No abstract

Summary Work‐contingent self‐esteem (WCSE; the degree to which workers' self‐esteem is based on workplace performance) has positive consequences for performance, yet less is known about its consequences for well‐being. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on WCSE by examining the mechanisms through which it impacts well‐being at work and outside of work. We challenge contingent self‐esteem (CSE) theory (Crocker & Park, 2004), which argues that CSE negatively impacts well‐being by fostering internally controlled (introjected) motivation and diminishing autonomous motivation, by suggesting that WCSE fosters autonomous and internally controlled motivation and thus has both beneficial and harmful effects on well‐being. We also expand CSE theory by suggesting that WCSE can negatively impact well‐being outcomes by causing work–nonwork conflict. Results from a time‐separated design in a sample of full‐time employees supported our arguments, revealing that WCSE impacted well‐being at work through both autonomous and internally controlled work motivations. WCSE also had negative effects on well‐being at and outside of work through work–nonwork conflict. The beneficial effects of WCSE outweighed its harmful effects on job satisfaction and neutralized its harmful effects for all other outcomes. We discuss theoretical implications for CSE theory, self‐determination theory, and work–nonwork issues and note important practical implications.

No abstract

Various motivational theories emphasize that desired emotional outcomes guide behavioral choices. Although motivational theory and research has emphasized that behavior is affected by desired emotional outcomes, little research has focused on the impact of anticipated feelings about engaging in behavior . The current research seeks to partly fill that void. Specifically, we borrow from affective forecasting research in suggesting that forecasts about engaging in performance-relevant behaviors can be more or less accurate. Furthermore, we suggest that the degree of accuracy has implications for self-reported task performance. To examine these ideas, we conducted two studies in which individuals made affective predictions about engaging in tasks and then later reported how they actually felt during task engagement. We also assessed their self-reported task performance. In Study 1, 214 workers provided affective forecasts about upcoming work tasks, and in Study 2, 185 students made forecasts about studying for an exam. Results based on polynomial regression were largely consistent across the studies. The accuracy of the forecasts did not conform to the pattern of affective forecasting accuracy typically found outside the performance domain. Furthermore, anticipated and experienced affect jointly predicted self-reported task performance in a consistent manner. Collectively, these findings suggest that taking into account anticipated affect, and its relationship with later experienced affect, provides a more comprehensive account of affect’s role in task performance.

Despite the benefits of vacations for health and well-being, many employees do not use all of their paid vacation days. In this article, we seek to understand why this occurs. Using a social cognitive perspective, we propose that employees use fewer vacation days when they do not believe they can successfully detach from work while on vacation (i.e., have low detachment self-efficacy), do not expect positive outcomes (e.g., feeling relaxed, connecting with loved ones) from their vacations, and expect negative outcomes (e.g., feeling stressed, facing negative financial consequences) from their vacations. We test this explanation across four studies in which we develop and validate measures for our social cognitive constructs (Studies 1–3) and test whether these constructs predict employees’ unused vacation days (Study 4). Results revealed that employees had more unused vacation days if they lacked detachment self-efficacy, did not expect to feel relaxed on vacation, and expected negative financial consequences of vacations. Overall, our results highlight the usefulness of social cognitive theory for understanding employees’ unused vacation days. We discuss implications for theory, future research, and practice.