Dual Thriving At Work:The Influence Of Supervisor Support/Supervisor Undermining And Self-Regulatory Trait

As the newest construct in organizational psychology,the “Dualistic Model of Thriving at Work(DMT)” explores the “quality” of Thriving at Work,due to the motivational differences of the internalization processes of individuals' extrinsic motivation in organizational settings.DMT consists of Active Thriving(AT)and Passive Thriving(PT).The greatest contribution of the DMT is that it reconstructs the theoretical concept of “Thriving at Work” by developing a new one.DMT also practically valuable because it theoretically explains the phemenona of two types of thriving with similar representation while different spirits.At present,scholars have demonstrated the inherent duality of thriving at work in the short-term run.On one side,AT and PT positively affected behavioral results such as job performance and affective commitment.Notably,AT leaded to more positive behavioral results than PT.On the other side,AT and PT oppositely affected individuals' emotional experience,and physical and mental health.Particularly,AT enhanced individual's positive emotional experience and improved their physical and mental health.PT aggravated individuals' negative emotional experiences and exacerbated their physical and mental health.However,the cause of AT and PT is unknown.In fact,evident benefits can be list about the exploration the antecedents of AT and PT.Theoretically,it may helpful in exploring the potential antecedents and extending the theoretical foundation of DMT.Until now,Self-determination theory is the merely theoretical foundation of DMT.Practically,it may inspire managers to identify the causes and mechanisms of AT and PT in real organizational settings.Particularly,it may inspire managers to identify the factors that facilitate AT and avoid the factors that induce PT.In this regard,the organization can be developed in a healthier and more productive way.Thus,the article constructed a theoretical model to explain the emergence of DMT by integrating the Self-regulatory theory,the Self-determination theory,and the Trait Activation theory.The model was built in two perspectives: the “leader-subordinate” relationship(supervisor support and supervisor undermining)and the resources of both self-regulatory focus and self-regulatory mode.Specifically,based on the Trait Activation theory,we explored whether supervisor support and supervisor undermining can be viewed as the “trait-relevant cues”,and thus moderate the relationship between contextual regulatory focus and AT(PT),and the relationship between contextual regulatory mode and AT(PT).The imsportance of the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation also been explored.The arrangement of the article is described as below:In Study 1(Chapter 4),based on the situational embeddedness of DMT and Selfdetermination theory,we investigated whether the “leader-subordinate” relationship,i.e.,supervisor support and supervisor undermining,can predict AT and PT differently.Meanwhile,we also explored the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation in explaining the relationships.In Study 2(Chapter 5),based on the situational embeddedness of DMT,Selfregulatory theory and Self-determination theory,we investigated whether regulatory focus and regulatory mode can differently influence AT and PT.Meanwhile,we also explored the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation in explaining the relationships.Considering the chronic and contextual characteristics of both regulatory focus and regulatory mode,we answered the above questions with considerate research designs.First,we used scenario-based laboratory experiments to explore whether contextual regulatory focus(Study 2(a))and contextual regulatory mode(Study 2(b))differently predicted AT and PT,and the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation.Secondly,we used a survey method to explore whether chronic regulatory focus and chronic regulatory mode differently affected AT and PT,and the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation.In Study 3(Chapter 6),based on the Trait Activation theory,we investigated when and why contextual regulatory focus can differently influence AT and PT with the moderating role of supervisor support and supervisor undermining.Meanwhile,we also explore the mediated moderation role of autonomous and controlled motivation in explaining the relationships.Likewise,In Study 4(Chapter 7),based on the Trait Activation theory,we investigated when and why contextual regulatory mode can differently influence AT and PT with the moderating role of supervisor support and supervisor undermining.Meanwhile,we also explore the mediated moderation role of autonomous and controlled motivation in explaining the relationships.The findings of this article can be described as below:Firstly,we successfully developed an antecedence model of DMT from the interpersonal “leader-subordinate” relationship and the intrapersonal personality perspectives,integrating the situational embeddedness of DMT,Self-regulatory theory,Self-determination theory,and Trait Activation Theory.Secondly,we found that supervisor support/undermining positively predicts AT,while it negatively predicts PT.Thirdly,we demonstrated that contextual regulatory focus and contextual regulatory mode can positively predict AT while they can negatively predict PT.Through Sequence Equation Modelling(SEM),we also verified that chronic promotion focus positively relates to AT and PT,while chronic prevention focus only negatively relates to AT.Besides,chronic locomotion mode only positively relates to AT,and chronic assessment mode only positively relates to PT.Fourthly,from Trait Activation theory perspective,we found that the supervisor support/undermining moderate the relationship between contextual regulatory focus and AT or PT,and the relationship between contextual regulatory mode and AT or PT.In particular,the results of simple effect tests showed that supervisor support played as a “demand” in moderating the relationship of contextual regulatory focus and AT,while it switched into a “distractor” in moderating the relationship of contextual regulatory focus and PT.Supervisor undermining always played as a “constraint” in moderating the relationship of contextual regulatory focus and AT or PT.Similarly,the results of simple effect tests showed that supervisor support is merely played as a “demand” in moderating the relationship of contextual regulatory mode and AT.Supervisor undermining always played as a “constraint” in moderating the relationship of contextual regulatory mode and AT or PT.Fifthly,the findings verified the robustness of the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation in the proposed framework.Specifically,autonomous motivation mediates the moderated relationship between contextual regulatory focus and AT,the moderated relationship between contextual regulatory focus and PT,the moderated relationship between contextual regulatory mode and AT,and the moderated relationship between contextual regulatory mode and PT.The creativities of this article are described as below:Firstly,this article extended the theoretical framework of DMT from merely Selfdetermination theory to the combination of Self-regulatory theory,Self-determination theory,and Trait Activation Theory.Secondly,this article investigated the “untouched” terrain – the antecedence model of DMT.In particular,we added supervisor support,supervisor undermining,regulatory focus and regulatory mode as the antecedence of DMT.We also verified supervisor support and undermining can be viewed as the “trait-relevant cues” in moderating the relationship between contextual regulatory focus(regulatory mode)and AT(PT).In addition,we verified the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation in multiple perspectives.Thirdly,based on the combination of multiple experimental designs and crosssectional survey design,we verified the robustness of the importance of supervisor support,supervisor undermining,and self-regulatory trait.