No abstract

The current meta-analysis examined the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective well-being (SWB). Consistent with the spillover hypothesis, we found positive relationships between job satisfaction and life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and the absence of negative affect. In addition, an examination of longitudinal studies suggested that the causal relationship from SWB to job satisfaction was stronger than the causal relationship from job satisfaction to SWB.

Organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE), which represents employees' beliefs about their own value and competence as organizational members, has attracted much recent research attention. In the current paper, we identified several theoretically based predictors and consequences of OBSE. We then conducted a meta‐analysis examining the relationships between OBSE and these variables. Results indicated that several hypothesized predictors, including the work environment and employee dispositions, were related to OBSE. Furthermore, OBSE was related to several hypothesized outcome variables including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, employee health, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviour. As expected, OBSE generally yielded stronger relationships with work‐related variables than did general self‐esteem and we found evidence that OBSE mediated the relationships between general self‐esteem and work‐related criteria.

The current meta-analysis examined the hypothesized consequences of work and general locus of control. As expected, work locus of control generally yielded stronger relationships with work-related criteria (e.g., job satisfaction, affective commitment, and burnout) than general locus of control. We also found some evidence that general locus of control yielded relatively stronger relationships with general criteria (e.g., life satisfaction, affective commitment, and burnout). Regression analysis found several unique effects for both work and general locus of control.

Hardiness, which is a multidimensional personality trait that is hypothesized to protect people from the effects of stress, has attracted considerable research attention during the last 30 years. The current study provides a meta-analytic review of hardiness. Specifically, we examined the relationships between the hardiness facets, the relationship between hardiness and other personality variables, as well as the relationships between hardiness and several hypothesized criteria, including stressors, strains, social support, coping, and performance. Our analyses generally suggest that hardiness is: (a) positively related to other personality traits that are expected to protect people from stress, (b) negatively related to personality traits that are expected to exacerbate the effects of stress, (c) negatively related to stressors, strains, and regressive coping, and (d) positively related to social support, active coping, and performance. Regression analyses suggest that hardiness is significantly related to important criteria after the effects of other personality traits (e.g., the Five Factor Model traits) are controlled.

The current study, which is framed within the context of the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, examined counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) as a response to ineffective coping with work stressors. More specifically, we examined whether the relationship between work stressors and CWBs was moderated by employee personality. Analyses using data collected from 726 adults employed in a diverse set of occupations found that work stressors were more strongly related to CWBs among workers who were low in conscientiousness, or high in negative affectivity (NA) than among workers who were high in conscientiousness, or low in NA. We found less consistent support, however, for the moderating effects of agreeableness.

Two complementary studies were conducted to compare emotional support and instrumental support in the workplace. Study 1 included meta-analyses with 142 independent samples containing 68,354 participants and tested the moderation effects of source of support (supervisor vs. coworker) and support scale type (received vs. availability). Study 2 incorporated a two-wave survey design and objective ratings of participant job demands. Overall, emotional support and instrumental support were strongly correlated and demonstrated a similar pattern of effects with work criteria. However, the emotional support-instrumental support relationship is stronger within occupations higher in emotional labor demands. Moderation effects of support on stressor-criteria relationships were also reviewed among the primary studies in the meta-analysis. For both emotional support and instrumental support, buffering effects and reverse buffering effects were commonly found, which indicates that contextual factors need to be considered to determine when support mitigates or exacerbates the effect of stressors on work criteria. Moderation effects of source of support (supervisor vs. coworker) and support scale type (received vs. availability) were also tested. In general, support was more strongly correlated with criteria when the source of support was the supervisor and the scale included items about the availability of support. The findings from the two studies provide researchers and practitioners a guide for when emotional support and instrumental support converge or diverge.

Employees have limited personal time to engage in activities that enable them to recover from a demanding work environment and perform at a high level. To evaluate the importance of non-work creative activity, we conducted two studies that examine the relationships between non-work creative activity, recovery experiences, and performance-related behaviours at work. Study 1 included employees who provided self-rated performance-related outcomes, whereas Study 2 included employees with other-rated (co-workers and subordinates) performance-related outcomes. Creative activity was positively associated with recovery experiences (i.e., mastery, control, and relaxation) and performance-related outcomes (i.e., job creativity and extra-role behaviours). The mediating effects of recovery experiences were examined to better understand the underlying processes involved in the relationship between creative activity and performance-related outcomes. Creative activity was found to have both indirect effects and direct effects on performance-related outcomes, but the effects varied by the type of performance-related outcome. The results indicate that organizations may benefit from encouraging employees to consider creative activities in their efforts to recover from work. Practitioner pointsOrganizations should increase employee awareness of the benefits of creative activity on recovery. Many companies already provide information to employees regarding the importance of specific activities (e.g., eating habits, exercise) on physical health. Information on activities that influence recovery -a psychological health consequence -should be included in the informational resource provided to employees. Organizations may consider professional development opportunities for employees that involve creative activities while away from work. Creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control, but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance-related outcomes. Opportunities used by large organizations, such as Zappos Inc., include employees bringing their artwork to work to decorate their offices. Other options include memberships to art studios, creative writing resources, and access to musical instruments.