Opportunity or Risk? Appraisal and Affect Mediate the Effect of Task Framing on Working Memory Performance in University Students

Working memory (WM) is crucial for reasoning, learning, decision-making and academic achievement. In diverse contexts, how a task is framed pertaining to its demands and consequences can influence participants' task performance by modifying their cognitive appraisals. However, less is known about the effect of task framing on WM performance and the mechanisms. This study examined whether opportunity- and risk-focused task framing would influence university students' WM performance by altering their cognitive appraisals and affective experiences. Ninety-seven university students were randomly assigned to one of the three framing conditions (Opportunity, Risk, vs. Null), and received instructions that differed in consequences (gain for top performers, loss for poor performers, vs. null), goals (approach, avoidance, vs. neutral), and feedback on personal competence (adequate, inadequate, vs. null). Challenge and threat appraisals, affect, and WM performance were measured before and after task framing. Results showed that opportunity-focused task framing improved students' WM performance, whilst risk-focused task framing increased threat appraisal and decreased positive affect, and that challenge appraisal was not altered in any condition. Female students were influenced by task framing to a greater extent than were male students. Mediation analysis revealed that the alteration of threat appraisal and the change in positive affect mediated the effect of task framing on WM performance. Findings highlight the important role of modifying cognitive appraisals and affective responses in optimizing cognitive performance.

Linking performance pressure to employee work engagement: the moderating role of emotional stability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of threat and challenge appraisals in the relationship between performance pressure and employees' work engagement, as well as the buffering role of emotional stability, as a personal characteristic, in this process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave research design. Hypotheses were examined with a sample of 247 white-collar employees from French organizations.FindingsPerformance pressure is appraised as either threat or challenge. Challenge appraisal positively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship, whereas threat appraisal negatively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship. Emotional stability moderated these effects, suggesting performance pressure was appraised as a challenge rather than a threat, which then enhanced employee work engagement.Practical implicationsThis study has shown that employees with high emotional stability who perceived performance pressure as a challenge achieved stronger employee work engagement.Originality/valueBuilding on Lazare's theory of stress and Mitchell et al. 's theorization, this research demonstrates mediating and moderating mechanisms driving the role of performance pressure on employee work engagement relationships.

Linking performance pressure to employee work engagement: the moderating role of emotional stability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of threat and challenge appraisals in the relationship between performance pressure and employees' work engagement, as well as the buffering role of emotional stability, as a personal characteristic, in this process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave research design. Hypotheses were examined with a sample of 247 white-collar employees from French organizations.FindingsPerformance pressure is appraised as either threat or challenge. Challenge appraisal positively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship, whereas threat appraisal negatively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship. Emotional stability moderated these effects, suggesting performance pressure was appraised as a challenge rather than a threat, which then enhanced employee work engagement.Practical implicationsThis study has shown that employees with high emotional stability who perceived performance pressure as a challenge achieved stronger employee work engagement.Originality/valueBuilding on Lazare's theory of stress and Mitchell et al. 's theorization, this research demonstrates mediating and moderating mechanisms driving the role of performance pressure on employee work engagement relationships.

Linking performance pressure to employee work engagement: the moderating role of emotional stability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of threat and challenge appraisals in the relationship between performance pressure and employees' work engagement, as well as the buffering role of emotional stability, as a personal characteristic, in this process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave research design. Hypotheses were examined with a sample of 247 white-collar employees from French organizations.FindingsPerformance pressure is appraised as either threat or challenge. Challenge appraisal positively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship, whereas threat appraisal negatively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship. Emotional stability moderated these effects, suggesting performance pressure was appraised as a challenge rather than a threat, which then enhanced employee work engagement.Practical implicationsThis study has shown that employees with high emotional stability who perceived performance pressure as a challenge achieved stronger employee work engagement.Originality/valueBuilding on Lazare's theory of stress and Mitchell et al. 's theorization, this research demonstrates mediating and moderating mechanisms driving the role of performance pressure on employee work engagement relationships.

Facing education reform: Change-related self-efficacy is linked to job insecurity via appraisal

Structural education reforms may pose a threat to teachers’ employment, leading to anxiety about the future of their jobs. This study examined the antecedents of job insecurity among Polish teachers ( N = 860) who had been subjected to rapid and major structural education reform in 2017. While previous studies have focused on self-efficacy as a buffer against the negative consequences of job insecurity, here the authors hypothesize that a higher change-related self-efficacy is linked to lower job insecurity via stress appraisal. The results show that self-efficacy is more strongly linked to lower hindrance appraisal than to higher challenge appraisal. Strengthening change-related self-efficacy as a personal resource and attenuating perceptions of change as a hindrance are vital steps in minimizing job insecurity and its effects.

Challenges or Hindrances? Implications of Work Characteristics Appraisals for Employees’ Well-Being

Previous research on the association between job characteristics and employee well-being has returned mixed results. In particular, the possible impact of individual appraisal of these job characteristics has not been well-acknowledged. To address this limitation, we drew on appraisal theory and examined (a) how workers appraise particular job characteristics, and (b) how these appraisals affect the relationships between these job characteristics and well-being (i.e., work engagement and burnout). We tested our hypotheses across two studies. In a cross-occupation survey (Study 1, n = 514), we found that job characteristics of “demands” (time urgency, role conflict, and emotional demands) and “resources” (autonomy, supervisor and colleague support, and feedback) can to some degree be appraised as both challenges and hindrances. In addition, moderation analysis showed that challenge appraisal can mitigate the negative impact of job demands on burnout. Interestingly, the beneficial effects of job resources on employee well-being (i.e., increasing engagement, and decreasing burnout) were weaker if workers appraised a certain resource as hindering. In Study 2 (n = 316 nurses in a hospital), the results generally supported our predictions again. These findings on the effects of appraisal contribute by broadening the theory on job characteristics-outcomes relationships.

Werkdruk: vriend of vijand?

Werkdruk wordt in de literatuur als een uitdagende taakeis beschouwd, die tot zowel uitputting als bevlogenheid kan leiden. Dit onderzoek stelt deze a priori opvatting ter discussie en veronderstelt dat de beoordeling (appraisal) van werkdruk bepalend is voor die uitkomst, waarbij werkdruk tot bevlogenheid zal leiden wanneer zij als uitdaging (challenge) wordt gezien en tot uitputting zal leiden wanneer zij als belemmering (hindrance) wordt ervaren. Ook wordt verondersteld dat doeloriëntatie het verband tussen werkdruk en appraisal modereert. Deze veronderstellingen zijn getoetst in een cross-sectioneel onderzoek met 233 werkenden. De resultaten laten zien dat werkdruk een relatie heeft met zowel challenge appraisal als hindrance appraisal. Challenge appraisal hangt positief samen met bevlogenheid en negatief met uitputting; hindrance appraisal hangt negatief samen met bevlogenheid en positief met uitputting. Daarnaast blijkt dat leerdoeloriëntatie naast het veronderstelde interactie-effect ook een directe relatie met challenge appraisal heeft, terwijl prestatievermijd-doeloriëntatie wel een directe relatie maar niet het voorspelde interactie-effect met hindrance appraisal laat zien. Dit onderzoek draagt bij aan het inzicht in de rol van beoordelingsprocessen in de relatie tussen werkdruk en welzijn. De resultaten hebben implicaties voor toekomstig onderzoek en voor de praktijk.