Employee proactive goal regulation and job performance: The role modeling and interacting effects of leader proactive goal regulation

• Published in: Human relations (New York) Vol. 75; no. 2; pp. 373 - 400
• Main Authors: Wang, An-Chih, Kim, Tae-Yeol, Jiang, Yuan, Tang, Guiyao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2022; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Employees; Goal setting; Job performance; Objectives; Ownership; Positive emotions; R&D; Regulation; Research & development; Self-efficacy; activated positive affect; proactive goal regulation; job performance; psychological ownership; employee proactivity; role breadth self-efficacy
• ISSN: 0018-7267; 1741-282X
• DOI: 10.1177/0018726720984838

Given the critical role of leaders in managing employees’ goal-setting, we theorized and examined how leader proactive goal regulation facilitates employee proactive goal processes and outcomes. Based on a sample of 74 leaders and 371 employees who work in research and development groups, we found that employees’ three motivational states—role breadth self-efficacy, psychological ownership, and activated positive affect—were positively associated with job performance via employee proactive goal regulation. In addition, the effects of leader proactive goal regulation on this mediation model were twofold. First, there was a direct effect on employee proactive goal regulation, which, in turn, positively related to job performance. Second, there was a moderating effect of leader proactive goal regulation such that employees delivered high job performance when their leaders were high in proactive goal regulation, regardless of employees’ own levels of proactive goal regulation. This study highlights the importance of not only employee but also leader proactive goal regulation in connecting employees’ proactive motivational states with job performance.