Antecedents of Psychological Contract Breach: The Role of Job Demands, Job Resources, and Affect.

While it has been shown that psychological contract breach leads to detrimental outcomes, relatively little is known about factors leading to perceptions of breach. We examine if job demands and resources predict breach perceptions. We argue that perceiving high demands elicits negative affect, while perceiving high resources stimulates positive affect. Positive and negative affect, in turn, influence the likelihood that psychological contract breaches are perceived. We conducted two experience sampling studies to test our hypotheses: the first using daily surveys in a sample of volunteers, the second using weekly surveys in samples of volunteers and paid employees. Our results confirm that job demands and resources are associated with negative and positive affect respectively. Mediation analyses revealed that people who experienced high job resources were less likely to report psychological contract breach, because they experienced high levels of positive affect. The mediating role of negative affect was more complex, as it increased the likelihood to perceive psychological contract breach, but only in the short-term.

Explaining Entrepreneurial Status and Success from Personality: An Individual-Level Application of the Entrepreneurial Orientation Framework.

Entrepreneurial orientation is defined as an organization's strategy, describing its innovativeness, proactivity, risk taking, autonomy and competitiveness. We argue that this concept can be translated to the individual level as a constellation of five personality traits that characterize entrepreneurs. We examine the usefulness of these five traits in explaining entrepreneurial status and success. Our results show that entrepreneurs score higher than non-entrepreneurs on innovativeness, proactivity, and risk taking. In addition, latent growth curve modeling revealed that the individual EO traits were related to objective venture performance, albeit only after introducing venture life cycle as a moderator. In line with a differentiation perspective, risk taking, innovativeness, need for achievement, and need for autonomy were positively related to revenue and number of employees when venture life cycle was high. In line with a situation strength perspective, need for autonomy was positively related with growth in number of employees when venture life cycle was low. We conclude that individual entrepreneurial orientation offers a useful framework to understanding entrepreneurship once situational factors, such as venture life cycle, are taken into consideration.

Voluntary work and the relationship with unemployment, health, and well-being: a two-year follow-up study contrasting a materialistic and psychosocial pathway perspective.

In the present study we contrast materialistic (i.e., income and economic inequality) and psychosocial (i.e., social circumstances) pathway perspectives on whether volunteering while being unemployed mitigates the well-documented negative effects of unemployment on health, health behaviors, and well-being. We test our hypotheses using data from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Study of Health (SLOSH; n = 717). This is a nationally representative, longitudinal, cohort survey. We compared groups of individuals who were (a) unemployed and volunteering during both SLOSH waves (n = 58), (b) unemployed and not volunteering during both SLOSH waves (n = 194), (c) employed and volunteering during both SLOSH waves (n = 139), and (d) employed and not volunteering during both SLOSH waves (n = 326). Conducting a path analysis in Mplus, we examined the interaction effects between labor market status (i.e., employed or unemployed) and voluntary work (i.e., volunteering or not) when predicting changes in health, health behaviors, and psychological well-being. Our results indicate that volunteering during unemployment significantly decreased the likelihood to smoke, the amount of cigarettes smoked, the likelihood of consuming alcohol, and the likelihood of being diagnosed with hypertension. These results support a psychosocial pathway perspective. For all other indicators no such buffering interaction effect was obtained, thereby supporting a materialistic pathway perspective. Nevertheless, for some indicators, volunteering was found to be beneficial for both the unemployed and employed. Consequently, integrating both perspectives might offer a better explanation for the onset of ill-health and ill-being.

Revisiting the impact of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on nurse turnover intention: an individual differences analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nurse turnover is an important contributing factor to the worldwide nursing shortage. Many studies have examined the antecedents of nurse turnover to gain a better understanding of the problem and help hospitals reduce their turnover rates. However, an important shortcoming of this research stream is its exclusive focus on explaining turnover behavior of the "average nurse", thereby disregarding individual differences between nurses and groups of nurses. OBJECTIVES: To examine individual differences in the relationships between two crucial turnover antecedents - job satisfaction and organizational commitment - and nurse turnover intention. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 287 nurses working for a variety of Belgian hospitals participated in the study. METHODS: A survey method was used to collect quantitative data, which were analyzed through standard multiple linear regression, mixture regression models and t-tests. RESULTS: In the total sample of hospital nurses, both job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly predicted nurse turnover intention. However, subsequent individual differences analyses revealed the existence of two subgroups of nurses. In the satisfaction focused group, only job satisfaction was found to predict nurse turnover intention, whereas in the satisfaction and commitment focused group both job satisfaction and organizational commitment were related to turnover intention. Furthermore, nurses in the latter group displayed stronger turnover intention, were significantly younger and had less job tenure and organizational tenure than nurses in the satisfaction focused group. CONCLUSIONS: The debate on the antecedents of nurse turnover still continues, as the existing models fail to fully grasp nurse turnover. The present study identifies individual differences in nurse turnover antecedents among groups of nurses as a possible reason for the absence of one comprehensive turnover model that holds for the general nursing population. Further studies are needed in order to capture the total impact of the underlying individual differences in nurse turnover antecedents.

The Psychological Reward Satisfaction Scale: developing and psychometric testing two refined subscales for nurses.

AIM: This paper is a report of the development and psychometric testing of two refined subscales of the Psychological Reward Satisfaction Scale. BACKGROUND: Besides financial and material rewards, nurses also value psychological rewards: supportive and positively evaluated outcomes of the relationship an employee develops with the supervisor. Satisfaction with these rewards influences employees' attitudes. Recently, the Psychological Reward Satisfaction Scale was developed to measure an employee's satisfaction with psychological rewards. However, this instrument needs refinement before it can be used with a nursing sample. METHOD: We conducted a pilot study to test the reliability of the refined subscales. Forty nurses completed an online survey twice, with a time interval of 2 weeks. Afterwards, we gathered survey data with a larger sample of 337 nurses to examine the two subscales and their influence on turnover intention and the turnover antecedents job satisfaction and organizational commitment (measured by validated scales) in more detail. Data collection took place in Belgium in 2006. RESULTS: The two refined subscales each contained four items. A series of hierarchical regression analyses suggested that satisfaction with psychological rewards from the head nurse has a statistically significant influence on nurses' turnover intention, job satisfaction and affective commitment, whereas pay satisfaction has not. Satisfaction with psychological rewards from the physicians only explained nurses' affective commitment. CONCLUSION: When trying to motivate nurses through rewarding them, hospital managers should not only concentrate on financial rewards, but also pay attention to psychological rewards.

Measuring community nurses' job satisfaction: literature review.

AIM: This paper is a report of a review of the literature on community nurses' job satisfaction, including research using different scales and settings, what is known to date and directions for future research. BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction is one of the strongest predictors of intent to stay and retention of nurses. An adequate understanding of the sources of job satisfaction and their importance can aid policymakers in the community nursing setting to cope with the growing demand for its services. DATA SOURCES: A database of papers was established using ISI Web of Knowledge. Cited references were used to expand the database. Journals adding to the database were scanned for related research. This technique was repeated until no additional papers could be found. FINDINGS: Twelve job satisfaction scales were found, with striking differences in methodology, settings and sample characteristics of the studies concerned. A wide variety of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction sources is identified, but little is known on their relative importance. The Measure of Job Satisfaction and the Home Healthcare Nurses' Job Satisfaction Scale prove highly reliable and applicable. CONCLUSION: Findings on the level and sources of community nurses' job satisfaction are ambiguous. Of all the scales reviewed, the Home Healthcare Nurses' Job Satisfaction Scale seems most promising for use in future research, based on its strong psychometric properties and its specificity for the community nursing setting.

Freshmen in nursing: job motives and work values of a new generation.

AIM: To identify the features young nurses look for in their job (job motives) and the features they look for in work in general (work values). BACKGROUND: In view of the shortage of appropriately educated and motivated nurses, a study of the motivational profile of the new generation nurses may provide additional insights. METHOD: In a survey, 344 newly graduate Belgian nurses were questioned. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that many of the traditional attractions are still important, with the recurrent issue of altruism. Furthermore, men are found to be more attracted by career opportunities, executive powers and autonomy, while women tend to attach more importance to interpersonal characteristics. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: When considering the new generation nurses, budget cuts and restructuring must be handled with prudence, due to the risk of crowding out the altruistic and interpersonal work features, which determine the specificity of the nursing job.

Identifying nurses' rewards: a qualitative categorization study in Belgium.

BACKGROUND: Rewards are important in attracting, motivating and retaining the most qualified employees, and nurses are no exception to this rule. This makes the establishment of an efficient reward system for nurses a true challenge for every hospital manager. A reward does not necessarily have a financial connotation: non-financial rewards may matter too, or may even be more important. Therefore, the present study examines nurses' reward perceptions, in order to identify potential reward options. METHODS: To answer the research question "What do nurses consider a reward and how can these rewards be categorized?", 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with nurses were conducted and analysed using discourse and content analyses. In addition, the respondents received a list of 34 rewards (derived from the literature) and were asked to indicate the extent to which they perceived each of them to be rewarding. RESULTS: Discourse analysis revealed three major reward categories: financial, non-financial and psychological, each containing different subcategories. In general, nurses more often mentioned financial rewards spontaneously in the interview, compared to non-financial and psychological rewards. The questionnaire results did not, however, indicate a significant difference in the rewarding potential of these three categories. Both the qualitative and quantitative data revealed that a number of psychological and non-financial rewards were important for nurses in addition to their monthly pay and other remunerations. In particular, appreciation for their work by others, compliments from others, presents from others and contact with patients were highly valued. Moreover, some demographical variables influenced the reward perceptions. Younger and less experienced nurses considered promotion possibilities as more rewarding than the older and more senior ones. The latter valued job security and working for a hospital with a good reputation higher than their younger and more junior colleagues. CONCLUSION: When trying to establish an efficient reward system for nurses, hospital managers should not concentrate on the financial reward possibilities alone. They also ought to consider non-financial and psychological rewards (in combination with financial rewards), since nurses value these as well and they may lead to a more personalized reward system.