Attributional Style and Engagement/Disengagement Responses in the Chinese Workforce

Abstract

Internal attribution for bad events, along with stable and global attributions, has been regarded as a component of pessimism, a precursor of negative work outcomes. Most evidence in support of this conceptualisation has come from research conducted in individualist cultures. We questioned if internal attribution has the same pessimistic implication in a collectivist culture. Findings from two studies conducted on Chinese employees supported our expectations that the stability and globality dimensions (but not the internality dimension) would predict disengagement responses (such as quitting and being neglectful at work) and lack of engagement responses (such as voicing suggestions and being loyal to the organisation). A reconceptualisation of pessimism in the workplace is therefore necessary. A dimensional, rather than a composite, scoring method is proposed for maintaining the predictive and construct validities of attributional style as an indicator of pessimism.

The relationship between attributional style and destructive responses to job dissatisfaction: an exploratory study of internal migrant workers in China

“…Constructive responses refer to voice and loyalty, while destructive responses refer to exit and neglect (Farrell, 1983 ). In the first part of their study, Hui et al ( 2012 ) could not find any relationship between internality and destructive responses to job dissatisfaction. In the second part of their study, however, Hui et al ( 2012 ) found that internality was negatively related to destructive responses to job dissatisfaction.…”

“…In the first part of their study, Hui et al ( 2012 ) could not find any relationship between internality and destructive responses to job dissatisfaction. In the second part of their study, however, Hui et al ( 2012 ) found that internality was negatively related to destructive responses to job dissatisfaction. Taken together, their findings contradict previous research conducted in the West, which typically found a negative relationship between internality of bad events and positive performance indicators in the workplace.…”

“…The three dimensions of attributional style are internality, stability, and globality. A validated measure of the attributional style of Chinese people was adopted (based on Hui et al, 2012 ). To assess how a person would explain the cause of five hypothetical bad events, the dimensions of attributional style were measured with a seven-point Likert scale.…”

“…Furnham, Sadka, and Brewin ( 1992 ) found a negative relationship between stability/globality and job motivation among British employees. Hui et al ( 2012 ) found a positive relationship between the composite scores of stability and globality and destructive responses to job dissatisfaction among Chinese employees in Hong Kong. Other studies, however (Corr & Gray, 1996 ; Martin et al, 2000 ; Seligman & Schulman, 1986 ), reported only a composite score of attributional style by averaging internality, stability, and globality.…”

“…More recently, Hui, Pak, Kwan, and Chao ( 2012 ) studied the relationship between attributional style and responses to job dissatisfaction among Chinese employees in Hong Kong. They measured both constructive responses and destructive responses to job dissatisfaction.…”