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Unintended consequences of being proactive? Linking proactive personality to coworker envy, helping, and undermining, and the moderating role of prosocial motivation

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  • Sun, Jiaqing
  • Li, Wen Dong
  • Li, Yuhui
  • Liden, Robert C.
  • Li, Shuping
  • Zhang, Xin

Abstract

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Suggested Citation

  • Sun, Jiaqing & Li, Wen Dong & Li, Yuhui & Liden, Robert C. & Li, Shuping & Zhang, Xin, 2021. "Unintended consequences of being proactive? Linking proactive personality to coworker envy, helping, and undermining, and the moderating role of prosocial motivation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116951, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:116951
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Han Li & Shimin Zhang & Shenjiang Mo & Alexander Newman, 2024. "Relative Leader-Member Exchange and Unethical Pro-leader Behavior: The Role of Envy and Distributive Justice Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 99-111, June.
    2. Jui-Chen Peng & Chiu-Mei Chen, 2023. "Linking proactive personality to proactive customer-service performance: a moderated parallel mediation model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Stephan, Ute & Strauss, Karoline & Gorgievski, Marjan J. & Wach, Dominika, 2024. "How entrepreneurs influence their employees’ job satisfaction: The double-edged sword of proactive personality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Yahua Cai & Fufu Sun & Jingsong Li, 2024. "Following the abusive leader? When and how abusive supervision influences victim’s creativity through observers," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 679-700, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    envy; helping and social undermining; leader-member exchange; proactive personality; prosocial motivation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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