Thriving at work: A meta‐analysis

Thriving at work refers to a positive psychological state characterized by a joint sense of vitality and learning. On the basis of Spreitzer and colleagues' model, we present a comprehensive meta‐analysis of antecedents and outcomes of thriving at work (K = 73 independent samples, N = 21,739 employees). Results showed that thriving at work is associated with individual characteristics, such as psychological capital (r_c = .47), proactive personality (r_c = .58), positive affect (r_c = .52), and work engagement (r_c = .64). Positive associations were also found between thriving at work and relational characteristics, including supportive coworker behavior (r_c = .42), supportive leadership behavior (r_c = .44), and perceived organizational support (r_c = .63). Moreover, thriving at work is related to important employee outcomes, including health‐related outcomes such as burnout (r_c = ?.53), attitudinal outcomes such as commitment (r_c = .65), and performance‐related outcomes such as task performance (r_c = .35). The results of relative weights analyses suggest that thriving exhibits small, albeit incremental predictive validity above and beyond positive affect and work engagement, for task performance, job satisfaction, subjective health, and burnout. Overall, the findings of this meta‐analysis support Spreitzer and colleagues' model and underscore the importance of thriving in the work context.     

The relation between emotional intelligence and job performance: A meta‐analysis

This meta‐analysis builds upon a previous meta‐analysis by (1) including 65 per cent more studies that have over twice the sample size to estimate the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and job performance; (2) using more current meta‐analytical studies for estimates of relationships among personality variables and for cognitive ability and job performance; (3) using the three‐stream approach for classifying EI research; (4) performing tests for differences among streams of EI research and their relationships with personality and cognitive intelligence; (5) using latest statistical procedures such as dominance analysis; and (6) testing for publication bias. We classified EI studies into three streams: (1) ability‐based models that use objective test items; (2) self‐report or peer‐report measures based on the four‐branch model of EI; and (3) “mixed models” of emotional competencies. The three streams have corrected correlations ranging from 0.24 to 0.30 with job performance. The three streams correlated differently with cognitive ability and with neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Streams 2 and 3 have the largest incremental validity beyond cognitive ability and the Five Factor Model (FFM). Dominance analysis demonstrated that all three streams of EI exhibited substantial relative importance in the presence of FFM and intelligence when predicting job performance. Publication bias had negligible influence on observed effect sizes. The results support the overall validity of EI. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Note: Correction added on 22 July 2010 after first publication online on 29 June 2010. The affiliations for Ronald H. Humphrey and Thomas H. Hawver have been corrected in this version of the article.     

Building work engagement: A systematic review and meta‐analysis investigating the effectiveness of work engagement interventions

Low work engagement may contribute towards decreased well‐being and work performance. Evaluating, boosting and sustaining work engagement are therefore of interest to many organisations. However, the evidence on which to base interventions has not yet been synthesised. A systematic review with meta‐analysis was conducted to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of work engagement interventions. A systematic literature search identified controlled workplace interventions employing a validated measure of work engagement. Most used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Studies containing the relevant quantitative data underwent random‐effects meta‐analyses. Results were assessed for homogeneity, systematic sampling error, publication bias and quality. Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria and were categorised into four types of interventions: (i) personal resource building; (ii) job resource building; (iii) leadership training; and (iv) health promotion. The overall effect on work engagement was small, but positive, k = 14, Hedges g = 0.29, 95%‐CI = 0.12–0.46. Moderator analyses revealed a significant result for intervention style, with a medium to large effect for group interventions. Heterogeneity between the studies was high, and the success of implementation varied. More studies are needed, and researchers are encouraged to collaborate closely with organisations to design interventions appropriate to individual contexts and settings, and include evaluations of intervention implementation. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Organizational Behavior published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leadership,followers' mental health and job performance in organizations: A comprehensive meta‐analysis from an occupational health perspective

The present meta‐analysis investigates the associations between leadership, followers' mental health, and job performance by taking into account different groups of leadership constructs including transformational leadership, relations‐oriented leadership, task‐oriented leadership, destructive leadership, and leader–member exchange. Six categories of mental health‐related outcomes are considered representing both negative and positive mental health states of followers, namely, affective symptoms, burnout, stress, well‐being, psychological functioning, and health complaints. Meta‐analytic models are used to estimate the association between these categories of leadership and mental health. Our results reveal that transformational leadership, a high quality of relations‐oriented and task‐oriented leadership behavior, as well as a high quality of leader–follower interaction are positively associated with mental health. In contrast, destructive leadership is strongly negatively associated with mental health. In addition, the mediation effects of leadership on job performance via mental health are estimated. Results partially support the mediating role of mental health concerning the relationship between leadership and job performance. Our results emphasize the importance of leadership as an occupational health factor, and they may serve as basis for the planning and designing of occupational health policies and interventions despite existing research limitations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A meta‐analytic comparison of self‐reported and other‐reported organizational citizenship behavior

Given the common use of self‐ratings and other‐ratings (e.g., supervisor or coworker) of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), the purpose of this meta‐analysis was to evaluate the extent to which these rating sources provide comparable information. The current study's results provided three important lines of evidence supporting the use and construct‐related validity of self‐rated OCB. The meta‐analysis of mean differences demonstrated that the mean difference in OCB ratings is actually quite small between self‐ and other‐raters. Importantly, the difference between self‐ and other‐raters was influenced by neither the response scale (i.e., agreement vs. frequency) nor the use of antithetical/reverse‐worded items on OCB scales. The meta‐analysis of correlations showed that self‐ and other‐ratings are moderately correlated but that self–other convergence is higher when antithetical items are not used and when agreement response scales are used. In addition, self‐ratings and supervisor‐ratings showed significantly more convergence than self‐ratings and coworker‐ratings. Finally, an evaluation of self‐rated and other‐rated OCB nomological networks showed that although self‐rated and other‐rated OCBs have similar patterns of relationships with common correlates, other‐rated OCB generally contributed negligible incremental variance to correlates and only contributed appreciable incremental variance to other‐rated behavioral variables (e.g., task performance and counterproductive work behavior). Implications and future research directions are discussed, particularly regarding the need to establish a nomological network for other‐rated OCB. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empowering leadership: A meta‐analytic examination of incremental contribution,mediation, and moderation

The concept of empowering leadership (EL) has seen increasing scholarly interest in recent years. This study reports a meta‐analysis investigating the effects of EL on employee work behavior. On the basis of data from 105 samples, we found evidence for the positive effects of EL on performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity at both the individual and team levels. We further examined these relationships by exploring potential boundary conditions and the incremental contribution of EL over transformational leadership and leader–member exchange. Furthermore, at the individual level, both trust in leader and psychological empowerment mediated the relationships of EL with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity. We also found evidence that leader–member exchange was a significant mediator between EL and task performance. At the team level, empowerment mediated the effects of EL on team performance, whereas knowledge sharing showed no significant indirect effect. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications and suggest some areas that require further research.     

Idiosyncratic deals in contemporary organizations: A qualitative and meta‐analytical review

Idiosyncratic deals (i‐deals) research focuses on the emergence of customized work arrangements employees negotiate with their employers. This article provides a critical review and synthesis of i‐deals research, combining a qualitative review of i‐deals theory and research with a supplementary meta‐analysis of 23 empirical studies (k = 27 samples, N = 8110 individuals). The qualitative review examines the conceptualization and measurement of i‐deals and identifies patterns and gaps in i‐deals research, while the quantitative meta‐analysis tests the moderating effect of societal cultures on the predictors and consequences of ideals investigated to date. In each section, attention is given to strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to i‐deals theory and research. Future research directions are identified with particular emphasis on the largely unexamined role of i‐deals from a multilevel perspective. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A meta‐analysis of the interrelationships between employee lateness,absenteeism, and turnover: Implications for models of withdrawal behavior

We meta‐analyzed the correlations between voluntary employee lateness, absenteeism, and turnover to (i) provide the most comprehensive estimates to date of the interrelationships between these withdrawal behaviors; (ii) test the viability of a withdrawal construct; and (iii) evaluate the evidence for competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors (i.e., alternate forms, compensatory forms, independent forms, progression of withdrawal, and spillover model). Corrected correlations were .26 between lateness and absenteeism, .25 between absenteeism and turnover, and .01 between lateness and turnover. These correlations were even smaller in recent studies that had been carried out since the previous meta‐analyses of these relationships 15–20 years ago. The small‐to‐moderate intercorrelations are not supportive of a withdrawal construct that includes lateness, absenteeism, and turnover. These intercorrelations also rule out many of the competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors, as many of the models assume all relationships will be positive, null, or negative. On the basis of path analyses using meta‐analytic data, the progression of withdrawal model garnered the most support. This suggests that lateness may moderately predict absenteeism and absenteeism may moderately predict turnover. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recovery from work‐related effort: A meta‐analysis

This meta‐analytic study examines the antecedents and outcomes of four recovery experiences: psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control. Using 299 effect sizes from 54 independent samples (N = 26,592), we extend theory by integrating recovery experiences into the challenge–hindrance framework, creating a more comprehensive understanding of how both after‐work recovery and work characteristics collectively relate to well‐being. The results of meta‐analytic path estimates indicate that challenge demands have stronger negative relationships with psychological detachment, relaxation, and control recovery experiences than hindrance demands, and job resources have positive relationships with relaxation, mastery, and control recovery experiences. Psychological detachment after work has a stronger negative relationship with fatigue than relaxation or control experiences, whereas control experiences after work have a stronger positive relationship with vigor than detachment or relaxation experiences. Additionally, a temporally driven model with recovery experiences as a partial mediator explains up to 62% more variance in outcomes (ΔR² = .12) beyond work characteristics models, implying that both work characteristics and after‐work recovery play an important role in determining employee well‐being.     

Isms and schisms: A meta‐analysis of the prejudice‐discrimination relationship across racism,sexism, and ageism

Racism, sexism, and ageism persist in modern day organizations and may translate into workplace discrimination, which can undermine organizational effectiveness. We provide the first meta‐analysis comparing the relationships between these three types of prejudice (racism, sexism, and ageism) and three types of workplace discrimination (selection, performance evaluation, and opposition to diversity‐supportive policies). Across outcomes, racism was associated with workplace discrimination, whereas sexism was not. Ageism was associated with discriminatory selection and opposition to organizational policies supporting older workers; however, ageism was not related to discriminatory performance evaluation. Consistent with prior research and theory, Implicit Association Test measures were related to subtle discrimination (opposition to diversity‐supportive policies) but not deliberate discrimination (selection and performance evaluation). Finally, prejudice was more strongly associated with discrimination against real as compared with hypothetical targets. Implications for organizational researchers and practitioners are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A meta‐analytic evaluation of diversity training outcomes

The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to use theory and research on diversity, attitudes, and training to examine potential differential effects on affective‐based, cognitive‐based, and skill‐based outcomes, to examine potential moderators of those effects with a focus on affective‐based outcomes, and finally, to provide quantitative estimates of these posited relationships. Results from 65 studies (N = 8465) revealed sizable effects on affective‐based, cognitive‐based, and skill‐based outcomes as well as interesting boundary conditions for these effects on affective‐based outcomes. This study provides practical value to human resources managers and trainers wishing to implement diversity training within organizations as well as interesting theoretical advances for researchers. Practitioners have quantitative evidence that diversity training changes affective‐based, cognitive‐based, and skill‐based trainee outcomes. This study also supports and addresses future research needs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Best‐practice recommendations for estimating interaction effects using meta‐analysis

One of the key advantages of meta‐analysis (i.e., a quantitative literature review) over a narrative literature review is that it allows for formal tests of interaction effects—namely, whether the relationship between two variables is contingent upon the value of another (moderator) variable. Interaction effects play a central role in organizational science research because they highlight boundary conditions of a theory: Conditions under which relationships change in strength and/or direction. This article describes procedures for estimating interaction effects using meta‐analysis, distills the technical literature for a general readership of organizational science researchers, and includes specific best‐practice recommendations regarding actions researchers can take before and after data collection to improve the accuracy of substantive conclusions regarding interaction effects investigated meta‐analytically. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A meta‐analysis of the antecedents of work–family enrichment

This study meta‐analytically examined theoretically derived antecedents of both directions of work–family enrichment (sometimes labeled facilitation or positive spillover), namely, work–family enrichment and family–work enrichment. Contextual and personal characteristics specific to each domain were examined. Resource‐providing (e.g., social support and work autonomy) and resource‐depleting (e.g., role overload) contextual characteristics were considered. Domain‐specific personal characteristics included the individuals' psychological involvement in each domain, the centrality of each domain, and work engagement. Results based on 767 correlations from 171 independent studies published between 1990 and 2016 indicate that several contextual and personal characteristics have significant relationships with enrichment. Although those associated with work tend to have stronger relationships with work–family enrichment and those associated with family tend to have stronger relationships with family–work enrichment, several antecedent variables have significant relationships with both directions of enrichment. Resource‐providing contextual characteristics tend to have stronger relationships with enrichment than do resource‐depleting characteristics. There was very little evidence of gender being a moderator of relationships between contextual characteristics and enrichment. Lastly, meta‐analytic structural equation modeling provided evidence that a theoretical path model wherein work engagement mediates between several contextual characteristics and enrichment is largely generalizable across populations.     

Team creativity/innovation in culturally diverse teams: A meta‐analysis

This meta‐analysis investigates the direction and strength of the relationship between diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation. We distinguish the effects of two diversity levels (i.e., surface level vs. deep level) in culturally diverse teams and examine the moderators suggested by the socio‐technical systems framework (i.e., team virtuality and task characteristics in terms of task interdependence, complexity, and intellectiveness). Surface‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams is not related to team creativity/innovation, whereas deep‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams is positively related to team creativity/innovation. Moreover, surface‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation are negatively related for simple tasks but unrelated for complex tasks. Deep‐level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation is positively related for collocated teams and interdependent tasks but unrelated for noncollocated teams and independent tasks. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications.     

Transformational leadership and creativity: A meta‐analytic review and identification of an integrated model

We conduct a meta‐analytic review that yields important insights about the existing research on transformational leadership and creativity. Additionally, we propose and test an integrated model using meta‐analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) and full information MASEM (FIMASEM) techniques to better understand the intervening mechanism through which transformational leadership acts on creativity. The results of the meta‐analysis of 127 studies show that most of the bivariate relationships among transformational leadership, employee creativity, and pre‐identified mediators are significant; further, geographic base of studies significantly moderates some of the relationships. The MASEM results indicate that several mediators intervene in the relationship between transformational leadership and creativity. Although the total effect of transformational leadership on creativity is positive, its direct effect is negative when mediators are included. Additionally, there are significant relationships among the mediators that can be theoretically supported, but have not been investigated in prior transformational leadership and creativity studies. On the basis of these findings, we provide conclusions and directions for future studies.     

On the subjective experience and correlates of downtime at work: A mixed‐method examination

In the current paper, we studied downtime at work. Downtime represents a unique aspect of work time, as employees have low workload and more discretion about their activities but are still paid to be at work. Despite its prevalence and potentially significant implications for productivity and well‐being, the experience of downtime has not been a focus in the literature. To study this phenomenon, we first used a qualitative method involving 15 focus groups. Results from 95 employees showed that downtime is distinct from formal breaks and withdrawal behavior and is generally a negative subjective experience. Categories of antecedents of experience and downtime activities were classified. Next, to further explore the phenomenon, and based on Study 1 and relevant literature, we proposed several hypotheses and tested them using an experience sampling method. Results from 86 employees (across 5 workdays and 689 data points) indicated that the amount of downtime was negatively related to day level job satisfaction, job performance, and subjective health. The duration of relaxation activities during downtime mitigated the negative effects of downtime on fatigue. The effects of enjoyment level of the activities, job autonomy, work engagement, and boredom proneness were also examined. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.     

Pygmalion in work organizations: a meta‐analysis

The Pygmalion effect, a type of self‐fulfilling prophecy, has been demonstrated in educational settings with empirical studies, qualitative reviews and meta‐analyses. It has also been studied in organizational settings. This meta‐analysis provides a review of the Pygmalion literature, an analysis of findings to date, and a deeper look into the nature of the effect. The present analysis of 13 effect sizes revealed an overall d for the Pygmalion effect in work organizations of 0.81. Moderator analyses revealed stronger effects when the initial level of performance was low and when the experiment took place in a military rather than a business setting. Implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic alignment with organizational priorities and work engagement: A multi‐wave analysis

This study advances the limited research on work alignment and work engagement by investigating how perceived alignment of job tasks and organizational strategic priorities (strategic alignment) influences work engagement. Measures of job control and work social support were also included to enable comparisons between strategic alignment and other well‐established job resources. A total of 1011 employees of an Australian state police service responded to three electronic, self‐report surveys. A reciprocal model was assessed over three waves of data, with varying time lags: 18 (Time 1 to Time 2), 12 (Time 2 to Time 3), and 30 months (Time 1 to Time 3). Longitudinal, reciprocal relationships were observed for work engagement and job control, strategic alignment, and colleague support. Work engagement also predicted supervisor support over time (reverse effect). This study demonstrated that, in addition to job resources, perceived alignment of job tasks and organizational priorities plays an important role in maintaining high levels of work engagement over time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence tactics and work outcomes: a meta‐analysis

Recent research on influence tactics has focused on the benefits that accrue as a result of using such tactics. The current study utilizes meta‐analytic techniques to estimate the true population correlations between various influence tactics and work‐related outcomes. Results indicate that ingratiation and rationality have positive effects on work outcomes. Additional analyses suggest that these and other influence tactics have significant effects in certain situations and on specific work outcomes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Locus of control at work: a meta‐analysis

This study meta‐analyzed the relationships between locus of control (LOC) and a wide range of work outcomes. We categorized these outcomes according to three theoretical perspectives: LOC and well‐being, LOC and motivation, and LOC and behavioral orientation. Hypotheses reflecting these three perspectives were proposed and tested. It was found that internal locus was positively associated with favorable work outcomes, such as positive task and social experiences, and greater job motivation. Our findings are discussed in relation to research on core self‐evaluation and the Big Five personality traits. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.