Psychology Commons^™

Avoiding Success: How Does Fear Of Success Impact Today's Workforce?, Bradley E. Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fear of success refers to the anxiety experienced by individuals as they come close to accomplishing a goal, ambivalent and even paralyzed over choosing to accept or avoid success. Success fearers are more likely to avoid success, choosing to forego their goal to avoid the assumed negative repercussions that will accompany the success (Canavan, 1989). Though interest in fear of success has waned since its introduction in the 1970’s, evidence of fear of success still exists today. However, original theories of fear of success cannot explain its impact on both men and women, and little is known about how it …

Overcoming Procrastination: Time Pressure And Positive Affect As Compensatory Routes To Action, Jana Kuhnel, Ronald Bledow, Angela Kuonath

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current work seeks to identify factors that support action initiation from the theoretical lens of self-regulation. Specifically, we focus on factors that reduce procrastination, the delay of the initiation or completion of activities. We draw from action control theory and propose that positive affect operates as a personal and time pressure as a situational factor that unblock routes to action. High positive affect makes people less prone to procrastination because positive affect reduces behavioral inhibition and facilitates the enactment of intentions. By contrast, when positive affect is low, people depend on time pressure as an action facilitating stimulus. We …

Why Employees Accept Lower Pay At Mission-Oriented Companies, Insiya Hussain, Marko Pitesa, Stefan Thau, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Today’s companies are likely to tout how their work benefits human welfare or “makes the world a better place.” Recent research suggests that this may come with a potential financial drawback for workers, as it can inhibit them from negotiating for higher pay. Over five studies, job candidates consistently reported that they worried asking for higher pay from these companies would be seen as greedy or inappropriate. This suggests they are aware of a common bias, known as motivation purity bias, where managers believe employees interested in material rewards of work (such as pay) are less motivated than those motivated …

From A Boy To A Leader, Alejandro Zayas

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The following autoethnographic dissertation examines my personal experiences of trauma, abuse, and violence. Drawing on journals, memories, and artifacts from my life, I use self-reflection to illustrate the impacts of trauma on my childhood and adulthood. My traumatic experiences of sexual abuse, childhood violence, and emotional abuse are situated within broader sociocultural contexts of masculinity, Hispanic culture, and social norms. This study illuminates possibilities for healing and transformation for myself and others with shared traumatic backgrounds. It calls for trauma-informed education, masculinity, and resiliency. Evocatively sharing my traumatic life events provides an accessible window into often silenced experiences, bearing witness …

Work Effort: A Conceptual And Meta-Analytic Review, Chad H. Van Iddekinge, John D. Arnold, Herman Aquinis, Jonas W. B. Lang, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Work effort has been a key concept in management theories and research for more than a century. Maintaining and increasing employee effort also is a persistent concern to managers. The goal of the present conceptual and meta-analytic review was to increase clarity and consensus regarding what effort is and how to measure it. First, we reviewed conceptualizations of effort and provided an integrated definition that views effort as a direct outcome of motivation that captures (a) what employees work on, (b) how hard they work, and (c) how long they persist in that work. Second, we identified four main ways …

Examining The Structure And Outcomes Of Work Motivation Profiles: A Mindset-Based Approach, Leonid V. Beletski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Self-determination theory (SDT) distinguishes between both quality and quantity of motivation. Motivation within SDT has been treated both as a unidimensional (autonomy continuum) and multidimensional (motivation types) construct. Recently, Meyer et al. (2022) suggested that drawing a distinction between reasons for exerting effort and the mindset experienced while exerting effort may help reconcile the two approaches. Using profile analyses, Meyer and colleagues demonstrated that reasons for engaging in an activity combine in ways that are not unambiguously interpretable from an SDT standpoint. In the present study (N = 500), we replicate the results of Meyer et al. using reason-based motivation …

The Role Of Motivation In Employee Disposition And Choosing To Act Among Manufacturing Employees: A Grounded Theory Of Discretionary Effort, Shawn Michael Andrews

Dissertations

Managers are often tasked to accomplish more with the resources at their disposal. Doing more with less is especially associated with the manufacturing industry providing a rich and relevant backdrop for study. Understanding discretionary effort as a resource, how it manifests, and when and how manufacturing employees choose to do more than is required is key to achieving results in an increasingly competitive and evolving industry. This constructive grounded research study investigated how 25 non-salaried manufacturing employees conceptualized how and why they chose to engage in activities that were considered above and beyond job role expectations. Extant literature was considered …

Lessons From Psychology For Law Practice Management, Peter G. Glenn

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Organizational Constraints, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are organizational constraints? Organizational constraints are work conditions that interfere with an employee’s motivation or ability to perform (Spector & Jex, 1998). Though the overall definition sounds quite broad, the assessment focuses on 11 specific types of constraints: inadequate training, incorrect instruction, lack of necessary information about what to do or how to do it, poor equipment or supplies, lack of equipment or supplies, organizational rules and procedures, conflicting job demands, other employees, the supervisor, inadequate help from others, and interruptions by other people (Spector & Jex, 1998). Respondents indicate how frequently these factors make it difficult or impossible …

The Effects Of Feedback And Input On Job Satisfaction And Motivation, Daphne Slusher

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In this study, I examine the effects of feedback and input on job satisfaction and motivation in a simulated online task. 106 Participants completed a puzzle in groups of 2-4 with feedback (positive/negative/none) and goal-setting (present/absent) manipulated. I predicted positive feedback would produce higher scores for satisfaction, and motivation, and lower scores for perceived workload. Similarly, I predicted that goal-setting would produce higher scores on selected scales for satisfaction, motivation, and perceived workload. These predictions were partially correct with positive feedback producing significantly higher satisfaction than negative feedback, a similar but non-significant trend for motivation, and significantly lower perceived workload …

Testing The Impact Of Intrinsic Motivation On Employee Engagement And Exploring Age And Tenure As Moderators

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

Developing A Nomological Network To Incorporate Learned Helplessness Into Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Nicholas Kovacs

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Employees are facing personal traumas, higher stress, and work pressures that are likely to result in both short- and long-term impacts. To mitigate these negative impacts, organizations should focus on applying research related to employees’ responses to trauma and stress. Learned helplessness, which is well-established within clinical psychology and less established within the industrial-organizational literature, occurs as a direct response to perceived control over trauma and could thus relate to the ability to overcome trauma. In relation to control-related constructs, industrial-organizational researchers have focused on resilience, hardiness, and work locus of control (LOC). However, each of these constructs account for …

The Incremental Effect Of Voluntariness Of Part Time Work Status Over Age In Predicting Work Motivation In Part Time Workers, Daniel A. Caro

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much research has been done on work motivation in a variety of employment settings, with most of the research focused on full-time employees. Being that there are an increasing number of employees who work in contingent work settings, such as part time jobs, it is important to better understand what motivational factors are salient in these situations. In addition, researchers have looked at why employees choose to work part time and they have found that there are voluntary and involuntary reasons they choose to do so. Therefore, in the present study, I examined work motivation in part time workers. I …

The Impact Of #Metoo: A Review Of Leaders With Supervisor Power On Employee Motivation, Mary Kovach

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This manuscript intends to advance existing research, specifically, in gender dissimilar supervisor-employee workplace dyads by integrating #MeToo with our existing knowledge concerning supervisor power and employee motivation. With the #MeToo movement re-energized in 2017, power in leadership positions was redefined. As a result, power held by a supervisor is likely to influence outcomes based on gender and the employees’ source of motivation. Supervisors who believed they were successful through influence were more likely to exhibit power to achieve success. However, employees’ source of the motivation was a moderating factor in those outcomes. Meaning, outcomes were dependent on the type of …

Motivations To Control Prejudice Bias Performance Feedback In Developmental Relationships, C. Malik Boykin, Christine R. Smith

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

In developmental relationships, providing accurate assessments of performance is necessary to maximize the developmental benefits for those receiving the feedback. Research suggests that performance assessments for underrepresented minorities are susceptible to biases related to out-group prejudice; however, little is known about the contributions of motivations to control prejudice, particularly in face-to-face settings. Addressing this, we examined the influences of internal and external motivations to control prejudice (IMS and EMS) on the positivity of White mentor’s feedback about their underrepresented minority mentee’s task performance. We analyzed video-recorded interactions between 56 randomly assigned cross-racial dyads, wherein mentees performed a speech task and …

Conceptualization Of Faculty Work Motivation: Overcoming The Impasse, Julie Nikolaeva Thompson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The work motivation literature is at an impasse. At the same time, changing economic and social conditions necessitate an ongoing transformation for how organizations motivate their workforce. Although changes in the nature of work have captured the attention of researchers, calls for more research to further develop work motivation theory have largely gone unnoticed. The scarcity of new theoretical research contributes to a lack of contextual understanding in work motivation. As such, organizational leaders continue to develop interventions based on the findings of potentially outdated work motivation theories. This may lead to diminished work motivation, productivity, and commitment, particularly for …

Learned Helplessness In Industrial-Organizational Psychology: Relationships With Locus Of Control, Self-Efficacy, And Feedback-Seeking Behavior, Nicholas Kovacs

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have suggested that self-efficacy and feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) are effective in enhancing performance. To improve performance in the workplace, research should focus on how psychologists can enhance these constructs in employees. Though locus of control (LOC) relates to self-efficacy and increased FSB, research has revealed issues in LOC (e.g., failure to predict performance, range restriction, failure to predict behaviors). The current study examined the effects of perceived “lack of control”, learned helplessness, over LOC on both self-efficacy and FSB in two different samples: a student sample (N = 321) and a work sample (N = 794). Learned helplessness accounted …

Leadership, Empowerment, And Motivation: An Analysis Of Modern Management, Patrick J. Myers

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of management in organizations and, specifically, look at the overlap between management and leadership with a particular focus on empowerment. With considerations of previous literature, current examples, and a case study interview, this literature seeks to solidify the importance of leadership by managers in the workplace. Furthermore, it seeks to highlight the role of empowerment, presented by the leader and experienced by followers, in creating a thriving workplace built on culture and trust. Lastly, the literature aims to better understand the motivations of the modern employee to provide potential areas …

The Power Of Happiness, Sarah R. Romney

Marriott Student Review

This article synthesizes research and psychological principles to explain the impact that one’s attitude can have oneself and others. A positive attitude is contagious and can help one perform better, be more motivated, and earn a higher wage. It can also increase team performance and help others be happy to receive the same benefits. By focusing on their expressions and attitude, people can greatly impact the organizations they are a part of.

Prosocial Behaviors: Their Motivations And Impacts On Organizational Culture, Jennifer C. Vieweg

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

According to the International Corrupt Perceptions Index 2017, more than six billion people are living countries that are plagued by corruption (International Corrupt Perceptions Index, 2017). In an altruistic model of leadership, leaders act with the express intent of helping other people (Johnson, 2015). Within this model, good works manifest themselves as prosocial behaviors or “voluntary behavior(s) intended to benefit another and consisting of actions that benefit others or society” (Schminke, Arnaud, & Taylor, 2014, p. 730). These prosocial behaviors can create collaborative and inspirational environments (Axelsson & Axelsson, 2009), facilitate collectivism (Clarkson, 2014), and contribute to the long-term sustainability …

Book Review - Drive: The Truth About What Motivates Us, Wyatt Pagano

Marriott Student Review

This is a book review of Drive: The Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink.

Self-Efficacy - Performance Discrepancies: Examining How Over- And Underestimations Of Ability Progress Over Time, Kent Cooper Etherton

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined how over- and underestimations of ability progress with increasing experience completing a task. Prior research has demonstrated inconsistent effects when investigating the relationship between self-efficacy and performance at the within-person level of analysis, often theorizing distinct effects of over- versus underestimating one's ability level. Thus, the current study investigated the discrepancy between self-efficacy, one's belief in their capability to accomplish some task, and actual performance levels. The current study replicated findings that self-efficacy converges on performance over time and extended prior research by demonstrating the rate of convergence might be affected by the size of initial …

The Influence Of Team Prosocial Motivation On Emergent States And Shared Leadership, Tyree David Mitchell

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Despite the growing body of research on shared leadership, relatively little is known about the antecedents of shared leadership. The following study examined the effects of team prosocial motivation on team emergent states (i.e., team empowerment, psychological safety) and shared leadership. Drawing on motivational theories (e.g., self-determination theory), it was hypothesized that team empowerment and psychological safety would mediate the relationship between team prosocial motivation and shared leadership. Also, in line with the social identity and self-categorization perspectives, it was hypothesized that team surface-level diversity (racial diversity, gender diversity, faultline strength) would moderate the effects of team prosocial motivation on …

Relationship Among Motivation, Emotion Regulation, And Psychological Well-Being Of Sophomore And Senior Level Nursing Students, Aryene Delgado, Douglas Garner, Nicole Langhals

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nursing education and professional work involve stressful circumstances that may lead to attrition, which can further contribute to the projected nursing shortage. This study examines the relationships between motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being and academic performance in baccalaureate sophomore and senior level nursing students at a Midwest urban university in the United States. The non-experimental, correlational study is guided by Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and uses an online survey data collection and convenience sampling. Measures include: motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being (burnout; inauthenticity), and academic performance (GPA), and will be measured using Deci and Ryan’s scale, the Emotion Regulation …

Correcting Misconceptions About Gamification Of Assessment: More Than Sjts And Badges, Michael B. Armstrong, Jared Z. Ferrell, Andrew B. Collmus, Richard N. Landers

Psychology Faculty Publications

Describing the current state of gamification, Chamorro-Premuzic, Winsborough, Sherman, and Hogan () provide a troubling contradiction: They offer examples of a broad spectrum of gamification interventions, but they then summarize the entirety of gamification as “the digital equivalent of situational judgment tests.” This mischaracterization grossly oversimplifies a rapidly growing area of research and practice both within and outside of industrial–organizational (I-O) psychology. We agree that situational judgment tests (SJTs) can be considered a type of gamified assessment, and gamification provides a toolkit to make SJTs even more gameful. However, the term gamification refers to a much broader and potentially more …

Dispositional Employability And The Relationship To Career Success: A Meta-Analysis, Alisha M. Jasmer

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This meta-analysis focuses on the willingness to work aspect of the RAW model of employability of Hogan et al. (2009), in relationship to career success. Willingness to work (W) can be defined as favorably disposed to work hard and take initiative at one’s job. The variables I used to structure the W are proactive personality, conscientiousness, work ethic, job involvement, adaptability, and ambition.

I used the Hunter and Schmidt method to analyze the data applying a random effects model. All calculations were conducted in Excel. The overall sample consisted of 100 effect sizes (r) derived from 41 studies. The total …

Work Groups And Teams In Organizations: Review Update, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Bradford S. Bell

Bradford S Bell

This review chapter examines the literature on work team effectiveness. To begin, we consider their nature, define them, and identify four critical conceptual issues—context, workflow, levels, and time—that serve as review themes and discuss the multitude of forms that teams may assume. We then shift attention to the heart of the review, examining key aspects of the creation, development, operation, and management of work teams. To accomplish objectives of breadth and integration, we adopt a lifecycle perspective to organize the review. Topics involved in the team lifecycle include: (1) team composition; (2) team formation, socialization, and development; (3) …

An Investigation Into The Effect Of Power On Entrepreneurial Motivations, Jack Reed Durand

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The effects of power have been shown to exhibit a wide variety of effects on an individual's psychology. The present study explored power, as a form of resources control, and its effects on an individual's tendency to seek out entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial environments. According to various definitions of entrepreneurship, it can be argued that the process of entrepreneurship would represent a form of gathering power around oneself in the form of various resources. Attempts were made to determine whether a relationship existed between the experience power, and an individual's subsequent response to seeking entrepreneurial environments. The present study was able …

Challenge Accepted: Self-Enhancement Through The Pursuit Of Difficulty, Julie Anne Steinke

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Individual resilience is popular topic whereby researchers attempt to identify characteristics of individuals who react positively to stress. However, such research uses a reactionary approach, attempting to characterize successful individuals after they experience adversity and does not explain why some individuals proactively seek out challenging circumstances. Pursuing challenge is a new construct that explains why individuals proactively increase stress as a strategic mechanism for developmental purposes. I developed and validated a measurement tool for pursuing challenge in multiple studies. Additionally, I explored relationships between pursuing challenge and similar constructs (e.g., grit, proactive personality, and self-efficacy), as well as the extent …

The Impact Of Trainee Characteristics On Transfer Of Training Over Time, Kristina N. Bauer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Given that organizations invest a considerable amount of time and money into the training and development function, it is imperative that trainees transfer the learned material back to the job and continue to use the knowledge/skills. Yet, most studies have not assessed the transfer process over time (i.e., maintenance). Based on the lack of empirical investigation of maintenance, the current study had two goals: (1) to identify which factors are most important for skill maintenance (2) to identify when factors are most important to skill maintenance. To these ends, a model was developed and tested that examines the trainee characteristics …