Search

Theoretical models have assumed that efficacy beliefs operate similarly (i.e., are homologous) across levels of analysis (e.g., Lindsley, Brass, & Thomas, 1995), yet limited empirical support exists to confirm this supposition. This research empirically tested a multilevel model to determine if individual-level and team-level relations involving experience, achievement motivation, efficacy beliefs, and performance are in fact homologous across levels. Members of action teams in both lab and field settings completed measures assessing individual differences and efficacy beliefs. Subsequent ratings of individual performance and objective team performance were obtained following multiple performance episodes. Results revealed both similarities and dissimilarities between individual-level and team-level antecedents and consequences of efficacy beliefs, suggesting the assumption of homology in models of efficacy beliefs should be revisited. Contributions and implications to efficacy research and other multilev...

Although cognitive ability and conscientiousness have been found to predict work-related performance, less is known about whether and when certain mediating variables help explain these relationships. This study examined meta-analytically whether self-efficacy mediates the cognitive ability-performance and conscientiousness-performance relationships, and whether task complexity moderates the extent to which self-efficacy mediates these relationships. Results indicated that cognitive ability and conscientiousness positively relate to self-efficacy, but that the magnitude of these relationships varies with task complexity. Furthermore, results showed that self-efficacy mediates the relationships of cognitive ability and conscientiousness with performance on simple tasks, but not on complex tasks. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Researchers have suggested that general self-efficacy (GSE) can substantially contribute to organizational theory, research, and practice. Unfortunately, the limited construct validity work conducted on commonly used GSE measures has highlighted such potential problems as low content validity and multidimensionality. The authors developed a new GSE (NGSE) scale and compared its psychometric properties and validity to that of the Sherer et al. General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSE). Studies in two countries found that the NGSE scale has higher construct validity than the SGSE scale. Although shorter than the SGSE scale, the NGSE scale demonstrated high reliability, predicted specific self-efficacy (SSE) for a variety of tasks in various contexts, and moderated the influence of previous performance on subsequent SSE formation. Implications, limitations, and directions for future organizational research are discussed.

Several authors (e.g., J.T. Austin & H.J. Klein, 1996; R. Kanfer, 1990b, 1992) have urged researchers to examine comprehensive models of distal individual differences as predictors of proximal motivational processes and performance. Two field studies in an academic setting tested a model of relationships among trait-like individual differences (cognitive ability, general self-efficacy, and goal orientation), state-like individual differences (state anxiety, task-specific self-efficacy, and goals), and learning performance. Most hypothesized relationships among these constructs received support when tested on 2 samples, when examining different performance episodes, and when using different goal orientation and state-anxiety measures. In general, state-like individual differences were found to mediate the relationships between trait-like individual differences and learning performance. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

This study empirically examined the proposition that supervisors' exchange relationships with their own supervisors (i.e., leader-leader exchange, or LLX) are related to their subordinates' work-related outcomes through 3 mechanisms: (a) leaders modeling their LLX to develop and maintain their exchange relationships with their subordinates (i.e., leader-member exchange, or LMX), (b) motivating the team and its members, captured by team and individual empowerment, and (c) facilitating the relationships between LMX and individual outcomes. Analyses of multisource and lagged data from 104 team supervisors and 577 subordinates showed that LMX mediated the positive relationship of LLX on subordinates' individual empowerment. Furthermore, team empowerment and individual empowerment sequentially mediated the positive relationships between LLX and subordinates' job satisfaction and job performance. The authors also found that the indirect relationships of LMX with job satisfaction and job performance via individual empowerment were stronger when LLX was higher. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Using cross-cultural laboratory and field studies with samples of leaders, employees, and students from the United States and the People's Republic of China, we examined how team-level stimuli, including empowering leadership and relationship conflict, combine to influence individual members' motivational states of psychological empowerment and affective commitment. As predicted, we found that these motivational states are individually and jointly influenced by teams' level of empowering leadership and relationship conflict and that these motivational states mediate the relationships between team stimuli and team members' innovative and teamwork behaviors and turnover intentions. In addition, results held despite controlling for team members' nationality and collectivism. We discuss contributions of our study to the team motivation, conflict, and stress literatures.

Organizational researchers have become increasingly interested in multi-level constructs – that is, constructs that are meaningful at multiple levels of analysis. However, despite the plethora of theoretical and empirical work on multi-level topics, explicit frameworks for validation of multi-level constructs have yet to be fully developed. Moreover, available principles for conducting construct validation assume that the construct resides at a single level of analysis. We propose a five-step framework for conceptualizing and testing multi-level constructs by integrating principles of construct validation with recent advancements in multi-level theory, research, and methodology. The utility of the framework is illustrated using theoretical and empirical examples.

In this chapter we respond to Hofmann and Jones and Kim, who provided insightful comments on our framework for conducting multi-level construct validation. We specifically address issues surrounding the meaning, structure, and function of multi-level constructs, extending our framework for validation of within-person constructs, and frog-pond effects. In so doing, we hope to clarify further the process of validating constructs across multiple levels of analysis.

Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice.

Current organizational theories suggest that higher levels of discretion can motivate and enable managers to contribute more to their firms’ success. Challenging this view, we argue that managers often prefer to allocate outcomes or resources (e.g., project assignments, rewards, duties) to their employees based on pre-determined allocation rules, rather than using their discretionary judgment. We specifically propose that concerns about damaging the quality of relationships with employees lead managers to use more rules rather than discretion in allocation decisions. We further suggest that the valence of the allocated resource (burdens vs. benefits) and managers’ social proximity to employees enhance managers’ relationship concerns, and hence reduce use of discretion. Our theoretical model is supported across two experimental studies and one field study. We discuss implications to the literature on managerial discretion and employees’ empowerment.

Time is an essential element of human activities in organizations. Almost all aspects of organizational life take place in a temporal context and are subject to the influence of various time-relate...

This study identified potential discontinuities in the antecedents of efficacy beliefs across levels of analysis, with a particular focus on the role of leadership climate at different organizational levels. Random coefficient modeling analyses conducted on data collected from 2,585 soldiers in 86 combat units confirmed that soldiers’ experience, role clarity, and psychological strain predicted self-efficacy to a greater extent than did leadership climate. Also, leadership climate at a higher organizational level related to self-efficacy through role clarity, whereas leadership climate at a lower organizational level related to self-efficacy through psychological strain. Group-level analyses identified leadership climate at a higher organizational level as the strongest predictor of collective efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

This symposium showcases new research concerning the complexity and nuance of communication in modern global organizations. The power of words in cross-cultural work collaborations is questioned an...

Psychological empowerment has been studied intensively over the past few decades and researchers have identified a number of potent antecedents and beneficial outcomes. However, a recent meta-analy...

Research on motivation and goal pursuit is evolving. At the foundation of this new paradigm is goal prioritization – the decisions individuals make regarding what goals to pursue and when to pursue...

Increased use of team-based taskwork provides a context that shapes motivation. This symposium brings together four studies that look at key components of team motivation that lead to important tea...

We advance and test a multi-level model of individual psychological empowerment and performance using a sample of 1611 employees from 219 departments from the healthcare industry. Our model positioned individual psychological empowerment as a key mediating mechanism linking individual- and unit-level influences on individual performance. Our results indicated that psychological empowerment was enhanced by both individual (i.e., team orientation and organizational tenure), and unit-level (i.e., unit processes) antecedents. Additionally, unit processes fully mediated the cross-level effects of leadership climate on individual psychological empowerment and performance. Finally, although unit processes failed to moderate the team orientation – psychological empowerment relationship as anticipated; it did moderate the relationship between psychological empowerment and individual performance. Specifically, the relationship between individual psychological empowerment and performance became stronger to the exten...