Kelly L. Zellars

Affective personality and the content of emotional social support: coping in organizations.

This field study extended previous research by simultaneously examining the influence of affective personality on 4 dimensions of emotional social support and job burnout. Furthermore, the dimensions of emotional social support were examined as to their differential effects on the components of burnout. Results suggest that affective personality characteristics are associated with emotional social support as well as burnout dimensions. Results also indicate that some types of emotional social support appear to guard against burnout, whereas other types appear to contribute to the burnout experience. These findings suggest that types of emotional social support may have different personality antecedents and that distinct dimensions of social support have differential consequences in regard to burnout. Suggestions for future research are offered.

Political skill: an antidote in the role overload-strain relationship.

Political skill is characterized by social perceptiveness and the ability to adjust ones behavior to different and changing situational needs to influence others. The authors argue that politically skilled individuals enjoy a sense of personal security that allows them to perceive interpersonal control over the process and outcomes of interpersonal interactions within organizations. The authors examine the buffering effects of political skill on the perceived role overload-strain relationship, with strain operationalized as job tension, job (dis)satisfaction, and general anxiety. Results support the hypothesized moderating effects of political skill such that greater political skill reduces the negative effects of role overload on all types of strain. The contributions and limitations of the study are discussed, as are directions for future research.

The interactive effects of positive affect and conscientiousness on strain.

The purpose of our study was to more fully investigate a combination of personal resources, namely positive affect (PA) and conscientiousness, on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and job tension. We examined a sample of nurses employed by a metropolitan hospital and found that the combination of high positive affect and high levels of conscientiousness was associated with lower levels of all strain variables. Our findings suggested that conscientiousness strengthened the negative relationship between PA and job strain. Our results were consistent with the view that some dispositions can act as resources protecting individuals from experienced stress. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

BEYOND SOCIAL EXCHANGE: NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR THEORY AND RESEARCH

Virtually all research on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is rooted in a social exchange based view of citizenship performance. While we do not dispute the significant role exchange motives play in citizenship performance, we nevertheless see what amounts to a preoccupation with and over-reliance on social exchange processes in extant OCB theory. With the goals of improving the prediction of citizenship performance and advancing human resource management practice, we outline several new directions for OCB theory and research.

The Moderating Effect of Work-Linked Couple Relationships and Work-Family Integration on the Spouse Instrumental Support-Emotional Exhaustion Relationship

Based on boundary theory and conservation of resources theory, we argue that employees with a spouse in the same occupation or workplace (referred to as work-linked couples) enhance the effectiveness of spousal instrumental support in reducing emotional exhaustion. In the first study of nurses (n = 103), we found that work-linked couples have more highly integrated work and family roles than participants whose spouses did not share an occupation or workplace. In a second study of working adults (n = 484), we found that work-linked couples have a stronger relationship between spouse instrumental support and the reduction of emotional exhaustion; this moderated relationship was mediated by their work-family integration. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of work and family roles, social support, and emotional exhaustion, and provide suggestions for future research.

Accountability for others, perceived resources, and well being: Convergent restricted non-linear results in two samples

This two-sample investigation examined the influence of perceived resources on the form and magnitude of the relationships between accountability for others (AFO) and job tension and job satisfaction. Employing resource theory, we hypothesized that the non-linear relationship between AFO and job tension would surface only for individuals high in perceived resources, whereas the association between these constructs would be positive and linear for individuals low in perceived resources. A similar relationship was hypothesized for AFO and job satisfaction in which the non-linear effect would arise for individuals high in perceived resources, and negative linear effects would emerge for those low in perceived resources. Data from two samples (N = 201; N = 182) provided support and replication for the hypotheses. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

Reacting to and recovering from a stressful situation: The negative affectivity-physiological arousal relationship.

Although it is one of the most widely researched personality correlates of psychological reactions, the relationship between negative affectivity (NA) and physiological arousal has received little attention. This study examined the associations between NA and physiological outcomes of heart rate, skin temperature, and muscle tension. The authors hypothesized that when individuals are in a stressful situation, persons high in NA experience more heightened physiological arousal than those low in NA. After personality and demographic data were collected, 230 individuals participated in a stressful intervention. Individuals high in NA experienced a significantly greater rate of increase in electromyogram during the stress intervention and a lesser rate of decrease in electromyogram after the stressful event than those low in NA. In regard to skin temperature, those high in NA did not recover from the stress intervention as well as those low in NA. Negative affectivity was not related to heart rate.