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State and Trait Correlates of Job Performance: A Tale of Two Perspectives

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Abstract

The relative importance of dispositional and situational influences on organizational behaviors has been widely debated within the organizational sciences. In the current research, we report the results of two field studies that, taken together, provide an opportunity to examine the relative contributions of psychological well-being, positive mood, and negative mood as predictors of job performance. In Study 1, bivariate correlational analyses demonstrated that psychological well-being and negative mood, but not positive mood, were related to job performance measured over “the past year.” Hierarchical regression analysis found that psychological well-being was positively related to job performance, even when controlling for positive and negative mood. These findings were replicated and extended in the second study. In particular, bivariate correlational analyses demonstrated that psychological well-being and negative mood were predictive of job performance “at the present time.” However, unlike Study 1, hierarchical regression analyses found that both psychological well-being and negative mood were predictive of performance, even after controlling for each other and positive mood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Managerial Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, 89557-0206

    Thomas A. Wright

  2. University of Arizona, USA

    Russell Cropanzano

  3. Central Connecticut State University, USA

    David G. Meyer

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  1. Thomas A. Wright
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  2. Russell Cropanzano
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  3. David G. Meyer
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Correspondence to Thomas A. Wright.

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Wright, T.A., Cropanzano, R. & Meyer, D.G. State and Trait Correlates of Job Performance: A Tale of Two Perspectives. Journal of Business and Psychology 18, 365–383 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBU.0000016708.22925.72

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBU.0000016708.22925.72

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