Beliefs and fears and Type A behavior: implications for academic performance and psychiatric health disorder symptoms

This study begins by examining the dimensionality of the Type A behavior pattern using four frequently employed self-report measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified nine meaningful factors (dimensions) across the four scales. A measure of hostility was added since hostility has been found to be highly predictive of coronary heart disease and originally was included in Rosenman, Swan and Carmelli's (1988) definition of Type A behavior. Supporting the utility of examining Type A behavior as a multidimensional personality construct, the Type A dimensions and hostility reveal differential effects on academic performance and a general health or psychiatric disorder symptom profile. Achievement striving is positively related to academic performance, and time pressure, anger, and hostility seem to significantly increase somatic complaints, anxiety, and depression. In addition, there is support for Price's (1982) conceptualization that some cognitive beliefs and fears promote the development and maintenance of Type A behavior. As expected, the belief and fear that one must prove oneself or else be judged unworthy relates positively to work involvement and achievement striving, but it also directly and positively impacts the overt Type A behaviors of hurry and time pressure and two psychiatric health disorder symptoms, performance dysfunction and anxiety. Lastly, implications and future research directions are discussed.     

The nomological and predictive validity of time urgency

The present study developed a nomological network that theoretically linked time urgency to related variables. To test the proposed relationships, time urgency, achievement strivings (AS), and impatience/irritability (II) were utilized as predictors of health and performance 18 months later. Multivariate canonical correlation analyses provided support for a complex nomological network among the predictors and the outcome measures. Redundancy coefficients and a rotated structure matrix were employed to identify two significant dimensions, labeled crammers and organizers, that linked the predictors with the outcome measures. The results also indicated that the time urgency subcomponents were differentially related to several health outcomes. These findings provide further validity evidence for the time urgency construct, and they suggest that time urgency variables should be considered as important predictors of both health and performance outcomes. Directions for future research on time urgency are discussed. © 1998 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.     

Bridge building within the province of proactivity

The research questions posed in this study highlight the importance of valuing proactivity in both prompting an individual to engage in proactive behavior and encouraging the expression of that behavior. We integrate a variety of constructs from the proactivity literature to gain a deeper understanding of proactive behavior as it relates to proactive motivation and supervisory performance evaluations. First, we draw upon self‐determination theory, expectancy–value theory, and the recent integration of the proactive motivation literature to hypothesize that proactive behavior is predicted by the interaction of “can do” and “reason to” proactive motivational states. Second, on the basis of performance theory, we hypothesize that the relationship between proactive behavior and performance depends upon the extent to which the supervisor values proactivity. Specifically, we argue that supervisors with proactive personalities are more likely to value and reward subordinate proactive behavior than passive supervisors. Results provide support for both of our hypotheses. Interestingly, results show that proactive behavior did not result in negative consequences but rather that there was a cost (i.e., lower performance rating) for not taking charge for employees with proactive supervisors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affect and favorable work outcomes: two longitudinal tests of the happy–productive worker thesis

This research examined relationships between alternative measures of affect and supervisory performance ratings. The first study showed that dispositional rather than state affect significantly predicted supervisory ratings of performance over time. Since the measures of affect differed on both content and temporal dimensions, a follow‐up study was conducted to explicate the results. The second study found that a pleasantness‐based measure of dispositional affect (Berkman, 1971a) again predicted rated performance over time, but activation‐based measures of both dispositional and state affect (using PANAS scales) were not predictive of supervisory evaluations of performance. The implications of these findings in terms of research on affect and the longstanding pursuit of the happy–productive worker are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploration of relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior in the Chinese oil industry

Safety performance is comprised of two components, safety compliance and safety participation. However, relationships between safety performance and unsafe behavior have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, scales for safety compliance and safety participation were revised for use in the oil industry, and job burnout scale was developed on the basis of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). A structural equation model was then employed to investigate the interactions of these factors for 238 front-line oil workers from the PetroChina Huabei Oilfield Company in China. From the results, it was determined that workers' unsafe behavior could not be reduced significantly solely from these two dimensions of safety performance. Compared with safety participation, safety compliance was found to have a greater influence on unsafe behavior. However, job burnout was found to be a significant moderator between these two components and unsafe behavior. Furthermore, it was determined that oil workers' occupational psychological health conditions must be taken into account to improve organizational safety management and reduce workers’ unsafe behavior.     

Measuring determinants of occupational health related behavior in Flemish farmers: an application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

PROBLEM: Preventive interventions to reduce occupational injuries and health problems in farmers require the identification of factors that contribute to unsafe and health damaging behavior. This paper describes the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire, which measures the determinants of occupational health-related behaviors in farmers. METHOD: A representative sample of 283 Flemish farmers completed a provisional 135 item questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, measuring four behaviors related to occupational health (machinery use, animal handling, preventing falls, and pesticide use), as well as the intentions, attitudes, perceived social norms, and self-efficacy for each of these behaviors. RESULTS: The fit indices of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis turned out not to be sufficient to reproduce the dimensions of the TPB. Therefore exploratory factor analysis was use to determine the underlying dimensions. Principal Component Analyses (PCA) on the behavioral items yielded single component solutions explaining a considerable proportion of the variance for each behavior and for behavioral intentions. Principal component analyses toward an a priori three-component structure reflecting the TPB dimensions did not produce sufficient congruence for the determinants of the four behaviors. Subsequent Varimax rotations and discarding of redundant items resulted in three component solutions explaining 50% to 69% of the variance in the determinants of each behavior, corresponding with the dimensions of the TPB. Internal consistencies ranged from .25 to .89. Scale scores accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in intention and self-reported behavior. IMPACT: The study demonstrates the validity of the TPB in predicting behavior related to occupational safety and health in farmers, and provides a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure the cognitive concepts featured in this model. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Both authors share the same view on this study's impact on industry. In recent years, efforts have been made to create awareness among farmers about occupational hazards, and to encourage farmers to perform safer and healthier behavior. However, only a limited number of these interventions have proven to be successful. A possible reason for this relative lack of success is that interventions typically focus on risk analysis and raising awareness, whereas the literature on preventive health behavior change indicates that knowledge and awareness with regard to possible health risks are neither necessary nor sufficient to change behavior. To raise the effectiveness of prevention programs, other relevant determinants of behavior need to be addressed as well, such as: attitudes, perceived social norms, self efficacy, and elements of the physical environment that elicit or reinforce behavior. These determinants play a key role in psychological models of health related behavior, such as the Theory of Planned Behavior. Thus far, the use of these models within agricultural settings is fairly limited. This study demonstrates the validity of the Theory of Planned Behavior in predicting behavior related to occupational safety and health in farmers, and provides a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure the cognitive concepts featured in this model.     

Emotional intelligence and individual performance: evidence of direct and moderated effects

We examined the direct and moderated effects of an ability‐based measure of emotional intelligence (MSCEIT© V2.0) on individual performance in a sample of business undergraduates. Controlling for general mental ability and personality, emotional intelligence explained unique incremental variance in performance ratings on only one of two measures of interpersonal effectiveness (public speaking effectiveness). However, the interaction of emotional intelligence with conscientiousness explained unique incremental variance both in public speaking and group behavior effectiveness, as well as academic performance (cumulative GPA). We conclude that the effects of emotional intelligence on performance are more indirect than direct in nature. Individuals must not only have emotional intelligence, but also must be motivated to use it. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of type A behavior dimensions and optimism on coping strategy,health, and performance

Type A behavior dimensions and optimism were examined as predictors of health and performance. In addition, this research also explored the ways that Type As and optimists cope with stressful situations. The achievement striving dimension of the Type A behavior pattern and optimism were positively related to class performance, while the anger/hostility dimension was positively related to the health symptom of anxiety. Optimism, on the other hand, was negatively related to anxiety. The interaction of achievement striving and optimism was negatively related to anxiety. Additionally, while achievement striving was positively related to problem-focused coping, irritability showed a negative association with problem-focused coping strategy. The results of this study provide insights for both individuals and organizations regarding how to cope with daily stresses in order to lower health risks and improve performance.     

Work performance,affective commitment,and work motivation: the roles of pay administration and pay level

The purpose of this study was to investigate employee attitudes and behaviors among knowledge workers under different forms of pay administration and pay levels. To examine these issues, I collected data from two business units in a large Norwegian multinational company with pay plans combining individual and collective performance and behaviors as the foundations for individual bonuses; one with two collective components (profit and behavior of the unit and the organization) and one with an individual component in addition to the two collective components. After controlling for organizational tenure, education, gender, perceived unit support, perceptions of distributive and procedural justice, and type of pay plan, the key findings are that base pay level, but not bonus level, was positively related to both self‐reported work performance and affective unit commitment, and that these relationships were partly mediated by intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, moderation analyses revealed that the relationships between bonus level and the outcome variables were not affected by type of pay plan. Implications and directions for future research on pay in knowledge intensive organizations are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploratory analysis of the safety climate and safety behavior relationship

Problem: Safety climate refers to the degree to which employees believe true priority is given to organizational safety performance, and its measurement is thought to provide an “early warning” of potential safety system failure(s). However, researchers have struggled over the last 25 years to find empirical evidence to demonstrate actual links between safety climate and safety performance.Method: A safety climate measure was distributed to manufacturing employees at the beginning of a behavioral safety initiative and redistributed one year later.Results: Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that perceptions of the importance of safety training were predictive of actual levels of safety behavior. The results also demonstrate that the magnitude of change in perceptual safety climate scores will not necessarily match actual changes (r=0.56, n.s.) in employee's safety behavior.Discussion: This study obtained empirical links between safety climate scores and actual safety behavior. Confirming and contradicting findings within the extant safety climate literature, the results strongly suggest that the hypothesized climate-behavior-accident path is not as clear cut as commonly assumed.Summary: A statistical link between safety climate perceptions and safety behavior will be obtained when sufficient behavioral data is collected.Impact on Industry: The study further supports the use of safety climate measures as useful diagnostic tools in ascertaining employee's perceptions of the way that safety is being operationalized.     

Using lagging and leading indicators for the evaluation of occupational safety and health performance in industry

Improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH) management is closely related to the development of OSH performance measurement, which should include OSH outcomes (e.g., occupational accidents), OSH inputs (including working conditions) and OSH-related activities. The indicators used to measure the OSH outcomes are often called lagging indicators, and the indicators of inputs and OSH activities are leading indicators. A study was conducted in 60 companies in order to determine what kinds of indicators were used for OSH performance measurement by companies with different levels of OSH performance. The results reveal that the indicators most commonly used in all of the companies are those related to ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements. At the same time, the leading indicators are much more often adopted in companies with a higher performance level. These companies also much more often monitor on a regular basis the indicators adopted for the evaluation of their OSH performance.     

The safety observer effect: the effects of conducting safety observations

INTRODUCTION: Some research suggests that conducting safety observations of another's safety performance may serve as an effective tool in increasing the safety performance of the observer. The primary purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of conducting safety observations on the postural safety performance of observers engaging in an assembly task for short time periods. The secondary objectives of the study were: (a) to measure productivity, and (b) to measure the accuracy of participant safety observations. METHOD: An ABC (A: baseline, B: information, C: observation) multiple-baseline design counterbalanced across postural behaviors (back, shoulder, and feet position) was implemented with six participants. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Substantial improvements in postural safety occurred after participants conducted safety observations, and these improvements did not appear to negatively affect productivity. Results also suggest that there is no relation between the accuracy of an observer's safety observation and their subsequent safety performance. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This research provides evidence that a safety observation process can function to increase safe postural behavior of observers. Thus, the implementation of such a process may contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and related costs in the workplace.     

Examining the effects of feeling trusted by supervisors in the workplace: A self‐evaluative perspective

Trusting and feeling trusted are related but unique components of a trusting relationship. However, we understand relatively little about the effects of felt trust on work performance and organizational citizenship behavior. From a self‐evaluative perspective, this study argued that when employees perceive that their supervisors trust them, their organization‐based self‐esteem is enhanced, leading them to perform better in the workplace. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 497 teachers using two trust measures, that is, reliance and disclosure, and found support for them on the basis of the reliance (but not the disclosure) measure. The effect of felt trust especially reliance on the employees' work performances were mediated by their organization‐based self‐esteem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and teamwork behavior in context: The cross‐level moderating role of collective efficacy

This research examines whether the relationship between an individual's personality and their behavior within a team is contingent on the team's overall perception of its capability. Individuals were peer‐rated on the extent to which they displayed interpersonal and performance management teamwork behaviors over the course of an 8 week business simulation. The personality trait of agreeableness predicted interpersonal teamwork behavior, while the personality traits of conscientiousness and core self‐evaluation (CSE) predicted performance management behavior. Multilevel analysis showed that collective efficacy influenced the extent to which an individual engaged in both types of behavior, and was also a cross‐level moderator of the relationship between agreeableness and interpersonal behavior and the relationship between CSE and performance management behavior. At the team level, interpersonal behavior mediated between collective efficacy and team performance. The study's results show that in team settings the personality and individual behavior relationship may depend on group level confidence perceptions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incentives and cooperation: the joint effects of task and reward interdependence on group performance

We examine the joint effects of task interdependence and reward interdependence on group behavior and performance. We develop a model that predicts that task and reward interdependence will interact to increase performance, and present results of a laboratory experiment that confirms our prediction. We explore the efficacy of group reward systems for different task designs, and the relationship between cooperation and performance. We confirm earlier results on the weakness of the free-rider effect in small face-to-face groups. We also find, surprisingly, that while reward interdependence is important to performance, task interdependence, but not reward interdependence, drives observed cooperative behavior. This last result suggests caution in interpreting the efficacy of changes in the design of work. Such changes, if unaccompanied by changes in the design of the reward system, are likely to appear successful in terms of observed cooperation, but may not enhance performance. © 1997 by 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.     

The effect of first aid training on Australian construction workers' occupational health and safety motivation and risk control behavior

METHOD: A 24-week experiment was conducted to assess how first aid training affects the motivation of small business construction industry employees in avoiding occupational injuries and illnesses and its effect on their occupational health and safety behavior. A simplified multiple baseline design across workplace settings was used to evaluate the effects of first aid training. Participants' motivation to control occupational safety and health risks was explored during in-depth interviews before and after receipt of first aid training. Objective measurement of occupational safety and health behavior was conducted by a researcher directly observing the workplace before and after participants received first aid training. RESULTS: The observations at participants' worksites suggested that, for the most part, the first aid training had a positive effect on the occupational safety and health behavior of participants. First aid training appeared to reduce participants' "self--other" bias, making them more aware that their own experience of occupational safety and health risks is not beyond their control but that their own behavior is an important factor in the avoidance of occupational injury and illness. First aid training also appeared to reduce participants' willingness to accept prevailing levels of occupational safety and health risk and increase the perceived probability that they would suffer a work-related injury or illness. Participants expressed greater concern about taking risks at work after receiving first aid training. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: It appears that first aid training enhances participants' motivation to avoid occupational injuries and illnesses and improves their risk control behavior. The implications of this are that first aid training can have a positive preventive effect and could complement traditional occupational health and safety training programs. As such, there may be benefit in providing first aid training to all employees rather than limiting this training to a small number of designated "first aiders."     

CREAM失误概率预测法在驾驶舱机组判断与决策过程中的应用

CREAM强调人在生产活动中的绩效输出不是孤立的随机性行为,而是依赖于人完成任务时所处的环境或工作条件,它通过影响人的认知控制模式和其在不同认知活动中的效应,最终决定人的响应行为。在驾驶舱内,机组的绩效输出不仅仅是人的自身行为,还依赖于其完成任务时所处的情景环境,所以CREAM方法能够结合驾驶舱环境对机组的认知差错进行分析。在飞行中,驾驶舱内机组非常重要的一个环节是判断与决策过程,这一过程中包括询问、讨论、确定方案、执行、反馈五个环节。本文将通过分析这五个环节的相互关系及影响,以明确这种讨论过程是减少机组人为差错发生的一种有益方式,然后应用CREAM的预测法对这五个环节进行定量化分析,得出机组判断与决策过程的失误概率,完成对机组认知行为的客观评价,并为以后能够定量化研究驾驶舱内飞行员认知差错提供方法的借鉴。     

The interactive effects of conscientiousness,openness to experience,and political skill on job performance in complex jobs: The importance of context

Caveats concerning the ability of personality to predict job performance have been raised because of seemingly modest criterion‐related validity. The goal of the present research was to test whether narrowing the context via the type of job (i.e., jobs with complex task demands) and adding a social skill‐related moderator (i.e., political skill) would improve performance prediction. Further, along with political skill, the broad factor of personality demonstrated in prior research to have the strongest criterion validity (i.e., conscientiousness) was joined with a narrow construct closely related to openness to experience (i.e., learning approach) in a three‐way interactive prediction of supervisor‐rated task performance. With the employee–supervisor dyads among professionals, but not with the control group of non‐professional employees, task performance was predicted by the three‐way interaction, such that those high on all three received the highest performance ratings. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.