The impacts of role commitment and pay-for-performance on proactive career behavior: an interactionist perspective

Abstract

PurposeProactive career behavior (PCB) is an effective form of career self-management that has positive impacts on individual career development and career success, and therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the driving factors of PCB.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the interactionist perspective and situational strength theory, this study examined the independent and joint effects of role commitment and pay-for-performance (PFP) on employees' PCB based on data collected from 298 Chinese private enterprise employees at two time points.FindingsThe authors found that occupational role commitment (ORC), parental role commitment (PRC) and PFP were positively related to PCB. Furthermore, PFP moderated the relationship between ORC/PRC and PCB, such that the two relationships were stronger when PFP was low.Originality/valueDrawing on the interactionist perspective, the authors contribute to the literature on PCB by revealing novel antecedents of PCB: ORC, PRC and PFP. The authors also contribute to the situational strength theory by examining how role commitment and PFP may interact to impact employees' PCB. Finally, the authors are among the first to consider the effects of role commitment on individual career behaviors, thus extending the nomological network of role commitment.

Why employees engage in proactive career behavior: examining the role of family motivation

“…Firstly, the concept of family motivation offers us a new insight to find that employees who have family responsibility will take initiative to improve their professional skills, such as making work procedures more effectively, which is beneficial for organizational performance (Chen et al. , 2023).…”

“…social support) interact and shape personal behaviors (Lent and Brown, 2013). To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of environmental factors in individuals' career development, researchers propose to study how organizational support influences individuals' behaviors from PE fit perspective (Chen et al. , 2023).…”

“…, 2022). PCB can be described as various actions that facilitate career progression, such as enhancing professional skills (Chen et al. , 2023).…”

The influence of individual and contextual factors on proactivity and proficiency: the roles of meaningfulness of work and competitive intensity

“…The interactionist perspective of proactivity (Chen et al. , 2023) emphasises that interactions among people, environment, and behaviour can be a source of proactivity.…”

“…The interactionist perspective of proactivity (Chen et al, 2023) emphasises that interactions among people, environment, and behaviour can be a source of proactivity. Under this perspective, a recent stream of research has highlighted the role of social context factors as antecedents of proactive behaviour (Cai et al, 2019).…”