Work Design Characteristics as Moderators of the Relationship between Proactive Personality and Engagement

This study examines which and how trait relevant work design characteristics moderate the relationship between proactive personality and engagement. Proactive personality is defined as an individual’s tendency to intentionally and directly affect change in their environment (Bateman & Crant, 1993; Crant, 2000). Previous research has been primarily focused on the positive aspects of proactive personality; to fill this gap, I used trait activation theory (Tett & Burnett, 2003) to identify which work characteristics will activate proactive personality to affect engagement and developed specific hypotheses about which work characteristics will attenuate the proactive personality engagement relationship. In the study I identified five work characteristics (autonomy, feedback from job, problem solving, social support, and feedback from others) that may be moderators of the proactive personalityengagement relationship. Data were collected from 258 participants who worked in organizations located in north and northeast Italy. Data were collected at two time points. At time 1, proactive personality and work design characteristics were collected. Work engagement was collected at time 2. Although main effects for proactive personality and the job characteristics on engagement were found, the data did not support most of the hypotheses in this study. However, supplemental analyses found interesting interactions with regards to the impact of decision making autonomy and feedback from others on the relation between proactive personality and work engagement. The supplemental results suggest that proactive personality may act as a personal resource when work design characteristics are lacking. However, when decision making autonomy or feedback from others is high there is a negative relationship between proactive personality and engagement. Proactive Personality ii The results of this study have several implications for management theory and practice. On the theoretical side there are at least three contributions. First, while the majority of research on PAP has focused on main effects, few studies have identified moderators (Crant, 2000). Second, this study adds to research by extending trait activation theory to apply to how proactive workers view work characteristics. Third, while all work design characteristics coexist simultaneously within a work environment, they are usually discussed individually, not simultaneously. Additionally, the results of this study have implications for practice. The results of this study suggest that organizations should consider the work design characteristics and their impact on proactive workers prior to selecting proactive workers. Also organizations who are interested in employing proactive workers can use the results of this study to optimize the success of both highand low-proactivity workers. By having a more in depth understanding of how work design characteristics impact proactive people organizations will be better able to meet an employee’s needs, and the theoretical understanding of proactive personality is advanced. Proactive Personality iii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my wife Andrea. Without your patience and constant support this dissertation would not have been possible. Proactive Personality iv Acknowledgements The journey towards completing this dissertation has been simultaneous the most difficult and rewarding experience. Throughout this journey, I have been supported by many people, without who I would never have completed this dissertation. First, I would like to thank my committee members: Dr. Donald Truxillo, Dr. Leslie Hammer, Dr. Charlotte Fritz, and Dr. Pamela Tierney. Their suggestions, expectation, and enthusiasm towards this project provided me with the support to try to develop this best dissertation that I could. Additionally, I owe a special debt of gratitude to my friends and fellow graduate students Dan Hahn, David Cadiz, and Elizabeth McCune without whom the project would not have been as fun of an experience. When I hit a wall they were there to motivate me and provided numerous ideas of how to develop theoretical approaches. Dr. Sherwin Davidson and Dr. Ellen Skinner were there to support me when my progress towards completion was stalled. Without them I would have continued on another dissertation project that did not have the necessary support. I would also like to thank Dr. Sara Zaniboni for collecting and allowing me to use the data in this dissertation. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. Many initial attempts to collect data did not materialize which made me have to alter my dissertation topic. Without the support of my wife, Andrea I may have decided that these difficulties were insurmountable. Thanks to her I was able to continue regardless of the difficulties I faced. Proactive Personality v Table of