Christian Kiewitz

Goal orientations and performance: Differential relationships across levels of analysis and as a function of task demands

Goal orientation and self-regulation theories were integrated to develop a multilevel framework aimed at addressing controversies regarding the magnitude and direction of goal orientation effects on performance. In Study 1, goal orientations were measured repeatedly whilst individuals performed an air traffic control task. In Study 2, goal orientations and exam performance were measured across 3 time points while undergraduates completed a course. Mastery-approach orientation was positively related to performance at the intraindividual level, but not at the interindividual level, and its effect was not moderated by task demands. Performance-approach positively predicted performance at the interindividual level, and at the intraindividual level, the direction of its effect switched as a function of task demands. Performance-avoid negatively predicted performance at the interindividual level but did not emerge as an intraindividual predictor. Mastery-avoid did not relate to performance at either level of analysis. This consistent pattern across 2 studies suggests that levels of analysis and task demands can determine the magnitude and direction of goal orientation effects on performance and highlights avenues for theory development.

Psychological Contracts as a Mediator between Machiavellianism and Employee Citizenship and Deviant Behaviors

Results from four studies in multiple contexts drawing on different data sources provide full support for the proposition that Machiavellian employees prefer forming transactional psychological contracts (schemas of their employee–employer relationship that are economic in nature) and that such contracts mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and supervisor-rated (a) organizational citizenship behaviors and (b) deviant behaviors, respectively. The authors’ research contributes to scholars’ understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between Machiavellianism and contextual performance as well as to the psychological contracts literature by demonstrating that Machiavellianism influences contextual performance because it affects the manner in which employees construe their employment relationships.

The Impact of Vocational and Social Efficacy on Job Performance and Career Satisfaction

Research is presented that examined the impact of social efficacy on the relationship between vocational efficacy beliefs and various job performance dimensions as well as career satisfaction. Results indicated respondents who held low social efficacy beliefs reported higher performance scores than individuals who reported high social efficacy beliefs. Moreover, those with lower social efficacy beliefs reported being more satisfied with their career than their high social efficacy counterparts. Implications of these findings, strengths and limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are provided.

Trait aggressiveness, media violence, and perceptions of interpersonal conflict

Abstract This study explores the short-term impact of exposure to violent mass media content while accounting for personality (i.e. trait-aggression) and situational factors (e.g. responsibility for actions). Following exposure to either a violent or nonviolent movie, participants reported their perceptions of violent interpersonal incidents described in four written scenarios. The findings revealed that respondents’ aggressive dispositions and sex mediated the impact of media violence on subsequent perceptions of violent, interpersonal conflicts. Specifically, high trait-aggressive individuals generally displayed more callous and hostile tendencies in their perceptions of interpersonal conflicts than low trait-aggressive individuals. Moreover, high trait-aggressive males were found to be most extreme in reporting aggressive thoughts and actions. Surprisingly, the data did not support the hypothesis that exposure to a violent movie would have a negative impact on viewers. Berkowitz’s cognitive-neoassociationistic theory [Berkowitz, L. (1984). Some effects of thoughts on anti-social and prosocial influences on media effects: a cognitive-neoassociation analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 410–427; Berkowitz, L. (1990). On the formation and regulation of anger and aggression: a cognitive-neoassociation analysis. American Psychologist, 45, 494–503; Jo, E. & Berkowitz, L. (1994). A priming effect analysis of media influences: an update. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman, Media effects: advances in theory and research (pp. 43–60). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum] is employed to account for this discrepancy. Suggestions for future research are provided.

The moderating effect of power distance on employee responses to psychological contract breach

Understanding how employees’ cultural values are related to their responses to promises broken by their organizations (i.e., psychological contract breach) is important given today’s global workplace. Although past research has found that psychological contract breach is positively associated with employee exit, voice and neglect and negatively associated with loyalty, we know little about the role that cultural values play in this process. We explore the role that power distance orientation—an employee’s acceptance of power differentials in society—plays in employee responses to breach. We argue that employees with high power distance orientations will be more likely to respond passively to breach (loyalty and neglect), whereas employees with low power distance orientations will be more likely to exhibit active responses to psychological contract breach (exit and voice). We tested our notions using a sample of 265 employees from different cultures across two points in time. Employees with high power distance orientations were less likely to respond to psychological contract breach with exit and voice than employees with low power distance orientations. However, power distance orientation did not significantly moderate the relationships between psychological contract breach and neglect or loyalty, respectively. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings.