scores, instead of the traditionally used scale scores, can more accurately predict outcomes of interest. However, little is known about the conditions under which item- or scale-level models are more suitable for prediction in organizational practice. To address this gap, we examined several real-world data sets for the presence of valid item nuances (i.e., criterion-valid item-specific variance that is lost when aggregating to scale scores). We then designed and conducted a Monte Carlo simulation based on empirical estimates to investigate the criterion-related validity of item- and scale-level models. In the simulation, we varied (a) the distribution of nuances among items, (b) the effect size of nuances, (c) the effect size of constructs, (d) scale internal consistency, and (e) training sample size. Results suggested that item-level models are recommended when relatively few items in a scale carry nuances, the nuance effect sizes are similar or larger in magnitude to the scale effect sizes, internal consistency is high, and training sample size is large. Our review of prior studies and analyses of real-world data suggest that the conditions favoring item-level models are not uncommon in organizational data. For conditions that do not substantiate the use of either item- or scale-level models, we also examined ensemble models and found that they can be an attractive alternative when the choice is unclear. We provide R code and recommendations for examining valid nuances in one's data and developing item-level, scale-level, and ensemble predictive models. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Women's reproductive rights are intensely debated, with abortion laws in the United States constantly changing. However, the long-term economic consequences of abortion remain largely unknown due to a lack of robust research in this area. Drawing on lifespan career theory, we theorize that pregnancy during the early-career period represents a pivotal inflection point. It initiates divergent reproductive pathways with lasting, path-dependent effects on women's economic trajectories. We conceptualize abortion as a distinct and constrained early-career event that may be associated with career development in ways that differ meaningfully from both parenthood and nonpregnancy. Using national longitudinal data from 6,218 participants in the United States (1979-2020), we examine how having an abortion, compared with becoming a parent or not experiencing pregnancy at all, is related to women's long-term economic trajectories. Results show that women who had an abortion, and those who did not become pregnant, earned significantly more over a 30-year period than those who became mothers by an estimated $398,000 ($495,000 in 2025 dollars) and $448,000 ($556,000 in 2025 dollars), respectively. These findings extend lifespan career theory by conceptualizing reproductive decisions during one's early career as critical but understudied career-defining events that are associated with women's economic mobility. The results also suggest several potential policy implications: Protecting access to contraception and abortion, and providing mothers with structural family support mechanisms such a job-protected paid parental leave and subsidized childcare, may help women achieve sustained economic stability and career advancement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

be treated. That is, little if any consideration has been given to how justice expectations for a given day may impact the way employees subsequently react to the actual, experienced levels of daily treatment. This notable oversight oversimplifies the complexity of the justice phenomenon, consequently constraining theoretical advancements. To examine the interplay between expectations and experiences of interpersonal justice, we cast expected-experienced justice (in)congruence as a heretofore unexplored phenomenon that may exhibit differential counterproductive outcomes than would otherwise be expected by current theoretical models. Findings from our two-study design promise to push the justice literature in new theoretical directions while holding practical import for managers in organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Scholars increasingly recognize the existence of voice habit, wherein employees speak up automatically without considering relevant situational factors, being able to control their impulse to voice, and exerting effort in deciding whether to voice. However, a lack of theory testing and an absence of a psychometrically valid measure have called into question its theoretical usefulness as well as its construct validity. Moreover, contrary to Lam et al.'s (2018) theorizing on the interpersonal costs and intrapersonal benefits of voice habit, research on the reticence bias suggests the opposite: Habitual voicers may gain interpersonal benefits by experiencing higher supervisor liking, but they may also suffer intrapersonal costs by experiencing voice regret. Integrating these divergent insights with theorizing on voice habit, we predict that voice habit may elicit supervisor liking when supervisors perceive habitual voicers as having higher prosocial motives or behavioral integrity, even though habitual voicers may experience regret in work units with a weaker voice climate. Results from a multiwave, multisource field study with 435 employees and 135 supervisors using a 12-item validated scale of voice habit support our hypotheses. Our work provides a direct test and extension of the recently proposed theorizing on voice habit and introduces a psychometrically valid measure for future research use. Our findings also empirically support the dual nature of voice habit, highlighting both its potential functional interpersonal outcomes in relation to supervisors and its potential dysfunctional intrapersonal outcomes for habitual voicers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on upper echelons theory often portrays founders as stewards who act in their organizations' best interests, requiring less oversight than hired executives. We challenge this view by examining a potential dark side of founder leadership: leader-directed unethical pro-organizational behavior, in which founders direct subordinates to engage in unethical actions to benefit the firm. Integrating social identity theory with social cognitive theory, we shed light on both when and why founder identification leads to this form of unethicality. Specifically, in the absence of effective corporate governance, singularly identified founders may develop a bottom-line mentality as they struggle for their organization to succeed. Subsequently, they may experience moral disengagement, leading them to rationalize directing subordinates to engage in questionable tactics. However, we argue that the presence of a "second-in-command" can act as a key safeguard that attenuates the relationship between founder identification and bottom-line mentality, thereby reducing founder moral disengagement and leader-directed unethical pro-organizational behavior. We find converging support for our hypothesized model using an archival panel data set as well as a three-wave field study of founders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Global business often demands cultural accommodation, acting according to a host country's norms. However, cultural accommodation is often deterred by the threat people can feel about betraying their heritage cultural identity. We investigate an important yet unrecognized antecedent of cultural accommodation: the ideologies that people hold about diversity, which we propose shape people's notions that their cultural identity is changeable. Across field, survey, and experimental studies, we examine how the ideology of polyculturalism (which welcomes the mutual influence of cultures over time) reduces identity threat, enabling cultural accommodation. Greater endorsement of polyculturalism by participants is associated with greater cultural accommodation (Study 1), an effect mediated by lower identity threat (Studies 2 and 4). Experimental manipulation of polyculturalism showed the same effect, supporting the hypothesized causal direction (Study 3). This effect of polyculturalism on cultural accommodation has downstream workplace effects, improving performance proficiency and social acceptance (Study 4). Moreover, our investigation did not reveal similar effects of other ideologies, colorblindness (which deemphasizes cultural differences), or multiculturalism (which emphasizes preserving cultural traditions). By illuminating how polyculturalism facilitates cultural accommodation, we highlight one means by which organizations can foster employees' effectiveness in cross-cultural work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

We integrate a self-determination conceptual lens and the social information processing perspective to examine how team members' prosocial motivation profiles are related to team processes and performance. Latent profile analyses based on two independent samples (190 and 110 teams) suggest that around one tenth of the team members and leaders are categorized as inactive helpers (i.e., low in both pleasure- and pressure-based prosocial motivation). Subsequent analyses indicate that the proportion of inactive helpers within a team has a detrimental effect on effective team processes, ultimately leading to a decrease in team performance. Our data also support a moderated mediation model, wherein the proposed negative indirect effect is alleviated when the team leader is a dual-role helper (i.e., high in both pleasure- and pressure-based prosocial motivation). In addition, the indirect effect is weakened (and even becomes positive in one of the samples) when the proportion of dual-role teammates within a team is high. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

= 1,476), finding support for our predictions. Participants facing greater pay uncertainty work longer and delay recovery, even when financial rewards for continuing to work become negligible in Studies 1, 2, and 3. In line with scarcity theory predictions, pay uncertainty increases perceptions of financial scarcity (Study 4a) and those facing financial scarcity are less likely to engage in recovery (Study 4b). Together, these results highlight the costs of pay uncertainty while identifying the psychological mechanism underlying that cost. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This research examines how social class origins influence wage goals among college-educated job seekers. Drawing from the social class and job search literatures, we hypothesize that compared with their peers with upper class origins, job seekers with lower class origins (a) set lower wage goals and (b) adjust their wage goals up and down in reaction to changes in their perceived job search progress (i.e., have a stronger positive within-person relationship between perceived job search progress and wage goal). We tested these hypotheses in two studies that surveyed college-educated job seekers in China every week over 3 months. Study 1 revealed that job seekers with lower (but not upper) class origins adjusted their wage goals based on perceived job search progress. Study 2 found that job seekers with lower class origins had stronger motives for seeking employment to meet the needs and expectations of others (i.e., higher interdependent motives for employment), which in turn strengthened the within-person relationship between perceived job search progress and wage goal. In addition, family income (but not parental education) was positively related to access to resources, which in turn was positively related to the job seeker's average perceived job search progress and wage goals. Both studies found that job seekers who set higher wage goal floors (i.e., the lowest level of wage goal throughout a job search) received job offers with higher wages. These findings offer valuable insights for research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).