When and why people engage in different forms of proactive behavior: interactive effects of self-construals and work characteristics

Chia-Huei Wu, Sharon Parker, Long-Zeng Wu and Cynthia Lee

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: When and why do people engage in different forms of proactive behavior at work? We propose that, as a result of a process of trait activation, employees with different types of self-construal engage in distinct forms of proactive behavior if they work in environments consistent with their self-construals. In an experimental Study 1 (N = 61), we examined the effect of self-construals on proactivity and found that people primed with interdependent self-construals engaged in more work unit-oriented proactive behavior when job interdependence also was manipulated. Priming independent self-construals did not enhance career-oriented proactive behavior, even when we manipulated job autonomy. In a field Study 2 (N = 205), we found that employees with interdependent self-construals working in jobs with high interdependence reported higher work unit commitment and higher work unit-oriented proactive behavior than employees in low interdependent jobs. Employees with independent self-construals working in jobs with high autonomy also exhibited stronger career commitment and more career-oriented proactive behavior than those in jobs with low autonomy. This research offers a theoretical framework to explain how dispositional and situational factors interactively shape people's engagement in different forms of proactive behavior.

Keywords: Self-construal; Job design; Proactive behavior; Trait activation; Commitment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-03-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Academy of Management Journal, 30, March, 2017. ISSN: 0001-4273

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:71991

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