Information, beliefs, and motivation: The antecedents to human resource attributions

Abstract

Summary Despite significant interest in the attributions employees make about their organization's human resource (HR) practices, there is little understanding of the antecedents of HR attributions. Drawing on attribution theory, we suggest that HR attributions are influenced by information (perceptions of distributive and procedural fairness), beliefs (organizational cynicism), and motivation (perceived relevance). We test a model through a two‐wave survey of 347 academic faculty in the United Kingdom, examining their attributions of the purpose of their institution's workload management framework. After two preliminary studies (an interview study and a cross‐sectional survey) to establish contextually relevant attributions, we find that fairness and cynicism are important for the formation of internal attributions of commitment but less so for cost‐saving or exploitation attributions. Fairness and cynicism also interact such that distributive fairness buffers the negative attributional effect of cynicism, and individuals are more likely to attribute fair procedures to external forces if they are cynical about their organization. This study furthers the application of attribution theory to the organizational domain while making significant contributions to our understanding of the HR‐performance process.

Employee perceptions of HR practices: A critical review and future directions

“…For example, research indicates that commitment attributions are positively related to employee commitment to the organization (Fontinha, Chambel, & De Cuyper, 2012) and job satisfaction (Nishii et al, 2008), while control attributions are positively related to work overload and emotional exhaustion (Shantz et al, 2016). Recently, Hewett, Shantz, and Mundy (2019) examine the antecedents of HR attributions, applying attribution theory (Kelley & Michela, 1980) to the influence of information (perceptions of distributive and procedural fairness), beliefs (organizational cynicism), and motivation (perceived relevance) on employees' interpretation of employer's intent behind a workload model. The results of a study of 347 UK academics show that fairness and cynicism are important for the formation of HR commitment attributions; these factors also interact in such a manner that distributive fairness buffers the negative effect of cynicism.…”

“…In sum, in comparison to the 'what' and 'how' of employee perceptions, research on the 'why' is less developed (Sanders, Guest, & Rodrigues, 2017). One area where research is especially needed is the determinants of HR attributions (Hewett et al, 2019). Many studies have identified multiple types of HR attributions and explored their impact on employee outcomes; however, knowledge is limited on how such employees HR attributions are formulated.…”

From Intended to Actual and Beyond: A Cross‐Disciplinary View of (Human Resource Management) Implementation

“…(2019) that a broader view which is not only focused on employee attributions (Hewett et al . 2018, 2019; Nishii et al . 2008; Sanders et al .…”

Attribution theory: An introduction to the special issue

“…In the fourth paper, Hewett, Shantz, and Mundy () apply attribution theory to the human resource management context to examine the antecedents of employees' attributions about human resource management practices. Hewett et al tested their model with multiwave data from 347 academic faculty working in the United Kingdom.…”

“…Altogether, these five papers extend attribution theory in numerous areas of critical importance, including micro contexts and macro contexts in organizational behavior, leadership, human resource management, and strategic management. The varying study designs used across Munyon et al's (), Hewett et al's (), and Sun et al's () papers illuminate the myriad of opportunities to empirically examine attributions. Additionally, the cross‐cultural findings from employee respondents in organizations located in China, Great Britain, and the United States show that attributions apply to a range of contexts.…”