The impact of dispositional cynicism on job-specific affect and work intentions

Working from the Employee Work Passion Appraisal (EWPA) model, this article examines the relationship between employee dispositional cynicism, job‐specific affect (i.e. positive and negative) and work intentions including intent to use discretionary effort, intent to perform, intent to endorse, inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of psychology 2014-10, Vol.49 (5), p.381-389
Main Authors: Roberts, Taylor Peyton, Zigarmi, Drea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitudes
Dispositional cynicism
Emotions
Female
Humans
Intention
Job affect
Job Satisfaction
Male
Middle Aged
Models, Psychological
Negativism
Occupational psychology
Work intentions
Workplace - psychology
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Summary:Working from the Employee Work Passion Appraisal (EWPA) model, this article examines the relationship between employee dispositional cynicism, job‐specific affect (i.e. positive and negative) and work intentions including intent to use discretionary effort, intent to perform, intent to endorse, intent to stay and intent to be an organisational citizen. An online survey generated participation from 747 current and potential clients of an international consulting company. To evaluate the fit of the data in accordance with the EWPA framework, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the overall fit of the proposed model and to examine the hypothesised relationships between constructs. Analyses confirmed correlations between dispositional cynicism and job‐specific affect, supported notable relationships between positive job‐specific affect and all work intentions, provided evidence for job‐specific affect's mediation of cynicism and work intentions and uncovered a direct negative relationship between cynicism and intent to use organisational citizenship behaviour. Results suggest that state‐specific workplace emotions are important for understanding the degree to which employee dispositional cynicism will ultimately influence most performance‐related work intentions. However, independent of affect, employee cynicism may directly result in somewhat lower intentions to help others at work. Study limitations and practical implications for employee selection and training are considered.
ISSN:0020-7594
1464-066X
DOI:10.1002/ijop.12051