Rebecca J. Reichard

Fitting Engagement Into a Nomological Network: The Relationship of Engagement to Leadership and Personality

Engagement is an emerging job attitude that has been theoretically linked to both leadership and personality variables as well as important work outcomes. However, given the variations in construct definitions of engagement as well as limited existing empirical research, the authors empirically examined the nomological network of multiple measures of engagement based on Schaufeli’s three-factor engagement, Shirom’s vigor, and Britt’s one-factor engagement. Using data from an online survey of 382 working professionals, the authors conducted a series of hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. Results indicate strong relationships between engagement measures and personality (especially positive affect) and weaker relationships between engagement and leadership. Furthermore, multiple measures of engagement demonstrated significant relationships with the important work outcomes of turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. This research contributes to the literature on engagement by simultaneously examining multiple conceptualizations and measurements of work engagement and demonstrating leverage points for leaders to influence the state-like construct of engagement. Results suggested that engagement is related to important organizational outcomes and that engagement mediates the relationship between personality and organizational outcomes. Implications and suggestions for practice and future research are provided.

Having the will and finding the way: A review and meta-analysis of hope at work

Critics of the field of positive organizational psychology have expressed reservations with validity and utility of positive constructs, such as hope. The purpose of this article is to systematically review the existing research on hope at work and to determine the ‘true’ relationship between hope and work outcomes by meta-analyzing 133 effect sizes across 45 primary studies based on 11,139 employees. As predicted, we found that the overall corrected mean effect sizes between hope and work performance and employee well-being were positive and statistically significant. Gender and study location were significant moderators of these relationships, with women and US-based studies having stronger hope to work outcomes effects. Taken together, results demonstrate that positive psychology constructs, such as hope, play an important role in understanding and predicting employee behavior.

Gender stereotyping effects on entrepreneurial self‐efficacy and high‐growth entrepreneurial intention

Purpose – The number of women choosing entrepreneurship as an occupation continues to grow. However, there are very few start‐up high‐growth ventures in traditionally non‐feminine industries, such as manufacturing or technology. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the potential impact of implicit and explicit gender stereotypes on womens high‐growth entrepreneurial intention, and to examine the role of entrepreneurial self‐efficacy in this process. The authors aim to argue that there is a dual stereotype associated with high‐growth entrepreneurship (HGE), which negatively impacts on womens intention and self‐efficacy, thereby limiting their behavior in this arena.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper. Through the lens of stereotype activation theory the authors call for researchers to begin examining these phenomena and to utilize more generalizable samples of entrepreneurial students in future research.Findings – The paper finds that by decreasing the masculine stereoty...

Development of Cross-Cultural Psychological Capital and Its Relationship With Cultural Intelligence and Ethnocentrism

As a key construct in the field of positive organizational behavior, positive psychological capital (or PsyCap) has been well established in the work domain. In the current study, the applicability of PsyCap was extended into the domain of cross-cultural interactions and was tested via a training intervention in the United States (n = 130) and South Africa (n = 71). Psychological resource training targeting the underlying components of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism resulted in significant gains in cross-cultural PsyCap, cultural intelligence, and positive emotions as well as decreases in ethnocentrism. In the South African sample, gains in PsyCap and cultural intelligence were maintained one month following training. Results are discussed within the context of psychological resource training for employees working in a diverse environment. This intervention study extends and applies PsyCap into the domain of cross-cultural development and management.

Assessing cross-cultural skills: validation of a new measure of cross-cultural psychological capital

In light of increasing workplace diversification, todays organizations are in need of employees who can work effectively within cross-cultural settings. To assess and develop generalizable skills enabling employees to successfully interact with members of many different cultures, a new measure of cross-cultural psychological capital (PsyCap) was validated in two studies. This measure captures a state-like higher-order construct consisting of four components: self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience with regard to cross-cultural interactions. In study 1, a diverse sample of 361 participants responded to a survey and results confirmed the hypothesized higher-order factor structure of the newly developed cross-cultural PsyCap scale. In study 2, an additional 134 participants completed multiple surveys to assess the convergent, discriminant and predictive validity of cross-cultural PsyCap as it relates to cultural intelligence, openness to experience, ethnocentrism and cross-cultural adjustment. The majority of the study hypotheses were supported, which provides evidence for the measures construct validity in assessing cross-cultural skills and also demonstrates its unique value in predicting cross-cultural effectiveness. This measure of cross-cultural PsyCap has important implications for assessment of employees who work internationally or within a diverse workplace.

Believing Is Becoming: The Role of Leader Developmental Efficacy in Leader Self-Development

Leader developmental efficacy, or one’s belief in his/her ability to develop leadership knowledge or skills, is theorized to predict engagement and success in leader development. Conducting the first empirical studies on this construct using cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal surveys across three samples consisting of 73, 94, and 49 leaders, respectively, we find that leader developmental efficacy predicts intentions to self-develop leadership above and beyond past leader development. Intentions to develop as a leader, in turn, predicts actual implementation of leader development behaviors 1 month later. Examining reverse directionality, we observe that the quantity, and potentially the quality, of past leader development behaviors are positively related to current leader developmental efficacy. Finally, leader developmental efficacy is associated with an increase in leader efficacy through a leader development program. Implications for assessing and developing leader developmental efficacy prior to formal programs are discussed.

In Pursuit: Mastering Leadership Through Leader Developmental Readiness.

This chapter defines leader developmental readiness, presents a conceptual model, and discusses implications for practitioners supporting leaders before college, during college, and in early career stages.

Context Matters: Support for Leader Developmental Readiness.

Leader developers need to consider support for leader developmental readiness by examining organizational culture, job design and rewards, social support, and availability and structure of leader development programming.

Psychological Capital for Leader Development

The continual development of leaders is one effective strategy for organizations to compete in today’s rapidly changing society. Despite awareness of this need, human resource professionals and managers find it challenging to promote or encourage ongoing development among leaders. Addressing the need for continuous learning, we extend the construct of psychological capital to the context of leader development. Specifically, leader development psychological capital (LD PsyCap) is defined as an individual’s motivational propensity to develop as a leader and consists of efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience toward leader development. Using an online survey of 120 leaders, we found that LD PsyCap predicted leader development behaviors beyond other individual differences. We also found that LD PsyCap mediated the relationship between learning climate, organizational support, social support, and workload on leader development behaviors. Promoting LD PsyCap can help facilitate ongoing leader development in organizations.

Developmental Trajectories of Leader Identity: Role of Learning Goal Orientation

This study examines within-person change in leader identity (LI) over the course of a formal leader development program and how that change relates to learning goal orientation (LGO). Results of multilevel modeling of 299 data points from 39 leaders over 5 months indicate a positive, linear increase in LI across 12-time points. LGO was predicted and found to have both trait-like and state-like components. Trait-like LGO was positively associated with the mean change in LI over time, whereas state-like LGO was associated with within-person variance in LI over time. State-like, but not trait-like LGO positively related to differences in LI growth rates. However, we found larger rates of LI growth for leaders reporting lower levels of state-like LGO. This study adds to the body of research on leader development by providing a prospective and longitudinal test of LI development. Future research may investigate the aspects of leader training that most facilitate growth and change in LI.