Publication Date

Spring 2021

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Katrina A. Burch (Director), Elizabeth L. Shoenfelt, and Reagan D. Brown

Degree Program

Department of Psychological Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The present study sought to understand why some employees may be more or less able to adapt to the changing work environment. Adaptive performance can help employees to be resilient to technological advances, economic factors, and/or cultural shifts, making it an important form of extra-role performance. According to conservation of resources (COR) theory, one reason employees may fail to adapt is because they lack resources that are required in order to be adaptive. I proposed that the resources needed for adaptive performance aggregate in a resource caravan. Job embeddedness is a proposed resource caravan that may facilitate more adaptive performance of employees. One resource that may be associated with adaptive performance through job embeddedness is psychological capital. On the other hand, job demands (i.e., family-towork conflict, job stress) can theoretically deplete or diminish resource caravans, thus impacting adaptive performance. I tested the direct and indirect effects of the aforementioned resources and demands on adaptive performance in a sample of 284 individuals using ordinary least squares regression and path analysis. Results indicated full mediation of job embeddedness between job stress and adaptive performance, and a partial mediation between the relationship between PsyCap, family-to-work conflict and adaptive performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed, as well as future research directions.

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Social Psychology | Training and Development

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