What hurts today may pay off tomorrow: An integrative perspective on the well-being consequences of proactive behavior at work

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Doris Fay
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 322177665

Research on proactive work behavior has been thriving. Proactive behavior involves initiating action in order to bring about positive change (Frese & Fay, 2001; Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010). Several theoretical frameworks and a large body of research give insights into the antecedents of proactive behavior. With regard to the outcomes of proactive behavior, extant research has focused primarily on performance related outcomes. The effect on the well-being of individuals' engaging in proactive behavior has so far received little attention. The few existing studies on the effect of proactive behavior on well-being suggest a complex relationship, because two contradictory findings need to be integrated. On the one hand, proactive behavior and related constructs have a high level of stability over time (Frese, Garst, & Fay, 2007; Li, Fay, Frese, Harms, & Gao, 2014). On the other hand, our own recent research suggests that proactive behavior has costs for individuals' well-being. Proactive behavior results in elevated levels of daily cortisol output and daily fatigue (Fay & Hüttges, 2015), and is, under specific working conditions, associated with increases in job strain over longer periods of time (Strauss, Parker, & O'Shea, 2016). Together, these findings point to a contradiction that has to be resolved. If proactive behavior has costs for individuals' well-being, why do individuals maintain their proactive behavior? To resolve this contradiction, we propose a model that does not only focus on proactive behavior's effects on hedonic well-being, but that also incorporates eudaimonic well-being. Work psychology has only recently begun to acknowledge the relevance of eudaimonic well-being (Sonnentag, 2015). Our model proposes that while proactive behaviors may have costs in terms of hedonic well-being, there are simultaneous and longer term benefits for eudaimonic well-being. Eudaimonic well-being may compensate for the negative effects on hedonic well-being. The model spells out differential mediating pathways that help to unlock the black box between proactive behavior and well-being. Furthermore, research on proactive behavior has so far barely taken the national culture as the context in which proactive behavior emerges into account. Culture and its associated values, expectations, and behavioral norms are likely to affect the proactivity - well-being relationship. Because of its change oriented nature, proactive behavior is likely to be particularly taxing in countries with elevated levels of uncertainty avoidance. A comparison between France and Germany lends itself to a cultural comparison, because France and Germany differ substantially in their level of uncertainty avoidance (Chhokar, et al., 2007). The present proposal includes three studies. They are designed to test for short-, mid- and long-term effects of proactivity on well-being, taking the proposed mediating variables into account. All studies include a cross-cultural comparison.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Sabine Sonnentag; Professorin Karoline Strauss, Ph.D.
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Tina Urbach