TY - JOUR
T1 - Unintended consequences of being proactive? Linking proactive personality to coworker envy, helping, and undermining, and the moderating role of prosocial motivation
AU - Sun, Jiaqing
AU - Li, Wen-Dong
AU - Li, Yuhui
AU - Liden, Robert C.
AU - Li, Shuping
AU - Zhang, Xin
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Drawing upon social comparison theory, we developed and tested a model to examine potential negative coworker reactions toward proactive employees. We theorized that a focal employee's proactive personality is positively related with his or her high relative standing in the group, which in turn exposes him or her to being the target of coworker envy. This may then reduce the focal employee's received help from coworkers and give rise to coworker undermining. We further reasoned that employee prosocial motivation moderates the serial mediated relationships. Our hypotheses were generally supported in 3 field studies involving a total of 1,069 employees from 223 groups. Proactive personality was negatively and indirectly related to received help from coworkers, via relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) and relative job performance, and then via being envied by coworkers (Study 1). Results also generally supported the positive and indirect effect of proactive personality on coworker undermining via the same set of sequential mediators (e.g., RLMX and then being envied, Study 2). The indirect effects of proactive personality on coworker helping and undermining (e.g., via relative job performance and coworker envy) were only significant when employees' prosocial motivation was low (Study 3). This research contributes to a more complete and balanced theorization of the influences of proactive personality in organizations.
AB - Drawing upon social comparison theory, we developed and tested a model to examine potential negative coworker reactions toward proactive employees. We theorized that a focal employee's proactive personality is positively related with his or her high relative standing in the group, which in turn exposes him or her to being the target of coworker envy. This may then reduce the focal employee's received help from coworkers and give rise to coworker undermining. We further reasoned that employee prosocial motivation moderates the serial mediated relationships. Our hypotheses were generally supported in 3 field studies involving a total of 1,069 employees from 223 groups. Proactive personality was negatively and indirectly related to received help from coworkers, via relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) and relative job performance, and then via being envied by coworkers (Study 1). Results also generally supported the positive and indirect effect of proactive personality on coworker undermining via the same set of sequential mediators (e.g., RLMX and then being envied, Study 2). The indirect effects of proactive personality on coworker helping and undermining (e.g., via relative job performance and coworker envy) were only significant when employees' prosocial motivation was low (Study 3). This research contributes to a more complete and balanced theorization of the influences of proactive personality in organizations.
KW - Envy
KW - Helping and social undermining
KW - Leader-member exchange
KW - Proactive personality
KW - Prosocial motivation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084591209&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/apl0000494
DO - 10.1037/apl0000494
M3 - Article
C2 - 32297764
AN - SCOPUS:85084591209
VL - 106
SP - 250
EP - 267
JO - Journal of Applied Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Psychology
SN - 0021-9010
IS - 2
ER -