Master of Science / Department of Psychological Sciences / Patrick A. Knight / For decades psychologists have studied ways in which organizations can redesign jobs to achieve improved performance and worker satisfaction. Recently there has been interest in job crafting, the process by which workers themselves change their jobs to achieve similar ends. This study examined the relationships between job crafting and (a) worker autonomy and (b) proactive personality. It was found that both autonomy and proactive personality were positively related to job crafting, with proactive personality being more strongly related to job crafting than was autonomy. Thus, the potential for both situational and individual characteristics to influence job crafting was found.

Resilience is among the increasingly popular topics of interest in the literature. Although rooted in the developmental and clinical literature, there has been an expansion of conceptualisations for this construct from various research streams, including the occupational literature. However, due to the lack of a behaviour-oriented measure of employee-centric resilience, the conceptualisation adapted in the present study refers to employee resilience as developable capacities that can be facilitated by the organisation to positively cope, adapt and thrive in response to continuously changing work environments. Using a recently developed measure of resilience, this study investigated the effects of the two leadership behaviours of empowerment and contingent reward, as well as the moderating roles of dispositional proactivity and optimism as individual differences. Regression analysis on a sample of 369 professionals supported the hypotheses that employee resilience is contingent on the leader’s operational empowerment and on contingent reward behaviours. Results also confirmed the effect of proactivity and optimism in enhancing resilience, and the moderating role of proactive personality in enhancing relation between empowering leadership and follower’s resilience. Outcomes of the study were also discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications, and recommendations were made for future research into the topic.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Clive J. A. Fullagar / In the constantly changing world of work, employees are expected to be proactive by taking initiative and being self-starting, future focused, and change oriented. Consequently, research around proactivity has grown exponentially over the last two decades. However, the relationship with employee well-being has been widely neglected. This research addressed this gap by investigating the dynamics between employee proactivity and subjective well-being, while taking work-related flow into account. With the use of a diary method, this study provided support that proactivity is not necessarily a burden on psychological well-being. Instead, proactivity in its dispositional and behavioral form of task crafting, was found to have a direct impact on optimal work experiences and well-being outcomes such as subjective vitality and positive affect. Acknowledging the complexity of the relationships, this study also tested mediated and moderated paths and provided several theoretical and practical contributions.

Using Krumboltz's (2009) Happenstance Learning Theory as a theoretical framework, the three constructs of human agency, hardiness, and proactive personality were identified for their effectiveness in facilitating proaction and resilience during transitional and stressful circumstances. The purpose of this study was to explore whether human agency, hardiness, and proactive personality predict a successful college-to-career transition, measured by the confidence and readiness factors on the Career Transition Inventory (Heppner, 1991; Heppner, Multon, & Johnston, 1994). Linear regression analyses found that each of the study's independent variables predicted both the confidence and readiness factors. In addition, a stepwise regression analysis selected proactive personality as the strongest predictor of readiness. With proactive personality in the model, the stepwise analysis chose hardiness as the next strongest predictor of readiness. Proactive personality and hardiness together explained 38.2% of the variance for readiness. When a stepwise analysis was run with the three independent variables and confidence as the dependent variable, hardiness was selected as the strongest predictor of confidence. With hardiness in the model, the stepwise analysis chose general self-efficacy as the next strongest predictor of readiness. Hardiness and general self-efficacy together explained 28.1% of the variance for confidence.

在快速變動的環境下，員工的工作任務、職責，以及工作關係，也產生經常性的變動，工作內容及工作績效的定義變得更為複雜與動態，組織愈來愈重視員工是否能夠有效地因應環境的變化。因此，適應性績效逐漸受到重視而成為許多學者關切的議題。相對於任務性績效以及輔助性績效，適應性績效是屬於新興的概念，其指涉的內涵以及與其他重要組織變數之間的關係，仍有許多值得探討與研究的空間。 Pulakos等學者雖然發展出工作適應性量表，但該量表尚存在諸多改進的空間，特別是關於因素結構以及建構效度的檢驗。本論文的第一個子研究，即是以更為嚴謹的量表發展程序建構適應性績效量表。透過因素分析，我們發現適應性績效可以分成應變面、學習面以及關係面等三個次構面，我們也驗證了適應性績效確實有別於傳統的任務性績效與輔助性績效而成為獨立的工作績效構面。 另外，關於預測適應性績效的前置變數也仍存有研究缺口。本論文的第二個子研究，即是探討人格特質對於適應性績效的預測力。目前為止，五大人格對適應性績效的預測力並不是很理想，而且也有不太一致的結果。本研究建議，因為適應性績效強調的是員工面對工作環境變動時所展現出來的因應與學習的行為，所以應該選用更能符合適應性績效特性的人格變數，我們特別針對目標導向及前瞻人格做探討，因其都與個人的學習以及對環境因應有關。 實證結果發現，目標導向中的學習導向，對於應變面、學習面、關係面等適應性績效都具有正向的影響。迴避導向對應變面、學習面適應性績效有負向的影響。而證明導向則是對關係面適應性績效負向的影響。至於前瞻人格與適應性績效的關係則沒有獲得實證支持。另外，研究結果也發現，工作自主性對於前瞻人格與應變面適應性績效的關係具有正向的干擾效果；而任務複雜度對於迴避導向與應變面適應性績效之間的關係也同樣具有干擾效果。 / Rapid technological developments, frequent organizational changes, and intensified global competition in the market place have increased the extent of turbulence and uncertainty in the workplace. Consequently, adaptive performance, a new topic in the field of job performance, has gained attention from academics and practitioners. Unlike task performance and contextual performance, the content and nomological network of adaptive performance is still unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop the scale of the adaptive performance, and explore the relationships among adaptive performance, goal orientation and proactive personality. We found that adaptive is a three-dimensional construct (i.e. the adaptive performance in task area, the adaptive performance in learning new skills, the adaptive performance in interpersonal relations). Our empirical data verified that adaptive performance is discriminative from task performance and contextual performance. Besides, we found that Learning Orientation is positively associated with the adaptive performance in task area, the adaptive performance in learning new skills, the adaptive performance in interpersonal relations. Avoidance Orientation is negatively associated with the adaptive performance in task area and the adaptive performance in learning new skills. Prove Orientation is negatively associated with the adaptive performance in interpersonal relations. As to relationship between proactive personality and adaptive performance, we did not found empirical support. Finally, we found that job autonomy moderates the relationship between proavtive personality and the adaptive performance in task area, task complexity moderates the relationship between avoidance orientation and the adaptive performance in task area.

The present study examines relationships among differences in personality, financial planning behaviors, and retirement life satisfaction. The hypothesized sequence of relationships is: PersonalityàFinancial Planning BehavioràRetirement Life Satisfaction. The study adds to prior research by clarifying the hypothesized role that proactive personality (as opposed to other personality variables such as the Big Five) has as a predictor, and also by showing how differences in discrete types of financial planning behavior influence retirement life satisfaction and mediate effects of proactive personality on satisfaction. This study tests these linkages while also addressing limitations and ambiguity in prior research regarding these potentially important effects among disposition, financial planning and a satisfactory retirement.

This mixed methods study contains two studies that are linked together sequentially to explore the work/nonwork boundary management of home-based teleworkers through the overarching research question: Do personality traits and ICT use influence how teleworkers manage their work-nonwork boundary? Mobile ICT s such as smartphones are becoming increasingly more important for work and they can have a boundary blurring effect on the work-nonwork boundary as they may be used at anytime and anywhere. However, the issue of how personality traits influence ICT use and work-nonwork boundary management has been neglected, particularly in a teleworking context. As people manage their work-nonwork boundaries differently and some people work better at home than others, it is not known to what extent personality traits play a role in boundary management and ICT use. Study One explores the relationships between the big five personality traits of conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism, the facet level traits of dutifulness, gregariousness, and impulsiveness and work/nonwork boundary interruptions. It also explores the relationships between these traits and frequency of technology use for work purposes and the relationship of ICT s (smartphones, tablets and laptops) to work/nonwork boundary interruptions. Data was collected via an online survey, with recruitment from social media sites and Local Authorities totalling 391 usable responses. Conscientiousness was found to be negatively related to work-nonwork and nonwork-work interruptions, dutifulness negatively related to nonwork-work interruptions, neuroticism positively related to work-nonwork interruptions and impulsiveness positively related to nonwork-work interruptions. Personality traits were found to have small correlations to boundary interruptions which was a new finding, although it was expected that the correlations might have been larger than they were found to be. Extraversion was positively related to frequency of laptop use and extraversion and gregariousness were positively related to frequency of smartphone use, neuroticism was negatively related to frequency of smartphone use which were new findings in a work context. Frequency of ICT use was positively related to work-nonwork interruptions, with smartphones showing the highest correlation, followed by tablet and then laptop displaying a stepped effect. This finding of a stepped effect was new and suggests that the portability of smartphones makes them much easier to connect to work out of hours, than laptops and tablets. The second study included interviews from 20 participants who had completed the survey, four from each of five boundary management groups (Strong Segmentors, Strong Integrators, Moderate Managers, Work Boundary Protectors and Family Boundary Protectors). The groups were derived from scores from the survey data, in order to investigate in more depth, other factors that influenced boundary management interruptions that were not picked up in Study One and specifically the idiosyncrasies of ICT use between groups. The qualitative data was analysed via Template Analysis and the final themes in the template were Boundary Management, Crafting Work, Individual Differences, Telework and Interruptions. The theme of Boundary Management was dealt with in this study. Some key findings were that Study Two built upon Study One by finding that proactivity was a key theme and that this trait may be particularly active while individuals are teleworking due to the context. ICT s were used in a way that reflected the wide ranging boundary management preferences of the individuals using them.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la relación entre el empoderamiento psicológico en el trabajo, y la personalidad proactiva de ingenieros, del rubro minero, de una empresa privada de Lima, Metropolitana. Para este propósito se evaluaron 210 trabajadores con edades entre 25 y 56 años.  Se utilizó la Escala de empoderamiento psicológico en el trabajo, elaborada por Spreitzer, y adaptada por Albar, García, López & Garrido (2012); y la Escala de Personalidad Proactiva desarrollado por Bateman & Crant (1993). Se encontró que los componentes de empoderamiento psicológico en el trabajo tienen una correlación positiva y significativa con la personalidad proactiva. Estos hallazgos revelan la importancia de ambas variables en el ambiente organizacional. / The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between psychological empowerment at work and proactive personality in a group of engineers of the mining sector from a private company in Lima, Metropolitana. For this purpose, 210 workers between the ages of 25 and 56 years were assessed. The following tests: the Psychological empowerment at work scale of Spreitzer and adapted by Albar, García, López & Garrido (2012), and the Proactive Personality scale developed by Bateman & Crant (1993) were used. It was found that the components of psychological empowerment at work correlate positive and significantly with proactive personality. These results reveal the importance of both psychological variables in the organizational environment. / Tesis

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本研究探討社會化戰術與主動性人格對社會化結果之影響，研究假設參與較高體制式社會化戰術和主動性人格較高的組織新進成員，其社會化結果 (個人與組織契合度、組織承諾、離職意圖、組織滿意及個人績效) 會較佳。本研究並探討前述關係中的中介機制，假設社會化自我效能及目標設定會中介前述關係。此外，本研究亦假設社會化戰術與主動性人格的交互作用會影響社會化結果。 本研究採類實驗設計進行，以政治大學2008年入學之大一新生為研究樣本，進行四次的資料收集。第一次的施測 (T0) 僅針對參與於2008年九月初舉辦之政大新生定位營的大一新生收集資料，並於其營隊報到時施測；第二次的施測 (T1) 則是在開學一週內 (2008年九月中)，第三次 (T2) 則是入學一個月後 (2008年十月中)，第四次 (T3) 則是開學五個月後 (2009年一月)。 本研究以階層迴歸分析來檢驗所有研究假設。在體制式社會化戰術的效果方面，研究結果顯示T1時，體制式社會化戰術對個人與組織配適度及組織承諾具有預測效果。在T2時，體制式社會化戰術情境的新生除了毅力和適應力及生活技巧外，對所有的社會化結果都有預測效果，且社會化自我效能和目標設定中介前述關係。而在T3時期，體制式社會化戰術只對離校意圖、精通一般原則性知識、適應力及生活技巧有預測效果，但社會化自我效能和目標設定並無中介效果。在主動性人格的效果方面，在T2時期除了離校意圖外，對所有的社會化結果都有預測效果，且社會化自我效能和目標設定在前述關係中大多都有中介效果；但在T3時期主動性人格對社會化結果就都無預測效果。而在體制式社會化戰術和主動性人格的交互作用方面，其僅對T2的學涯定位有影響。研究者並針對本研究之研究結果、理論與實務意涵加以討論。 / In the present study, the researcher examined whether the socialization tactics and proactive personality affected socialization outcomes. This study hypothesized that newcomers who involve in high institutionalized social tactics and with high proactive personalities will have better socialization outcome (P-O fit, organization commitment, intention to quit, organization satisfaction, and job performance).　Additionally, mediators of the above relationships were also examined. This study hypothesized that socializational self-efficacy and goal setting will mediate the relationship mentioned above. In addition, the interaction between socialization tactics and proactive personality will also affect the socialization outcomes. Present study applied quasi-experimental designs, and subjects were freshmen of NCCU in 2008. Four-time data collections were engaged. The first test (T0) was delivered only to the freshmen who joined the orientation camp in the early September of 2008, and the data was collected in the beginning of the camp. The second test (T1) was delivered within the first week of the semester around the mid September of 2008. The third test (T2) was delivered after one month in the mid October of 2008. The last test (T3) was delivered in five months after the beginning of the semester around the January of 2009. Present study used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to exam all hypotheses. For the effects of institutionalized socialization tactics, during T1, the study indicated that the main effect of institutionalized socialization tactics was significant on P-O fit and organizational commitment. During T2, the study indicated that the main effect of institutionalized socialization tactics was significant on all socialization outcomes, except perseverance and adapability and life skills. Additionally, socialization self-efficacy and goal-setting were mediated the above relationship. During T3, the study indicated that the main effect of institutionalized socialization tactics was significant only on intention to quit, knowledge and mastery of general principles, and adapability and life skills, but socialization self-efficacy and goal-setting were not mediated the above relationship. For the effects of proactive personality, during T2, the study indicated that the main effect of proactive personality was significant on all socialization outcomes, except intention to quit. Additionally, socialization self-efficacy and goal-setting were mostly mediated the above relationship. Nonetheless, the main effect of proactive personality on all socialization outcomes was not significant during T3. For the effects of interaction between institutionalized socialization tactics and proactive personality, the main effect of interaction between institutionalized socialization tactics and proactive personality was significant only on career orientation during T2. Finally, practical implications and avenues for future research are discussed.