Trait Activation in Commitment to Difficult Goals: The Role of Achievement Striving and Situational Cues

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eda Aksoy ◽  
Mahmut Bayazit
Keyword(s):  
Situational Cues ◽  
Trait Activation

How Situational Cues and Mindset Dynamics Shape Personality Effects on Career Outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 2101-2131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Heslin ◽  
Lauren A. Keating ◽  
Amirali Minbashian
Keyword(s):  
Career Success ◽  
Career Outcomes ◽  
Situational Cues ◽  
Activation Theory ◽  
Trait Activation ◽  
Trait Activation Theory ◽  
Person Account ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Personality System

The substantial literature on dispositional antecedents of career success (e.g., extraversion and conscientiousness) implies that being low in career-facilitating traits may hamper people’s careers. We develop a cognitive-affective personality system theory about the role of situational cues, personality, and mindsets regarding the plasticity of one’s attributes in determining when this will occur and how the related dysfunctional dynamics may be mitigated. We draw on trait activation theory to describe how the interaction of situational cues, personality, and mindsets may trigger an array of cognitive-affective units within a cognitive-affective personality system that influence subjective and objective career outcomes. The contributions of this article are to offer the largely between-person careers literature a within-person account of when and why people experience subjective and objective career success as a function of their personalities, situational cues, prevailing mindsets, and career contexts. A theoretical account of how personality predicts subjective career outcomes more strongly than objective career outcomes is thereby provided. Our intent is to also extend trait activation theory by considering the cognitive and affective dynamics whereby personality traits and situational cues have their effects. The conditions under which mindsets are likely to shape career outcomes are outlined. Finally, implications for mindsets, personality, and career theory, research, and practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Cues to overeat: psychological factors influencing overconsumption

2007 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion M. Hetherington
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Weight Regulation ◽  
Obesogenic Environment ◽  
Situational Cues ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Variety Effect

Human food intake is driven by necessity, but modern industrialized societies are characterized by food surfeit and an increasingly ‘obesogenic’ environment. This environment tends to discourage energy expenditure and to facilitate energy intake. The amount eaten in any given eating episode depends less on internal need state and more on environmental contextual factors such as the availability of highly-palatable energy-dense foods. In addition, the process of satiation can easily be disrupted by the introduction within a meal of different foods (variety effect), the presence of others (social context) and competing tasks (distraction). Properties of ingestants such as alcohol promote food intake and characteristics of individuals make them more or less susceptible to situational cues to overeat. In the present review the role of each of these environmental factors in promoting overconsumption are considered and the extent to which these factors might contribute to long-term weight regulation is discussed.

Trait Activation Theory: A Review of the Literature and Applications to Five Lines of Personality Dynamics Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-233
Author(s):  
Robert P. Tett ◽  
Margaret J. Toich ◽  
S. Burak Ozkum
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Work Behavior ◽  
Situational Cues ◽  
Situational Specificity ◽  
Activation Theory ◽  
Trait Activation ◽  
Trait Activation Theory ◽  
Key Aspects

Extending interactionist principles and targeting situational specificity of trait–performance linkages, trait activation theory (TAT) posits personality traits are expressed as valued work behavior in response to trait-relevant situational cues, subject to constraints and other factors, all operating at the task, social, and organizational levels. Review of 99 key sources citing TAT spanning 2011–2019 reveals diverse applications (e.g., bidirectionality, trait specificity, team building) and an overall 60% significance rate for 262 TAT-based moderator effects reported in 60 of 75 empirical studies. Applying five key aspects of TAT (e.g., behavior/performance distinction, need-based motivation) to five lines of personality dynamics research (e.g., personality states, self-regulation models of motivation) supports TAT as a vehicle for advancing understanding of within-person variability over brief and extended timelines. Critical research needs include personality-oriented work analysis, longitudinal study of trait-situation processes, trait activation in teams, within-job bidirectionality, and situation relevance as a unifying principle in advancing person–workplace fit.

scholarly journals When Do Frontline Hospitality Employees Take Charge? Prosocial Motivation, Taking Charge, and Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Job Autonomy

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenyao Cai ◽  
Yuanyuan Huo ◽  
Junbang Lan ◽  
Ziguang Chen ◽  
Wing Lam
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Job Autonomy ◽  
Prosocial Motivation ◽  
Activation Theory ◽  
Trait Activation ◽  
Taking Charge ◽  
Two Stages

This study draws on trait activation theory to examine the effects of frontline hospitality employees’ prosocial motivation on their taking charge and job performance and how job autonomy moderates these effects. We collected data in two stages from 185 pairs of frontline hospitality employees and their direct supervisors, and we found a positive relationship between employees’ prosocial motivation and their taking charge. In addition, job autonomy strengthened this positive relationship, and taking charge mediated the interactive effect of prosocial motivation and job autonomy on job performance. These results suggest that when frontline hospitality employees perceive their level of job autonomy to be high enough to activate their expression of prosocial motivation, they will be more likely to engage in taking charge, which should lead to a higher evaluation of their job performance. Theoretical and practical implications for hospitality industry were discussed at the end of the article.

A multi-study approach to examine the interplay of proactive personality and political skill in job crafting

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Jestine Philip
Keyword(s):  
Work Engagement ◽  
Political Skill ◽  
Proactive Personality ◽  
Job Crafting ◽  
Perceived Supervisor Support ◽  
Situational Cues ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Contextual Condition ◽  
Trait Activation ◽  
Survey Responses

Abstract The current research examines the combined role of proactive personality and political skill in job crafting and work engagement by integrating the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and trait activation theory. Self-reported survey responses collected from three samples – university students (study 1, N = 363) and panel data (study 2, N = 300 and study 3, N = 206) – were analyzed using the PROCESS macro. Results revealed that political skill strengthened the relationship between proactive personality and work engagement and between proactive personality and job crafting when trait activated. Furthermore, perceived supervisor support did not interact with the job crafting–work engagement relationship with trait activation, suggesting that proactive individuals rely on self-resources to improve engagement when presented with trait-relevant situational cues. The findings extend JD-R theory to offer the interplay of proactive trait and political skill in facilitating overall job crating. JD-R is identified as a contextual condition for trait activation.

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