Journal of Applied Psychology最新文献

Extensive research has documented organizational decision-makers' preference for men over women when they evaluate and select candidates for leadership positions. We conceptualize a novel construct-mindsets about the universality of leadership potential-that can help reduce this bias. People can believe either that only some individuals have high leadership potential (i.e., a nonuniversal mindset) or that most individuals have high leadership potential (i.e., a universal mindset). Five studies investigated the relationship between these mindsets and decision-makers' gender biases in leader evaluation and selection decisions. The more senior government officials in China held a universal mindset, the less they showed gender bias when rating their subordinates' leadership capability (Study 1). Working adults in the United Kingdom who held a more universal mindset exhibited less gender bias when evaluating and selecting job candidates for a leadership position (Study 2). In an experiment, Singaporean students exposed to a universal mindset exhibited less gender bias when evaluating and selecting candidates than those exposed to a nonuniversal mindset (Study 3). Another experiment with working adults in China replicated this pattern and added a control condition to confirm the directionality of the effect (Study 4). Last, Study 5 showed that a more universal mindset was associated with less gender bias particularly among decision-makers with stronger gender stereotypes in the domain of leadership. This research demonstrates that, although they are seemingly unrelated to gender, mindsets about the universality of leadership potential can influence the extent to which people express gender bias in the leadership context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Multiple jobholding is increasingly common, particularly among full-time employees who have adopted side-hustles-income-generating work from the gig economy that is performed alongside full-time work. A distinguishing feature of side-hustles is substantial autonomy in the work's timing, location, and method. This autonomy has typically been portrayed as beneficial. We shift this consensus by developing a within-person model that suggests elevated side-hustle autonomy-relative to what is typical for that person-sets the employee on a course to feel "boxed in" by their full-time job. Drawing on psychological reactance theory, we argue that elevated autonomy in a side-hustle sensitizes employees to threats that restrict their control. As these employees shift to full-time work, we theorize that this sensitivity is associated with feelings of hostility that contribute to counterproductive behavior. We also propose, however, that side-hustle autonomy has benefits for full-time work-motivating employees to reassert control through increased initiative, thereby enhancing task performance. We explore the countervailing relationships between side-hustle autonomy and full-time work outcomes with a daily experience sampling study (ESM) of 101 full-time employees with side-hustles and their coworkers (Study 1) and a weekly ESM study of 100 full-time employees with side-hustles (Study 2). Taken together, we build and test theory about how employees' side-hustle autonomy exhibits within-person relationships that are a "mixed-bag" for their full-time work behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Although people often value the challenge and mastery of performing an activity, their satisfaction may suffer when the tasks comprising the activity are perceived as difficult. Thus, it is important to understand the factors that influence subjective judgments of difficulty. In this research, we introduce an easily actionable and effective tactic to reduce perceptions of the overall difficulty of an activity: We find that concluding a sequence of difficult tasks with a few easy tasks can decrease perceived difficulty of the aggregate activity. While appending extra tasks to a constant sequence should increase the objective amount of effort necessary to complete all the tasks, we find that more tasks can paradoxically be perceived as less effortful. We coin this phenomenon the easy addendum effect and demonstrate that it is less likely to occur when an overall activity is conceptualized as consisting of a single category rather than two distinct categories-that is, a set of difficult tasks followed by a set of easy tasks. We further show downstream consequences of this effect-through lower perceived difficulty, the easy addendum effect can lead to greater satisfaction, persistence, and more tasks performed overall. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Drawing on goal shielding theory (Shah et al., 2002), our study highlights the roles of bottom-line mentality climates and shared vision in encouraging collective unethical conduct in pursuit of financial results. Consistent with the theory, we hypothesize that high bottom-line mentality leaders shape their unit's bottom-line mentality climate by explicitly clarifying the importance of prioritizing financial results above all else and using motivational resources to encourage a sole focus on bottom-line attainment. We further hypothesize that a unit's shared vision, which captures a collective sense of purpose and direction, is a critical aspect of the unit's motivational context that increases the likelihood for collective bottom-line enhancing, unethical behaviors (i.e., concealing errors, bribery, and unethical pro-organizational behavior) in units with a salient bottom-line mentality climate. We test our hypotheses in a two-wave, multi-industry field study of work units in central Italy (N = 96). Results indicate that leaders with a bottom-line mentality foster a bottom-line mentality climate in the units they lead, and the linkages with unit unethical conduct are dependent on the unit's shared vision. While shared vision strengthened the effects of bottom-line mentality climates on concealing errors, it served as a necessary condition to motivate more severe forms of unethical conduct. Our study thus demonstrates a dark side to shared vision in that it channels motivational resources toward a unit's bottom-line priorities. When those priorities are singularly focused on the bottom line, shared vision can help to motivate undesirable behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Unit human capital resources (HCR) are vital to performance across organizational levels. Crucially, the benefits of unit HCR often hinge on resource access and effective resource management. Yet, how units manage HCR remains unclear. We first review findings from human resource management (HRM) and unit leadership literatures relating to unit HCR, which have evolved separately despite their shared goals. Using our review as a foundation, we offer an integrative model highlighting the ways unit leaders can leverage HRM practices and their leadership behaviors for the greatest impact on unit HCR. In so doing, we identify a potentially potent nexus for scholars of both disciplines to focus their integrative efforts on-unit leaders-given their responsibility for HRM practice delivery (e.g., implementing a job rotation program) and their own leadership behaviors (e.g., composing teams). We conclude by highlighting future research questions, opportunities for theoretical integration, and expanding empirical examination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Although scholars across fields have studied threats to individuals' identities for their impact and ubiquity, the absence of standard scales has hindered the advancement of this research. Due to the lack of identity threat measures, the myriad existing propositions and models remain untested which may generate skepticism of the field. In the comparatively rare instances where deductive models have been tested, studies often suffer from methodological shortcomings related to the absence of a standard measure (e.g., the use of scales that tap into adjacent constructs) or an assumption of unidimensionality, despite recognition that identity threat can take various forms. Such shortcomings can yield inaccurate conclusions and threaten content validity. In response to these issues, we followed recommended steps to develop three measures capturing threats to identity value, meanings, and enactment. We rigorously validated these measures across different contexts: threats to teachers' work-related identity, to pregnant women's leader identity, and to organizational members' lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning identities. Our results provide evidence of the psychometric validity of the three measures and their applicability to different types of identities individuals hold. Using our measures, scholars will be able to further explore identity threat triggers and outcomes, the mechanisms underlying the effects of the three different types of threat on outcomes, and temporal dynamics. Researchers can also use our measures in designing interventions. Ultimately, this will allow management and applied psychology scholars to develop better guidance for organizations and employees dealing with the commonplace, yet difficult experience of identity threat. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Theory and research have widely argued for and documented positive impacts of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment, putting empowering leadership on a pedestal depicting it as a panacea for increasing psychological empowerment. However, we argue that this could be due to not considering social structural empowerment (i.e., a construct manifested in employees' beliefs about their access to resources, access to information, and sociopolitical support) as a so far "forgotten side" of empowerment. Using empowerment theory, we depart from this consensus to focus on the moderating role that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship. We propose that empowering leadership and social structural empowerment interact to affect employee psychological empowerment, such that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can unintentionally attenuate the positive effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and, ultimately, job performance. Across four studies using unique methods, findings supported our predictions that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can stifle positive effects of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment and performance. We highlight the impact that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship, providing answers as to why this forgotten side of empowerment should matter to scholars and practitioners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Forced-choice (FC) personality assessments have shown potential in mitigating the effects of faking. Yet despite increased attention and usage, there exist gaps in understanding the psychometric properties of FC assessments, and particularly when compared to traditional single-stimulus (SS) measures. The present study conducted a series of meta-analyses comparing the psychometric properties of FC and SS assessments after placing them on an equal playing field-by restricting to only studies that examined matched assessments of each format, and thus, avoiding the extraneous confound of using comparisons from different contexts (Sackett, 2021). Matched FC and SS assessments were compared in terms of criterion-related validity and susceptibility to faking in terms of mean shifts and validity attenuation. Additionally, the correlation between FC and SS scores was examined to help establish construct validity evidence. Results showed that matched FC and SS scores exhibit strong correlations with one another (ρ = .69), though correlations weakened when the FC measure was faked (ρ = .59) versus when both measures were taken honestly (ρ = .73). Average scores increased from honest to faked samples for both FC (d = .41) and SS scores (d = .75), though the effect was more pronounced for SS measures and with larger effects for context-desirable traits (FC d = .61, SS d = .99). Criterion-related validity was similar between matched FC and SS measures overall. However, when considering validity in faking contexts, FC scores exhibited greater validity than SS measures. Thus, although FC measures are not completely immune to faking, they exhibit meaningful benefits over SS measures in contexts of faking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

People wear many salient hats across the different parts of their lives and recent advances in the work-life literature have called attention to the necessary addition of personal life activities to be studied as a unique facet of nonwork to better understand interrole relationships. We therefore draw on enrichment theory to examine why and when employees' participation in personal life activities can positively influence creativity at work through nonwork cognitive developmental resources. Moreover, by integrating insights from construal level theory, this research sheds new light on the ways people think about their personal life activities as playing a discernible role in how people can generate and/or apply resources from their activities. Results of two multiwave studies revealed that people who tend to engage in a greater breadth of personal life activities can gain nonwork cognitive developmental resources (i.e., skills, knowledge, and perspectives) that, in turn, enhance their creativity at work. Personal life construal level also moderated the resource generation stage of enrichment, but not resource application to work; people who adopted lower construal level (i.e., more concretely: how they do activities) were more likely to generate cognitive developmental resources from their participation in personal life activities versus those with higher construal level (i.e., more abstractly: why they do activities). This research meets at the convergence of real-world trends on parallel "work" and "nonwork" sides of the interface as well as offers novel and nuanced theoretical insights into instrumental personal life-to-work enrichment processes which can benefit employees and organizations alike. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).