Dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion: moderating effects at the work-unit level – Turgut et al. - 2016 - Article
- How can a dispositional resistance to change cause emotional exhaustion (at work)?
- What is the person-environment fit theory?
- What is trait activation theory?
- What are perceived organizational support and informational climate as internal contextual factors?
- How is a dispositional resistance to change expected to be related to emotional exhaustion?
- How can perceived organizational support moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion?
- How can the informational team climate moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion?
- What are the main results from this study?
- How can these results be used by organizations undergoing change?
How can a dispositional resistance to change cause emotional exhaustion (at work)?
Employees who face changes at work may experience increased stress that damages their well-being. How employees react to change differs due to their individual dispositions. When individuals are change-oriented, resilient, conscientious, cognitively flexible, and emotionally intelligent, they tend to handle change better. When individuals are dispositionally resistant to change, they will respond more negatively.
What is the person-environment fit theory?
According to this theory, when individual characteristics fail to fit with environmental or organizational demands, individuals will experience higher levels of strain and stress. Individuals who are dispositionally resistant to change may experience a more pronounced misfit to demands of their organization during times of change, which may cause increased stress reactions and emotional exhaustion. The success of organizational change is highly dependent on the support and well-being of the employees.
What is trait activation theory?
According to this theory, individuals express certain personality traits as a function of trait-relevant situational cues. It states that people are likely to act according to a latent personality trait when a current situation provides or lacks certain characteristics. The predictive value of a trait is specific to the surrounding circumstances, which are trait-relevant whenever an individual´s responses (or lack thereof) indicate their individual level of the respective trait. Looking at the work environment, it is possible that the activation of an employee´s dispositional resistance to change may vary according to the situational cues that are provided by relevant internal contextual factors.
What are perceived organizational support and informational climate as internal contextual factors?
Perceived organizational support and informational climate are the two internal contextual factors (e.g. trait-relevant situational cues) that are being measured in this study as they are important in the change context. Perceived organizational support refers to the general belief that the organization values their employees´ contribution and cares about their well-being. It is likely that the level of organizational support is a cue that triggers employees´ dispositional resistance to change. Informational team climate refers to the perceived exchange of information within the team. A higher informational team climate may activate employees´ dispositional resistance to change as they share stressful thoughts.
How is a dispositional resistance to change expected to be related to emotional exhaustion?
A dispositional resistance to change reflects an individual's tendency to resist or avoid making changes, to devalue change generally, and to find change aversive across diverse contexts and types of change. In this study two dimensions of a dispositional resistance to change are examined, namely routine seeking and emotional reaction. Routine seeking involves the extent to which one enjoys and seeks out stable and routine environments. Emotional reaction reflects the extent to which individuals feel stressed and uncomfortable in response to imposed change. Many changes can take place in the work environment and these can cause stress, strain, and emotional exhaustion ( the feeling of being over-extended and depleted of one's emotional resources). Especially a misfit between individual characteristics and the environment can cause stress and negatively affect the employee´s health and well-being.
How can perceived organizational support moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion?
Perceived organizational support refers to the employees subjective perception that the organization cares about their well-being. Perceived organizational support is positively related to performance, work engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. It is also negatively related with strain, withdrawal behaviors, and turnover intentions. Perceived organizational support has been found related to a positive evaluation of change and may be a boundary condition that can influence employees´ reactions to change. If the work unit shares a common understanding that the organization cares about them and their well-being, it may reduce apprehensions regarding the changes. Resistance to change as a trait may then be deactivated and may decrease emotional exhaustion.
How can the informational team climate moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion?
The team climate refers to the shared objectives or vision, group participation and safety, team support for innovation, and the group´s task orientation. In this study they look at the informational team climate, which describes open and comprehensive information sharing. As colleagues share their perceptions of the changes and discuss their experienced strain, the change situation may become more salient. In this way, the informational team climate may activate a dispositional resistance to change, enhancing the perceived misfit, and cause more emotional exhaustion.
What are the main results from this study?
- There is a significant correlation of change impact and emotional exhaustion.
- The correlation of emotional exhaustion and position indicates that employees experience higher levels of emotional exhaustion than supervisors.
- Both perceived organizational support and informational team climate significantly moderate the positive relationship between dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion.
- Perceptions of low organizational support strengthen the positive relationship between dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. In this case, the lack of certain situational clues (organizational support) increased trait activation.
- Informational team climate enhanced the positive effect of dispositional resistance to change on emotional exhaustion. Open and frequent interactions between colleagues provide relevant situational clues that activate the trait of dispositional resistance to change. Exchanging stressful thoughts and experiences reinforces stress.
- Employees without managerial responsibilities were more emotionally exhausted than supervisors. This may be because supervisors are more involved active participants who are aware of the change processes, whereas non-managerial employees are less informed and less involved and the changes may have a larger impact on their stress reactions.
How can these results be used by organizations undergoing change?
To avoid negative effects of organizational change on employees´ stress levels and their well-being, occupational health management should join personal and organizational development. They should develop integrated strategies to create healthy work environments in times of change. Trainers and coaches could provide support and identify and target employees that are high in dispositional resistance to change. They could offer support opportunities, enhance resources, and help employees adapt to changing job demands. With regards to perceived organizational support, organizations should examine if they are offering relevant help in times of change. For example, they could organize team-building interventions for work units, conduct surveys, or have group discussions.
Join with a free account for more service, or become a member for full access to exclusives and extra support of WorldSupporter >>
Contributions: posts
Spotlight: topics
Online access to all summaries, study notes en practice exams
- Check out: Register with JoHo WorldSupporter: starting page (EN)
- Check out: Aanmelden bij JoHo WorldSupporter - startpagina (NL)
How and why use WorldSupporter.org for your summaries and study assistance?
- For free use of many of the summaries and study aids provided or collected by your fellow students.
- For free use of many of the lecture and study group notes, exam questions and practice questions.
- For use of all exclusive summaries and study assistance for those who are member with JoHo WorldSupporter with online access
- For compiling your own materials and contributions with relevant study help
- For sharing and finding relevant and interesting summaries, documents, notes, blogs, tips, videos, discussions, activities, recipes, side jobs and more.
Using and finding summaries, notes and practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter
There are several ways to navigate the large amount of summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter.
- Use the summaries home pages for your study or field of study
- Use the check and search pages for summaries and study aids by field of study, subject or faculty
- Use and follow your (study) organization
- by using your own student organization as a starting point, and continuing to follow it, easily discover which study materials are relevant to you
- this option is only available through partner organizations
- Check or follow authors or other WorldSupporters
- Use the menu above each page to go to the main theme pages for summaries
- Theme pages can be found for international studies as well as Dutch studies
Do you want to share your summaries with JoHo WorldSupporter and its visitors?
- Check out: Why and how to add a WorldSupporter contributions
- JoHo members: JoHo WorldSupporter members can share content directly and have access to all content: Join JoHo and become a JoHo member
- Non-members: When you are not a member you do not have full access, but if you want to share your own content with others you can fill out the contact form
Quicklinks to fields of study for summaries and study assistance
Main summaries home pages:
- Business organization and economics - Communication and marketing -International relations and international organizations - IT, logistics and technology - Law and administration - Leisure, sports and tourism - Medicine and healthcare - Pedagogy and educational science - Psychology and behavioral sciences - Society, culture and arts - Statistics and research
- Summaries: the best textbooks summarized per field of study
- Summaries: the best scientific articles summarized per field of study
- Summaries: the best definitions, descriptions and lists of terms per field of study
- Exams: home page for exams, exam tips and study tips
Main study fields:
Business organization and economics, Communication & Marketing, Education & Pedagogic Sciences, International Relations and Politics, IT and Technology, Law & Administration, Medicine & Health Care, Nature & Environmental Sciences, Psychology and behavioral sciences, Science and academic Research, Society & Culture, Tourisme & Sports
Main study fields NL:
- Studies: Bedrijfskunde en economie, communicatie en marketing, geneeskunde en gezondheidszorg, internationale studies en betrekkingen, IT, Logistiek en technologie, maatschappij, cultuur en sociale studies, pedagogiek en onderwijskunde, rechten en bestuurskunde, statistiek, onderzoeksmethoden en SPSS
- Studie instellingen: Maatschappij: ISW in Utrecht - Pedagogiek: Groningen, Leiden , Utrecht - Psychologie: Amsterdam, Leiden, Nijmegen, Twente, Utrecht - Recht: Arresten en jurisprudentie, Groningen, Leiden
JoHo can really use your help! Check out the various student jobs here that match your studies, improve your competencies, strengthen your CV and contribute to a more tolerant world
1133 | 1 |
Add new contribution