Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2009):

Self-interest and other-orientation in organizational behavior: implications for job performance, prosocial behavior, and personal initiative.

Full Abstract

In this article, the authors develop the self-concern and other-orientation as moderators hypothesis. The authors argue that many theories on work behavior assume humans to be either self-interested or to be social in nature with strong other-orientation but that this assumption is empirically invalid and may lead to overly narrow models of work behavior. The authors instead propose that self-concern and other-orientation are independent. The authors also propose that job performance, prosocial behavior, and personal initiative are a function of (a) individual-level attributes, such as job characteristics when employees are high in self-concern, and (b) group-level attributes, such as justice climate when employees are high in other-orientation. Three studies involving 4 samples of employees from a variety of organizations support these propositions. Implications are discussed for theory on work behavior and interventions geared toward job enrichment and team-based working.

Author information

Author/s: De Dreu, Carsten K W (CK); Nauta, Aukje (A);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. c.k.w.dedreu(-atsign-)uva.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of applied psychology (J Appl Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 94 (issue 4) : pp 913-26

Dates: Created 2009/07/14; Completed 2009/08/14;

PMID: 19594234, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/21/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Aspirations (Psychology) Cooperative Behavior Employee Performance Appraisal Female Humans Individuation Interpersonal Relations Job Satisfaction

Male Middle Aged Motivation Organizational Culture Self Concept Social Behavior Social Identification Social Justice - psychology Social Responsibility

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• The psychology of casualization: evidence for the mediating roles of security, status and social identification. 29 Nov 2004
• Multiple professional identities: examining differences in identification across work-related targets. 27 Feb 2006
• Enhancing collective and personal self-esteem through differentiation: further exploration of Hinkle & Brown's taxonomy. 27 Feb 1999
• Being American, being Asian: the bicultural self and autobiographical memory in Asian Americans. 22 Oct 2007
• Accounting for subordinate perceptions of supervisor power: an identity-dependence model. 30 Oct 2005
• Influence of prior involvement on employees' ratings. 30 Jan 2002
• Group psychotherapy treatment of borderline personalities. 29 Jun 1999
• Employee self-enhancement motives and job performance behaviors: investigating the moderating effects of employee role ambiguity and managerial perceptions of employee commitment. 29 Apr 2007
• Searching for self and relationships online. 30 May 2006
• Self-defeating behaviors in organizations: the relationship between thwarted belonging and interpersonal work behaviors. 29 Apr 2007

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.