Frequency versus time lost measures of absenteeism: Is the voluntariness distinction an urban legend?

We investigate a long‐standing methodological rule of thumb, the idea that the frequency of absenteeism from work approximates an expression of voluntary behavior while total time lost better reflects involuntary behavior and ill health. Conducting original meta‐analyses and using results from existing meta‐analyses, we determine that time lost and frequency are equally reliable, that the relationship between them approximates unity when corrections for measurement artifacts are applied, and that there is very little evidence for differential criterion‐related validity predicated on the voluntariness distinction. We supply new meta‐analytic estimates of the reliability of absenteeism adjusted for aggregation period and determine that most extant meta‐analyses of the correlates of absenteeism have markedly under‐corrected for unreliability. Our results question the basic construct validity of the time lost–frequency distinction, and they contradict the practice of using “trigger points” that factor absence frequency into attendance monitoring and associated discipline systems so as to discourage short‐term absenteeism, assumed to be volitional. We conclude that the idea that time lost and frequency reflect different degrees of voluntariness is an unsupported urban research legend. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collectivism as a moderator of responses to organizational justice: implications for leader‐member exchange and ingratiation

Previous research indicates that employee justice perceptions are positively related to leader‐member exchange (LMX). We examined collectivism as a moderator of this relationship. We hypothesized that because maintaining harmonious relationships is important for collectivists, and because protecting their individual identities is not a priority, there is a weaker relationship between interactional and distributive justice perceptions and LMX for individuals high in collectivism. Instead of engaging in behaviors that would lower the quality of their LMX relationships, collectivists are more likely to use soft influence tactics, specifically ingratiation, as a response to perceived unfairness. Thus, we expected a stronger relationship between justice perceptions and ingratiation for those high in collectivism. In a sample of textile‐manufacturing employees in Istanbul, Turkey, we found that interactional justice had a weaker positive relationship with LMX for individuals high in collectivism. In addition, distributive justice had a nonsignificant relationship with LMX for those high in collectivism, whereas there was a positive relationship for those low in collectivism. Finally, for collectivists there was a negative relationship between interactional justice perceptions and frequency of ingratiation, suggesting that collectivists may use more subtle mechanisms when responding to interactional unfairness. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trust as a mediator of the relationship between organizational justice and work outcomes: test of a social exchange model

Data obtained from full‐time employees of a public sector organization in India were used to test a social exchange model of employee work attitudes and behaviors. LISREL results revealed that whereas the three organizational justice dimensions (distributive, procedural and interactional) were related to trust in organization only interactional justice was related to trust in supervisor. The results further revealed that relative to the hypothesized fully mediated model a partially mediated model better fitted the data. Trust in organization partially mediated the relationship between distributive and procedural justice and the work attitudes of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and organizational commitment but fully mediated the relationship between interactional justice and these work attitudes. In contrast, trust in supervisor fully mediated the relationship between interactional justice and the work behaviors of task performance and the individually‐ and organizationally‐oriented dimensions of citizenship behavior. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Group absenteeism and positive affective tone: a longitudinal study

This study investigates temporal variation in group absence behavior, and the relationship between group absenteeism and the group's positive affective tone. Absenteeism data were obtained from 97 work groups, aggregated over each of the four quarters of a year. The group's positive affective tone was measured through two employee opinion surveys. Multi‐level regression analyses were carried out, in which linear, quadratic, and cubic change trends were tested as predictors of change over time in group absenteeism. All three change trends explained unique variance in the group absenteeism data, indicating that the level of group absenteeism changes over time. We also found that there was significant variation between groups in the strength and direction of the linear and quadratic change trends. Positive affective tone was negatively related to the level of group absenteeism, and change in positive affective tone predicted the strength and direction of the linear change trend for group absenteeism. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the linkage between the home domain and absence from work: Health,motivation, or both?

The aim of this study was twofold. First, we examined depleting and enriching effects of employees' home domain (home demands and quality time spent at home) on unscheduled absence from work. Second, we tested the assumption of the medical and withdrawal models that absence duration and frequency are uniquely predicted by respectively health condition and job motivation. We used longitudinal, different‐source data from 1014 employees. The results showed that home quality time was negatively related to absence frequency and duration in the following year through a physical pathway (less physical stress symptoms and health complaints) and through a psychological pathway (less psychological stress symptoms, increased job motivation). Employees with heavy home demands reported more physical and psychological stress symptoms, more health complaints, and lower job motivation. Accordingly, they had longer and more frequent sick leaves in the consecutive year. We conclude that the home domain adds to our understanding of absence from work. In addition, the model including cross pathways between health complaints and job motivation on the one hand, and absence frequency and duration on the other, best fitted the data. Thus, a clear distinction between volitional absence (frequency) and absence due to illness (duration) seems hard to justify. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flexible work schedules and mental and physical health. A study of a working population with non‐traditional working hours

The relationship between health complaints and flexible work schedules was studied in a patient population selected by general practitioners. Four hundred and eighty patients between 20 and 60 years, currently employed or on sick leave, completed questionnaires which compiled data on their work situation, subjective physical health, psychological well‐being, and quality of sleep. Subjective health measurements were performed by using the 21‐item Subjective Health Questionnaire (VOEG). Psychological well‐being was measured by applying a selection of the Sickness Impact Profile. Duration and quality of sleep were measured through a selection of the Groningen Sleep Scale. Patients working rotating shifts, compressed weeks, and irregularly changing hours showed significantly more health complaints, more problems related to their psychological performance, and more sleeping problems than a control group of workers with non‐flexible work schedules. Patients working on temporary employment contracts reported significantly more problems with their psychological performance. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multifoci effects of injustice on counterproductive work behaviors and the moderating roles of symbolization and victim sensitivity

Past research suggests that employees, in response to workplace experiences, selectively engage in targeted counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Taking a retributive justice and target similarity perspective, we predict that employee perceptions of unfairness from the organization uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the organization whereas employee perceptions of supervisory unfairness uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the supervisor. We further hypothesized that moral identity‐symbolization would strengthen these target‐similar relationships. Finally, drawing from the sensitivity to mean intentions model, we hypothesized that victim sensitivity would not only strengthen these target‐similar relationships but also lead to cross‐foci effects of multifoci fairness perceptions on targets of CWB. Results from 3 field studies of full‐time employees provided support for most of our hypothesized relationships.     

Modeling employee absenteeism: testing alternative measures and mediated effects based on job satisfaction

Using a sample of hospital employees this study addressed whether job satisfaction mediates the relationship between absenteeism predictors and absenteeism and how well absenteeism predictors explained different measures of absenteeism. The results suggest that job satisfaction is not a mediator and that the independent variables explain more variance in records‐based time lost than in self‐reported time lost or self‐reported absence frequency. Implications are discussed in terms of using job satisfaction as a mediator as well as the viability of alternative measures of absenteeism. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Family–work conflict and job performance: A diary study of boundary conditions and mechanisms

In this study, we used a within‐person daily research paradigm to examine the relationship between daily family–work conflict (FWC) and daily job performance. On the basis of theory on dynamic behavior, we hypothesized that concentration serves as a mechanism through which daily FWC impairs daily job performance. We further predicted that psychological detachment from work during time‐off (i.e., mentally switching off) buffers the negative relationship between daily FWC and daily job performance. Ninety‐five employees completed daily surveys over one workweek. Multilevel modeling results showed that daily FWC was negatively associated with daily job performance and that concentration mediated this relationship. Furthermore, general psychological detachment, but not daily psychological detachment, buffered the negative relationship between daily FWC and daily job performance. The current findings suggest that daily FWC has negative performance implications and that the general level rather than the daily level of psychological detachment from work helps alleviate the negative implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occupational stress in (inter)action: the interplay between job demands and job resources

The present study addresses theoretical issues involving different interaction effects between job demands and job resources, accompanied by a thorough empirical test of interaction terms in the demand–control (DC) model and the effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to employee health and well‐being (i.e., exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints, company‐registered sickness absence). Neither the DC model nor the ERI model gives a clear theoretical rationale or preference for a particular interaction term. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted among 405 nursing home employees and cross‐validated in a comparable sample (N = 471). Results including cross‐validation showed that only a multiplicative interaction term yielded consistent results for both the DC model and the ERI model. Theoretical as well as empirical results argue for a multiplicative interaction term to test the DC model and the ERI model. Future job stress research may benefit from the idea that there should be a theoretical preference for any interaction form, either in the DC model or in the ERI model. However, more research on interactions is needed to address this topic adequately. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does job insecurity lead to impaired well‐being or vice versa? Estimation of cross‐lagged effects using latent variable modelling

Although research suggests that job insecurity is associated with impaired employee well‐being, there is insufficient empirical evidence to draw any causal inferences since most studies are cross‐sectional and thus do not control for previous levels of health symptoms. We used longitudinal questionnaire data to investigate the direction of the relationship between job insecurity and health complaints. After controlling for prior levels of mental and physical health complaints and five other variables that could potentially confound the results (gender, age, organizational tenure, family status, and education), the results of latent variable modelling showed that the cross‐lagged effect of job insecurity on mental health complaints, one year later, was significant whereas the reversed effects of mental and physical health complaints on subsequent insecurity were non‐significant. However, there was no significant cross‐lagged effect of job insecurity on physical health complaints. The results provide empirical support for the theoretical notion that job insecurity leads to health complaints, and imply that prior levels of health should be taken into consideration in order to explain the relative effect of perceived job insecurity on the physical and mental health of the workforce. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A meta-analytic test of the differential pathways linking ethical leadership to normative conduct

We test how ethical leadership influences normatively (in)appropriate work behavior through distinct mediating pathways, including one's exchange relationship with the leader, ethical culture, and identification with the organization. Our study also controls for transformational leadership as a predictor and trust in leader as a nonhypothesized alternative mechanism. We test our hypotheses using meta-analytic structural equation modeling based on our meta-analysis of 301 independent samples (N = 103,354) and relevant meta-analytic correlations reported in previous research. Supporting our prediction, we found that leader–member exchange, which represents social exchange theory, was the most potent mechanism that accounts for the positive relationship between ethical leadership and task performance. In contrast, ethical culture, which assesses a social learning mechanism, is the strongest predictor of counterproductive behavior. In addition, all three hypothesized mediators each contribute to understanding the positive relationship between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior, although the indirect effect via organizational identification was the weakest. The findings hold after controlling for job satisfaction as another mediator parallel to the theoretical ones. Our results contribute to a precise theory about ethical leadership by differentiating the processes through which it affects employee behavior.     

How does it feel and how does it look? The role of employee motivation in organizational learning type

Employees' work outcomes vary as a function of their focus on exploring new possibilities versus exploiting current opportunities. But what determines how employees divide their attention between these contrasting work behaviors? Drawing on studies on work motivation and employees' impression management concerns, we examine how intrinsic work motivation and self‐enhancement motivation relate to the exploration–exploitation balance and how environmental dynamism moderates these relationships. Based on the analyses of a sample of 638 employees in 34 organizations in Finland, we find that intrinsic work motivation is positively associated with employees' focus on exploration relative to exploitation. By contrast, self‐enhancement motivation negatively associates with exploration relative to exploitation, but this relationship is nonlinear, such that as self‐enhancement motivation increases, its positive association with exploitation diminishes. The findings also show that the hypothesized nonlinear relationship between self‐enhancement motivation and exploration is particularly pronounced in stable business environments. Our findings contribute to organizational learning research and provide a new theoretical perspective on pursuing exploration and exploitation in organizations.     

The relationships of distributive justice and compensation system fairness to employee attitudes in international joint ventures

Employee perceptions of the fairness of general corporate systems have thus far not received enough attention in the organizational justice literature. To fill this gap, we examined perceptions of the fairness of the compensation systems of international joint ventures in China. It is argued that perceptions of compensation system fairness are positively related to the three distributive justice dimensions, i.e., performance‐based distributive justice, comparative distributive justice relative to foreign expatriates, and comparative distributive justice relative to local colleagues. Perceptions of compensation system fairness are also hypothesized to mediate the relationships between the three distributive justice dimensions and organizational commitment and turnover intention. A survey of 161 Chinese employees in Sino‐foreign joint ventures found a positive relationship between perceptions of distributive justice and perceptions of compensation system fairness. In particular, compensation system fairness was more strongly associated with performance‐based distributive justice than with the other two distributive justice dimensions based on social comparison. The mediating role of compensation system fairness was strongly supported. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of an absenteeism feedback intervention on employee absence behavior†

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of an Absenteeism Feedback Intervention (AFI) on employee absenteeism. Three hundred and seventy‐one employees working in 14 experimental and 13 control groups in a medium sized hospital participated in the study. Employees working in the experimental groups received absenteeism feedback at three time periods that provided them with information about their own number of absent days and episodes (sequential days counted as a single absence episode) as well as the average of their work and occupational group. Comparisons of absent days and episodes between the AFI and control groups indicate some support for the effectiveness of the intervention. In particular, there was a reduction in absent days and episodes for employees with higher than average absenteeism during the previous year but who were not extreme offenders. The research and practical implications of the AFI for reducing employee absenteeism are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time structure and purpose,Type A behavior,and the Protestant work ethic

This study extended pioneering research of M. J. Bond and N. T. Feather (1988) into time structure and purpose. These investigators reported generally positive relationships between five time structure components and Type A behavior and orthogonal relationships with the Protestant work ethic (PWE). Such findings seemed inconsistent with theoretical expectations, and therefore potentially threatened the nomological validity of Bond and Feather's Time Structure Questionnaire (TSQ). In this study, two samples of employed persons (total N=407) completed self‐report surveys. No time structure component was associated with global Type A or PWE measures. Orthogonal relationships also appeared with impatient, irritable, and time‐pressured aspects of Type A behavior, and with three PWE beliefs concerned with asceticism, leisure, and perceived superiority to others. On the other hand, some TSQ dimensions, particularly Persistence, related positively to PWE beliefs that hard work is essential to produce valued outcomes. Moreover, five of six TSQ components tended to be strongly and positively linked with the hard‐driving, competitive, and achievement‐oriented side of Type A behavior. This study reconciled past and current research findings, and affirmed the potential importance of time structure and purpose in the study of organizational behavior. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating managerial perceptions and transformational leadership into a work‐unit level model of employee involvement

Employee involvement is an organizational phenomenon that has received increasing empirical attention. Although much research has examined the outcomes of involvement at the organization level, arguments can be made for exploring involvement at the work‐unit level and for investigating the processes by which a unit‐level climate of involvement may be created or emerge. Building on largely untested suggestions that such processes are likely to be motivational and initiated by employees' immediate supervisors, this paper incorporates two concepts of managerial perceptions and leadership into a work‐unit level model of involvement climate. In particular, this study examines the indirect association of managerial perceptions about subordinates' ability to perform and about the utility of organizational practices for facilitating performance, as well as the direct association of transformational leadership, with a climate of involvement. The association of involvement climate with citizenship, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover is also considered. Using structural equation modeling in a sample of 167 work units, results indicate that leadership fully mediates the relationship between managers' perceptions about their subordinates and climate. Further, climate partially mediates and fully mediates the relationship between leadership and citizenship, and absenteeism, respectively. Implications for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workaholism and daily recovery: A day reconstruction study of leisure activities

This study among 85 individuals used a day reconstruction approach to examine whether workaholism moderates the relationship between daily activities during non‐work time and daily well‐being in the evening (evening happiness, momentary vigor before bedtime, and momentary recovery before bedtime). Specifically, it was hypothesized that daily work‐related activities during the evening have a stronger negative relationship with daily well‐being for employees high (versus low) in workaholism and that daily physical and social activities have a stronger positive relationship with well‐being for employees high (versus low) in workaholism. The results of multilevel analyses largely supported the hypotheses for daily physical and work‐related activities but not for social activities during non‐work time. These findings imply that organizations should not encourage their employees and particularly those who score high on workaholism to work during non‐work time and instead promote physical exercise. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Significant work events and counterproductive work behavior: The role of fairness,emotions, and emotion regulation

In this diary study, we investigated multi‐level predictors of daily counterproductive work behavior (CWB) relying on the theoretical frameworks of affective events theory and the emotion‐centered model of CWB. We assessed significant work events, event‐based fairness perceptions, negative emotional reactions to work events, and employee CWB over a 10‐day period. We tested within‐person relations predicting CWB, and cross‐level moderating effects of two emotion regulation strategies (suppression and reappraisal). Results from a multi‐level path analysis revealed that significant work events had both direct and indirect effects on negative emotional reactions. Further, negative emotional reactions in turn mediated the relationships between significant work events and all forms of daily CWB as well as the relationship between event‐based fairness perceptions and daily CWB‐O. Results also supported the moderating role of reappraisal emotion regulation strategy on relations between significant work events and negative emotional reactions. Less support, however, was found for the moderating influence of suppression on the link between negative emotional reactions and CWB. Among the broad work event categories we identified, our supplemental analyses revealed that negative work events involving interactions with supervisors elicited the highest levels of employee negative emotional reactions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Facilitating and inhibiting effects of job control and social support on stress outcomes and role behavior: a contingency model

High levels of job control and social support are often related to effective job performance and coping with work stressors. However, support may have more positive effects on role behavior when job control is low. In addition, despite theoretical expectations, simple demands–control and demands–support interactions are infrequently found to predict health and psychological strain outcomes. The ‘demands–control–support’ model (Johnson and Hall, 1988) of stress coping integrates these ‘stress buffering’ and ‘decision latitude’ models and observes more consistent findings. This model posits that social support buffers the adverse effects of high demand, low control jobs. However, explicit tests of the interaction of these variables suggest that control can have positive or negative effects on strain, depending on the level of social support. In this study, supervisor consideration was positively related to subordinate job performance, extra-role behavior, and in-role prosocial behavior (conscientiousness) among subordinates perceiving low job control. The relationship between consideration and performance and extra-role behavior was negative among high control subordinates. The demands×control×support interaction predicted health symptoms, organizational commitment, supervisor satisfaction, and absence due to illness, but the interaction plots do not support the prevailing perspective that support buffers the effects of ‘high strain’ (i.e. low control, high demand) jobs. Patterns were similar for different demands and different social support loci (i.e. supervisor, co-workers). An alternative theoretical process of the demands–control–support interaction is proffered, and implications for organizational intervention are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.