The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior
Purpose: Based on the wealth of research suggesting jobs with enriched work designs (i.e., jobs with high autonomy, variety, significance, etc.) enhance work motivation and performance, this research contributes to a better understanding of factors that foster enriched work design behaviours (i.e.,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference Paper |
| Published: |
2019
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| Online Access: | http://www.eawop.org/past-congresses http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75905 |
| _version_ | 1848763580629909504 |
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| author | Hodge, Jack H Andrei, Daniela Klonek, F.E. |
| author_facet | Hodge, Jack H Andrei, Daniela Klonek, F.E. |
| author_sort | Hodge, Jack H |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: Based on the wealth of research suggesting jobs with enriched work designs (i.e., jobs with high autonomy, variety, significance, etc.) enhance work motivation and performance, this research contributes to a better understanding of factors that foster enriched work design behaviours (i.e., decisions made by stakeholders in the local context that shape the job design of others). Based on Construal Level Theory, we hypothesize that psychological distance between job designer and job incumbents is negatively related to enriching task allocation (i.e., deciding to allocate more tasks with enriched work characteristics to a job). Design/Methodology: We designed a vignette study to measure work design strategies in a sample of 207 participants recruited via Mturk. In the between-person experiment, we varied three levels of psychological distance between designer and job incumbent (no, low, and high psychological distance). We used multiple regression to test our hypothesis. Results: Preliminary results support the basic assumptions of our model; allocation of low-skill tasks is positively associated with psychological distance, and allocation of high-skill tasks is negatively associated with psychological distance. Limitations. Noted limitations of vignette studies include realism and generalizability. Research/practical implications: Our results may hold valuable insights for the practice of work design in contexts with a high degree of psychological distance (i.e., distributed teams, crowdsourcing). Originality/Value: Research on individual level antecedents to work design is rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the influence of psychological distance on work design behaviour. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:05:43Z |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-75905 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:05:43Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-759052019-07-09T23:28:34Z The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior Hodge, Jack H Andrei, Daniela Klonek, F.E. Purpose: Based on the wealth of research suggesting jobs with enriched work designs (i.e., jobs with high autonomy, variety, significance, etc.) enhance work motivation and performance, this research contributes to a better understanding of factors that foster enriched work design behaviours (i.e., decisions made by stakeholders in the local context that shape the job design of others). Based on Construal Level Theory, we hypothesize that psychological distance between job designer and job incumbents is negatively related to enriching task allocation (i.e., deciding to allocate more tasks with enriched work characteristics to a job). Design/Methodology: We designed a vignette study to measure work design strategies in a sample of 207 participants recruited via Mturk. In the between-person experiment, we varied three levels of psychological distance between designer and job incumbent (no, low, and high psychological distance). We used multiple regression to test our hypothesis. Results: Preliminary results support the basic assumptions of our model; allocation of low-skill tasks is positively associated with psychological distance, and allocation of high-skill tasks is negatively associated with psychological distance. Limitations. Noted limitations of vignette studies include realism and generalizability. Research/practical implications: Our results may hold valuable insights for the practice of work design in contexts with a high degree of psychological distance (i.e., distributed teams, crowdsourcing). Originality/Value: Research on individual level antecedents to work design is rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the influence of psychological distance on work design behaviour. 2019 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75905 http://www.eawop.org/past-congresses restricted |
| spellingShingle | Hodge, Jack H Andrei, Daniela Klonek, F.E. The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title | The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title_full | The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title_fullStr | The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title_short | The influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| title_sort | influence of psychological distance on work design behavior |
| url | http://www.eawop.org/past-congresses http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75905 |