Kathleen Otto

Positive Conceptions of Perfectionism: Approaches, Evidence, Challenges

Almost 30 years ago, Hamachek (1978) suggested that 2 forms of perfectionism be distinguished, a positive form labeled “normal perfectionism” and a negative form labeled “neurotic perfectionism.” Focusing on the positive, we present an overview of the different empirical conceptions of the 2 forms of perfectionism and a common framework for the 2 basic approaches: the dimensional approach differentiating 2 dimensions of perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns) and the group-based approach differentiating 2 groups of perfectionists (healthy perfectionists and unhealthy perfectionists). Moreover, we review the evidence demonstrating that (a) perfectionistic strivings are associated with positive characteristics and (b) healthy perfectionists show higher levels of positive characteristics compared to unhealthy perfectionists and nonperfectionists. Although questions on core facets, positive effects, and developmental antecedents of positive forms of perfectionism remain, our findings suggest that self-oriented perfectionistic strivings are positive, if perfectionists are not overly concerned about mistakes and negative evaluations by others.

Dealing with stress in the workplace: Compensatory effects of belief in a just world.

Abstract. In an online questionnaire filled out by 217 employees of various organizations, we investigated the implication of belief in a just world (BJW) for work-related cognitions and behavior (e.g., emotional exhaustion), taking central work stressors (e.g., workload), as well as work stress-related resources (e.g., autonomy), into account. We argued that BJW might compensate for the negative effects of the aforementioned stressors on work-related cognitions and behavior. BJW serves adaptive psychological functions such as the following: (1) It helps the individual to interpret the events in his or her life in a meaningful way and, thus, to deal with unjust experiences. In light of this function, we hypothesized that employees with a strong BJW would experience more organizational commitment and report fewer turnover intentions, and that the influence of BJW in these areas exists over and above the influence of central stressors and work stress-related resources. A further adaptive function of BJW is ...

Is there a buffering effect of flexibility for job attitudes and work-related strain under conditions of high job insecurity and regional unemployment rate?

This article explores the relationships of job insecurity and regional unemployment rate with job attitudes and work-related strain. The authors considered the personality attribute flexibility as a potential moderator. Their results revealed job insecurity to be negatively associated with job involvement and career satisfaction and positively with readiness to make concessions and strain. Moreover, with an increasing level of subjective (qualitative) job insecurity, individuals low in flexibility reported lower career satisfaction. In contrast, where objective job insecurity (unemployment rate) was high, these low flexibility participants showed higher career satisfaction. They were also more ready to make concessions and more involved with their job than those high in flexibility. Finally, the study found the proposed buffering effect, as those high in flexibility experienced less health impairment when perceived (quantitative) job insecurity and regional unemployment rate were high. Strategies of coping with uncertainty as well as options regarding strengthening flexibility are discussed.

Occupational Mobility in Members of the Labor Force: Explaining the Willingness to Change Occupations

It has become a commonplace for people to move from one occupation to another during their career. The authors propose that work-related attitudes and person-related characteristics should be considered when examining the willingness to change occupations (WCOs). Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that high levels of work satisfaction, strong occupational commitment, and work-related worries made employees less WCOs, whereas uncertainty tolerance and mobility self-efficacy were positively associated with WCO (Study 1). The findings regarding person-related characteristics were replicated among unemployed individuals (Study 2). Moreover, a longitudinal study showed high-mobility self-efficacy to be a resource-enhancing WCO over time, and revealed that uncertainty tolerance increased WCO among those who had actually experienced a change in occupational status (Study 3).

New challenges for human resource management: readiness to perform a mobile job and its antecedents

Today, the general stipulation to be mobile in location and flexible with time includes in addition for many the readiness to accept a job where one is often on the road (on-the-job mobility). While the number of these mobile jobs is increasing, we investigated on-the-job mobility readiness (OMR) in employed and also unemployed people along with its respective demographic, social and personal antecedents in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. We hypothesized openness to experiences, uncertainty tolerance, and social norms to be positively and a collectivistic orientation, and social anxiety to be negatively associated with OMR. Regression analyses revealed that social norms (the perceived positive attitude of the social environment towards on-the-job mobility), uncertainty tolerance, and education level were positively associated with OMR, whereas a collectivistic orientation and social anxiety were negatively correlated with it. Moreover, males showed more OMR than females. Implications for HRM are discussed.

Individual differences in job‐related relocation readiness

Purpose – Previous research has demonstrated the positive impact of relocation mobility on career success. Based on conservation‐of‐resources theory and knowledge about resistance to change, this study aims to explore the role of personality dispositions and social orientations in explaining job‐related relocation readiness.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 380 German employees (study 1), unemployed individuals (study 2), and apprentices (study 3) were surveyed on their relocation readiness, personality dispositions (neuroticism, openness to experience, uncertainty tolerance), and social orientations (individualism, collectivism, social norms –i.e. the perceived social endorsement of relocation mobility) in three cross‐sectional studies and one longitudinal study (study 4).Findings – Findings show that high levels of neuroticism (study 1) and collectivism (studies 1‐3) made individuals less ready to relocate, whereas high levels of openness to experience (study 2), uncertainty tolerance (studies 1‐...

What About the Leader? Crossover of Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement From Followers to Leaders.

Although a growing body of research links leadership behavior to follower health, comparatively little is known about the health effects of being in the lead. This longitudinal study of 315 team members and 67 leaders examined the crossover of emotional exhaustion and work engagement from followers to leaders. Leader emotional self-efficacy was tested as a moderator in the crossover process. Multiple regression analyses revealed that followers’ work engagement was positively related to leaders’ work engagement eight months later, controlling for followers’ tenure with the leader, leader gender, autonomy, workload, and work engagement at Time 1. Leaders’ emotional self-efficacy did not moderate the crossover of work engagement. Followers’ emotional exhaustion was not directly related to leaders’ emotional exhaustion over time. We did find a significant interaction effect for follower emotional exhaustion and leader emotional self-efficacy. This study is the first to show that crossover of emotional exhaustion and work engagement can unfold over time from team members to leaders. Main theoretical implications lie in the finding that—in line with job demands-resources theory—followers’ psychological states can pose a demand or resource for leaders, and influence their well-being. For practitioners, our results offer valuable insights regarding the design of organizational health interventions as well as leadership development measures.

Processing of Unjust and Just Information: Interpretation and Memory Performance Related to Dispositional Victim Sensitivity

With two studies, we tested whether dispositional victim sensitivity involves one of two kinds of biased processing style: either a processing style in which unjust—but not just—information is processed more readily and accurately than neutral information or a processing style in which unjust and just information is processed preferentially over neutral information. In Study 1, victim sensitivity increased the speed with which participants resolved ambiguous sentence fragments in cases in which the resolution yielded an unjust connotation, as well as in cases in which the resolution yielded a just connotation, but not when the resolution was neutral with respect to justice. In Study 2, persons high in victim sensitivity displayed enhanced memory performance for both unjust and just information relative to neutral information over a 1–week retention interval. The results are consistent with the assumption that victim sensitivity is characterized by the activation potential and elaboration of both injustice and justice concepts. Our findings are important for the understanding of how the fear of being exploited among victim–sensitive persons shapes antisocial behaviour. Copyright

Why Does Interactional Justice Promote Organizational Loyalty, Job Performance, and Prevent Mental Impairment? The Role of Social Support and Social Stressors

ABSTRACT Using social exchange theory as a conceptual framework, we investigated the relationship between interactional justice and the outcomes organizational loyalty (affective commitment, turnover intentions), perceived job performance (self-rated performance, personal accomplishment), and mental impairment (cognitive irritation, emotional exhaustion) in an online survey of 218 employees working in the field of computer technology. Specifically, we predicted that interactional justice would heighten the quality of social exchange relationships and therefore expected perceived social support (POS) and bullying to mediate the proposed relationships. We tested our hypotheses applying a latent structural equation model. Our findings revealed that POS mediated the relationship between interactional justice and organizational loyalty, whereas bullying mediated the relationship between interactional justice and mental impairment. Practical implications are discussed concerning how to foster interactional justice and POS and how to weaken bullying behavior.

Willingness to accept occupational change when offered incentives: Comparing full-time and part-time employees

The ability to deal with occupational change is becoming increasingly important. We hypothesized that individual differences determining preferences for specific types of mobility (i.e., global personality traits and uncertainty tolerance) and decisional factors theoretically derived from the theory of planned behaviour (e.g., desirability of change; subjective norms) would be associated with higher willingness to accept occupational change when incentives such as greater autonomy were offered. These hypotheses were tested in a questionnaire study with samples of full-time and part-time employees. We further expected employment situation to function as a moderator in this process. Overall, results of regression analyses confirmed the relevance of the core components of the theory of planned behaviour. In addition, we found decisional factors to be more closely linked to the outcomes of full-time employees than to those of part-time employees. We discuss the practical implications of our results in terms of how best to support employees in adapting to the increasing demands for occupational change.