Knowledge that Transforms

Whereas informal job search (i.e., using personal contacts for job search) is positively associated with the receipt of job offers, research has yet to consider the extent to which informal job search translates into current employees' turnover decisions or to investigate factors that may restrain (or facilitate) the translation of informal job search into turnover decisions. In this study, we propose that on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness play distinct roles in strengthening or weakening the positive relationship between informal job search and turnover intentions and behavior. We assert that on-the-job embeddedness reduces the likelihood that informal job search translates into turnover decisions, whereas off-the-job embeddedness strengthens the positive association between informal job search and turnover decisions. We tested these hypotheses across two samples of employed nurses. Although results were mixed, we found evidence that on-the-job embeddedness dampened the positive relationships of informal job search with turnover intentions and behaviors, whereas off-the-job embeddedness facilitated the positive relationships between informal job search and turnover decisions. Taken together, findings suggest that on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness influence informal job search processes differently. We discuss the implications of these findings for how organizations manage employees' informal job search activities as well as how researchers approach the study of job embeddedness. (PsycINFO Database Record

Although individuals are capable of feeling happiness for others' positive experiences, management scholars have thus far considered envy to be the sole emotional reaction of employees in response to coworkers' positive outcomes. In this article, we introduce the concept of positive empathy-the experience of happiness in response to a coworker's positive experience and the real or imagined happiness in the coworker-as an alternative response to envy and distinguish it from related concepts in the organizational literature. We develop a theoretical framework to explain the psychological processes that underlie envy and positive empathy, and identify individual and contextual contingencies that might incline employees to experience these emotions. Lastly, we discuss individual and organizational outcomes of envy and positive empathy and explain implications for management research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record

Dominance analysis (DA) has been established as a useful tool for practitioners and researchers to identify the relative importance of predictors in a linear regression. This article examines the joint impact of two common and pervasive artifacts-sampling error variance and measurement unreliability-on the accuracy of DA. We present Monte Carlo simulations that detail the decrease in the accuracy of DA in the presence of these artifacts, highlighting the practical extent of the inferential mistakes that can be made. Then, we detail and provide a user-friendly program in R (R Core Team, 2017) for estimating the effects of sampling error variance and unreliability on DA. Finally, by way of a detailed example, we provide specific recommendations for how researchers and practitioners should more appropriately interpret and report results of DA. (PsycINFO Database Record

Studies show that abusive leader behaviors "trickle down" to lower organizational levels, but this research ignores that many abused supervisors do not perpetuate abuse by harming their own subordinates. Drawing on social-cognitive theory and related research, we suggest abused supervisors might defy rather than emulate their managers' abusive behavior. Specifically, we predicted that some abused supervisors-namely, those with strong moral identities-might in effect "change course" by engaging in less abuse or demonstrating ethical leadership with their subordinates to the extent they disidentify with their abusive managers. Across 2 experiments (n = 288 and 462 working adults, respectively) and a field study (n = 500 employees and their supervisors), we show that relations between manager abuse and supervisors' abusive and ethical behaviors were carried by supervisors' disidentification, and that the direct and indirect effects of manager abuse were stronger for supervisors with comparatively higher moral identity levels. We discuss our findings' implications and avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record

The ability to detect differences between groups partially impacts how useful a group-level variable will be for subsequent analyses. Direct consensus and referent-shift consensus group-level constructs are often measured by aggregating group member responses to multi-item scales. We show that current measurement validation practice for these group-level constructs may not be optimized with respect to differentiating groups. More specifically, a 10-year review of multilevel articles in top journals reveals that multilevel measurement validation primarily relies on procedures designed for individual-level constructs. These procedures likely miss important information about how well each specific scale item differentiates between groups. We propose that group-level measurement validation be augmented with information about each scale item's ability to differentiate groups. Using previously published datasets, we demonstrate how ICC(1) estimates for each item of a scale provide unique information and can produce group-level scales with higher ICC(1) values that enhance predictive validity. We recommend that researchers supplement conventional measurement validation information with information about item-level ICC(1) values when developing or modifying scales to assess group-level constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Compensation research has focused traditionally on how pay design characteristics (e.g., pay level, individual or group incentives) relate to average employee outcomes and, in toto, on how these outcomes affect organizational performance. Recently, scholars have begun to pay more attention to how individuals vary in the strength of their reactions to pay. Empirical research in several disciplines examines how the interplay of pay systems and person-based characteristics (psychological individual differences, demographics, and relative performance or position in a group) relate to important work-related outcomes. We develop a compensation-activation theory that frames compensation design characteristics as workplace "situations" providing cues that activate individuals' corresponding fundamental social motives made salient due to chronic or transient person-based characteristics. Where activation occurs, stronger-than-average responses to the compensation "situation" are expected. Using the theory as a lens, we synthesize and reinterpret existing research on person-based reactions to pay characteristics, including sorting, incentive/motivational effects, and effects on collective pay system reactions and unit/organizational outcomes. We conclude with a research agenda aimed at refining compensation-activation theory and advancing the study of compensation as it affects individual and organizational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record

For more than 30 years, researchers have investigated interpersonal helping in organizations, with much of this work focusing on understanding why employees help their colleagues. Although this is important, it is also critical that employees are willing to accept assistance that is offered by peers. Indeed, helping behavior should only enhance individual and organizational effectiveness if employees are actually willing to accept offers of assistance. Unfortunately, employees may sometimes have reservations about accepting help from their peers. In four studies, we examine the negative beliefs that employees have about accepting help from coworkers. In Study 1, we use inductive research to qualitatively understand why employees accept or decline coworker help. In Study 2, we develop a preliminary, second-order reflective measure of negative beliefs about accepting coworker help that is indicated by the five specific (first-order) reservations about accepting help identified in Study 1-diminished image, reciprocity obligation, self-reliance, coworker mistrust, and coworker incompetence. In Study 3, we refine our scale and demonstrate its convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. Finally, in Study 4, we investigate the consequences of negative beliefs about accepting coworker help. We find that those who hold more negative beliefs are less likely to receive help from peers (and supervisors), report more negative job attitudes, and have lower levels of in-role performance, citizenship behavior, and creativity. Furthermore, employees with more negative beliefs about accepting help from coworkers are seen less favorably by their supervisors. Implications and future research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Research and theory concerning "dirty work" has largely focused on how employees cope with stable features of their jobs. From a study of employees' experiences across 6 weekly repeated measurements, we found that within-person increases in experienced dirtiness were positively related to their withdrawal behaviors and job change propensity indirectly through occupational disidentification. Assessed at the between-subjects level, team-oriented leadership moderated the indirect within-person effects of work dirtiness experiences on these outcomes. The relationships between elevations in experienced work dirtiness and occupational disidentification were more strongly positive at lower levels of team-oriented leadership. Analyses also showed that individuals' perceptions of occupational stigma independently moderated the within-person relationship between experienced dirtiness and occupational disidentification. We discuss theoretical implications for the literature on dirty work and practical implications for mitigating the adverse outcomes associated with experienced work dirtiness. (PsycINFO Database Record

Building on identity theories and social learning theory, we test the notion that new leaders will model the abusive behaviors of their superiors only under certain conditions. Specifically, we hypothesize that new leaders will model abusive supervisory behaviors when (a) abusive superiors are perceived to be competent, based on the performance of their teams and (b) new leaders' ideal leadership self-concepts are high on tyranny or low on sensitivity. Results of an experiment in which we manipulated abusive supervisory behaviors using a professional actor, and created a role change where 93 individuals moved from team member to team leader role, generally support our hypotheses. We found the strongest association between abuse exposure and new leader abuse under conditions where the abusive superior's team performed well and the new team leaders' self-concepts showed low concern for others. (PsycINFO Database Record

= 320). Analyses of multisource temporally lagged data from software development professionals, who were assigned to work in multiple teams, yielded support for the combined influences of individual and team-level factors on individuals' identification with, and ultimately performance in and satisfaction with, their multiple team memberships. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record