Subjects: Psychology >> Management Psychology submitted time 2021-10-13
Abstract： Occupational stigma reflects a society’s disapproval of, and discrimination against, an individual or group based on their occupation. Workers in stigmatized occupations, such as sewer workers, garbage collectors, street cleaners, and slaughterhouse workers, can internalize this occupational stigma, which can lower their self-esteem and motivate them to conceal their occupations or even leave their jobs to seek a higher status position. Many studies have explored the effects of occupational stigma on employees’ job attitudes and performance and some demonstrate that workers who feel stigmatized by their work devalue it and themselves, and this motivates them to not fully engage in their work, and considering other work options. However, extant studies focus primarily on the effect of occupational stigma mediated by occupational identity, and overlook the fact that occupational stigma also can influence employees’ perception of their family’s identity. Based on identity boundary theory, this study examines whether occupational stigma spills over to workers’ family identity and whether this results in negative job outcomes. That is, employees perceive their families as being stigmatized because of their “dirty” occupations, which is referred to as implicated family stigma. Moreover, this study explores whether this mediating effect of implicated family stigma is moderated by the employee’s level of family involvement. In such a way, occupational stigma is perceived as a threat to the family identity of workers who do “dirty work”. In other words, ‘dirty workers’ perceive their occupational stigma as implicating their families as well. Moreover, this study finds that individuals who are highly involved in their family’s life are more likely to leave their jobs because of implicated family stigma. We surveyed 390 employees across various jobs in China to test these predictions; 384 participants completed the entire three-wave survey, and the resulting data were analyzed. Results show that family involvement moderates both the relationship between occupational stigma and implicated family stigma, and the relationship between implicated family stigma and employees’ intent to leave a job, such that these two relationships are stronger when individuals’ family involvement is high rather than low. Furthermore, this mediating effect is more salient for individuals with a high-level of family involvement compared to those with a low-level. Our findings extend the research on occupational stigma by introducing a mechanism that influences employees’ intent to leave their job due to their family’s implicated stigma rather than on their negative personal occupational identity. Additionally, this study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that occupational stigma may crucially influence employees’ families in addition to negatively affecting the workers. Moreover, this is a pioneering explorative study that tests the identity boundary theory and offers practical suggestions on managerial strategies to address occupational stigma, including methods to maintain workers facing occupational stigma. "
Subjects: Psychology >> Management Psychology submitted time 2019-10-11
Abstract： Previous studies have mainly considered voice as a behavior with constructive intention for the organization. However, such studies have failed to recognize that voice can be an important means for individuals to achieve their own instrumental goals. Among the few studies that have examined the instrumentality of voice behavior, little attention has been paid to distinguishing between the types of voice behavior motivated by instrumental goals, leading to an incomplete understanding of the instrumental side of the behavior. Hence, this study attempts to broaden our understanding of different voice behaviors as a means of satisfying different instrumental goals in pressure situations. Specifically, based on conservation of resources theory, we suggest that high work pressure indicates threats, increasing individuals’ motivation to conserve resources and thus leading to more defensive voice. In contrast, when work pressure is low, the environment is likely to be perceived as benign, motivating the expression of constructive voice. Importantly, we highlight the role of leader openness as an important boundary condition. Leader openness signals that voice behavior is encouraged and valued, leading to positive expectations for employees to maintain or acquire resources through such behavior, which further motivates that behavior. In contrast, when leaders turn a blind eye to their employees’ voice, employees perceive that their suggestion behavior cannot help them achieve their instrumental goals, and they thus stay silent about work-related issues. Taken together, we suggest that work pressure leads to more defensive voice and less constructive voice, especially when leader openness is high. To test our conceptual model, we conducted a one-month time-lagged study among 386 employees from 50 teams at a construction site. We found that although employees’ perceptions of work stress significantly decreased constructive voice, they also increased defensive voice. Ego depletion mediated the effects of work stress on these two types of voice behavior. Moreover, the results showed that group-level leader openness significantly reinforced the negative relationship between work stress and constructive voice, as well as the negative indirect effect of work pressure on constructive voice through ego depletion. However, the moderating effect of leader openness was not observed when testing the direct and indirect effects of work pressure on defensive voice. This study makes three main contributions to the literature. First, responding to researchers’ recommendations in recent years, the study investigated the mechanisms of different types of voice behaviors. Second, the study drew on conservation of resources theory to explain the effects of work stress on voice behavior, enhancing our understanding of why people engage in certain types of voice behavior in response to work stress. Finally, the study highlights leader openness as an important boundary condition, clarifying when work stress is more likely or less likely to lead to different voice behaviors.
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