Zhang Wen-Gang, Ding Yi, Xu Feng
School of Economics and Management, Anhui Polytechnic University, China.
School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Law, Harbin Institute of Technology, China.
Heliyon. 2024 Feb 9;10(4):e25457. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25457. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.
When working alongside proactive colleagues, do you elevate yourself through benign envy or resort to malicious envy? To address this intriguing question, we constructed a model based on social comparison theory to measure the double-edged sword effects of proactive personality on employee outcomes. We hypothesized that proactive employees would induce two distinct tendencies in their peers-workplace ostracism and employee creativity-due to peer envy. The study analyzed 389 valid responses from full-time employees in Chinese organizations using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that proactive personality positively influences benign envy among peers, which in turn positively affects employee creativity. Moreover, benign envy mediates the relationship between proactive personality and employee creativity. On the other hand, proactive personality positively influences malicious envy among peers, which in turn positively affects workplace ostracism. Additionally, malicious envy mediates the relationship between proactive personality and workplace ostracism. This study intertwines personality, emotions, and workplace outcomes, thereby advancing the existing literature on social comparison theory. Additionally, it furnishes valuable insights for organizational human resource management, particularly in the realms of employee recruitment and workplace relationship management.
当与积极主动的同事共事时，你是通过良性嫉妒提升自己，还是陷入恶意嫉妒呢？为了回答这个有趣的问题，我们基于社会比较理论构建了一个模型，以衡量积极主动型人格对员工工作成果的双刃剑效应。我们假设，积极主动的员工会因同事的嫉妒在同事中引发两种不同的倾向——职场排斥和员工创造力。该研究使用结构方程模型分析了来自中国企业全职员工的389份有效回复。结果表明，积极主动型人格对同事间的良性嫉妒有正向影响，进而对员工创造力产生积极影响。此外，良性嫉妒在积极主动型人格与员工创造力之间起中介作用。另一方面，积极主动型人格对同事间的恶意嫉妒有正向影响，进而对职场排斥产生积极影响。此外，恶意嫉妒在积极主动型人格与职场排斥之间起中介作用。本研究将人格、情绪和职场成果交织在一起，从而推动了社会比较理论的现有文献发展。此外，它为组织人力资源管理提供了有价值的见解，特别是在员工招聘和职场关系管理领域。
