Regulatory focus and work-related outcomes: A review and meta-analysis.
verifiedrich profile · Psychological Bulletin · 2012
Lanaj, Klodiana; Chang, Chu-Hsiang “Daisy”; Johnson, Russell E.
How this was studied
A meta-analytic synthesis — it pools many primary studies rather than running a single design, so there is no single-study diagram.
What this article reports
The findings we extracted from this work, normalized into Principia’s relationship form (X → Y). Each feeds the synthesized models below.
regulatory focus → organizational citizenship behavior ocb
regulatory focus → job satisfaction
regulatory focus → task performance
regulatory focus → counterproductive work behaviours
Models this article informs
The meta-analytic priors this article contributes evidence to — its place in the broader synthesis.
regulatory focus predicts counterproductive work behaviours
regulatory focus predicts job satisfaction
regulatory focus predicts organizational citizenship behavior ocb
regulatory focus predicts task performance
In the authors’ words
The article’s own abstract.
Regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) has received growing attention in organizational psychology, necessitating a quantitative review that synthesizes its effects on important criteria. In addition, there is need for theoretical integration of regulatory focus theory with personality research. Theoretical integration is particularly relevant, since personality traits and dispositions are distal factors that are unlikely to have direct effects on work behaviors, yet they may have indirect effects via regulatory focus. The current meta-analysis introduces an integrative framework in which the effects of personality on work behaviors are best understood when considered in conjunction with more proximal motivational processes such as regulatory focus. Using a distal-proximal approach, we identify personality antecedents and work-related consequences of regulatory foci in a framework that considers both general and work-specific regulatory foci as proximal motivational processes. We present meta-analytic results for relations of regulatory focus with its antecedents (approach and avoid temperaments, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy) and its consequences (work behaviors and attitudes). In addition to estimates of bivariate relationships, we support a meta-analytic path model in which distal personality traits relate to work behaviors via the mediating effects of general and work-specific regulatory focus. Results from tests of incremental and relative validity indicated that regulatory foci predict unique variance in work behaviors after controlling for established personality, motivation, and attitudinal predictors. Consistent with regulatory focus theory and our integrative theoretical framework, regulatory focus has meaningful relations with work outcomes and is not redundant with other individual difference variables.
What the literature says about it
Attributed, open-access quotes from other works that cite this article, plus the citation-graph verdict tally. Corroborations and disputes, in one place — the honest-broker view.
supports “Regulatory focus has been used in meta-analysis as a mediator linking personality factors to important work outcomes (e.g. task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, innovation, counterproductive behavior) (Lanaj et al., 2012).”
supports “Regulatory focus has been used in meta-analysis as a mediator linking personality factors to important work outcomes (e.g. task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, innovation, counterproductive behavior) (Lanaj et al., 2012).”
supports “Regulatory focus has been used in meta-analysis as a mediator linking personality factors to important work outcomes (e.g. task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, innovation, counterproductive behavior) (Lanaj et al., 2012).”
supports “Moreover, regulatory focus is highly relevant to various work behaviors and attitudes, such as organizational citizenship behavior, innovative performance, task performance, and so on (Lanaj et al., 2012).”
supports “Past research has examined the influence of the different regulatory foci on work outcomes such as job performance and work attitudes (e.g., Lanaj et al., 2012).”
supports “On the other hand, regulatory focus has critically mediates the relationship between personality traits and various satisfaction indexes (see Lanaj et al. 2012).”
supports “Moreover, regulatory focus is highly relevant to various work behaviors and attitudes, such as organizational citizenship behavior, innovative performance, task performance, and so on (Lanaj et al., 2012).”
Ancillary research
Neighbouring works in the citation graph around this article.
- 10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.011
- 10.1080/02642069.2022.2094916
- 10.1037/apl0000362
- 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.03.014
- 10.1177/0894845321991648
- 10.1007/s11031-015-9490-1
Assembled from Principia’s registry — bibliographic record, extracted effect sizes, the models they inform, and open-access citing literature.