| Coping Across Four Stages of an Organizational Merger |
| | Kinicki, Angelo J. | Arizona State U. | icajk@asu.edu | (602) 965-3431 |
| | Fugate, Mel | Arizona State U., Main | mel.fugate@asu.edu | 602-965-4790 |
| | Scheck, Christine L. | Northern Illinois U. | scheck@niu.edu | 630-682-3436 |
| | This longitudinal study examines how individuals cope with an organizational merger over four distinct stages spanning nine months. We aim to replicate and extend past research by studying coping as a process that changes over time and by examining prospective relationships between coping constructs. Measures of employee appraisals (harm, threat, and challenge), coping resources (social support and perceived control), negative emotions (outcome and anticipatory), and emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies are obtained at the anticipatory stage, initial change stage, final change stage, and recovery stage of a merger. Results from 216 merger survivors indicate that coping is a dynamic process that changes over time. Harm and threat appraisals, perceived control, and both types of coping strategies significantly changed across stages of the merger. Prospective relationships between coping variables and appraisals reveal that harm and threat appraisal at the final change stage are predicted by negative outcome emotions and the coping strategy of emphasizing the positive. All three appraisals at the recovery stage are predicted by emphasizing the positive. Results provide moderate support for past coping "process" research and thus limit the generalizability of past research conducted on student samples. Suggestions for future research and study limitations and conclusions also are discussed.
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| | Keywords: coping; merger; longitudinal |
| A Conservation of Resources Model of the Dynamics of Emotional Labor |
| | Brotheridge, Céleste M. | U. of Manitoba | umbrothe@cc.umanitoba.ca | (204)-256-5966 |
| | The paper presents a reconceptualization of emotional labor aimed at explaining why performing
emotional labor may or may not result in burnout. The proposed model, which is based on the
conservation of resources theory, suggests that performing emotional labor may eventually lead role
occupants to identify with their roles. Such identification is fostered through: (a) the social norms
surrounding the roles themselves; (b) the self-presentation skills of the role occupants; (c) the
reciprocity of the social interaction; and (d) the physiological process wherein there is increasing
congruency between expressed and felt emotions. As they begin to identify with their roles,
role performers move from performing surface acting to deep acting and, eventually, to the expression
of genuine emotions. Those employees who make this transition towards the expression of genuine
emotions are most likely to experience a sense of authenticity and, hence, a feeling of personal
accomplishment. Those who continue to perform surface acting are likely to feel inauthentic and,
over time, experience emotional exhaustion and adopt depersonaliztion as a defensive mechanism. |
| | Keywords: Emotions; Burnout; Conservation of resources |
| Experimental analysis of a Cognitive Model of the Stress Response |
| | Wofford, Jerry C. | U. of Texas, Arlington | wofford@uta.edu | (817)-272-3412 |
| | Goodwin, Vicki L. | U. of North Texas | goodwin@unt.edu | 940-565-4766 |
| | This research examined a model of the stress response that
includes stress propensity, cognitive-affective processing, affective
reaction, subjective stress, and strain constructs. Using Partial
Least Squares (PLS) analysis, this model was found to provide a good
fit with the data. Moderated multiple regression analyses found support
for the hypothesized moderating effects of individual stress propensity
on the relationships of stressors with cognitive-affective processing.
Support was not found for the moderating effects of stress propensity on
the relationships of affective reactions with either subjective stress or
strain. The research and practical implications of these findings are
discussed.
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| | Keywords: stress; cognitive processes; stress propensity |
| Pulled Apart: Role Stress in Informal Intraorganizational Networks |
| | Vodosek, Markus | U. of Michigan | markvodo@umich.edu | (734) 763-8702 |
| | Role stress is one of the main work stressors that researchers have identified (Jackson & Schuler, 1985).
Previous stress research has focused on people in formal organizational roles, such as managers and
salespeople, but ignored the possibility that people might also be embedded in informal relationship
networks within an organization that cause them role stress. In this paper I draw on role theory, identity
theory, and social network theory to test the notion that informal relationships, such as friendship
relationships, within an organization expose some individuals to higher levels of role stress than others.
Using data gathered from a construction company in the midwestern United States I test the hypotheses
that the following individuals experience more role stress than others : (1) people who frequently provide
the link between other people who are not themselves friends in an organization, (2) people with multiple
group memberships within an organization, and (3) individuals with many multiplex relationships. The
findings largely support hypothesis 1 and provide partial support for hypotheses 2 and 3. The findings of
this study paint a complex picture of the association between informal intraorganizational relationships
and role stress and show that informal relationships are not only a source of social support, as most of
the stress literature argues, but also add to the stress people experience at work.
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| | Keywords: Stress; Social networks |
| An Empirical Examination of a Stress-Based Framework of Survivor Responses to Downsizing |
| | Spreitzer, Gretchen M. | U. of Southern California | gspreitzer@sba.usc.edu | 213-740-9419 |
| | Mishra, Aneil K. | Wake Forest U. | aneil.mishra@mba.wfu.edu | (336) 758-3688 |
| | Abstract. This paper provides the first empirical examination of Mishra and Spreitzer's (1998) stress-based framework of survivors' responses to downsizing.
First, we briefly describe our archetypes of survivor responses to downsizing through two underlying dimensions
(constructive/destructive and active/passive). Then, we offer several hypotheses regarding the key factors that predict the four
survivor archetypes. Drawing on Lazarus's theory of stress, we posit that how survivors appraise the downsizing will shape their
responses to it. Trust and justice are posited to influence primary appraisal and facilitate more constructive responses because
they reduce the extent to which an organizational downsizing is evaluated as a threat. Empowerment and work redesign are posited
to influence secondary appraisal and facilitate more active responses because they enhance survivors' assessments of their
capacity to cope with the threat. We then empirically test the hypotheses on sample of aerospace employees whose organization
had just recently experienced a downsizing. General support is found for the theoretical framework. |
| | Keywords: downsizing; stress; survivors |