Christina G. Leonore Nerstad

Frontiers in Psychology 11 p. 1-13 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01326

In the present study, we investigated the stability and malleability of cadets’ definitions of success (mastery and performance goal orientations) contextualized within a certain motivational climate (mastery and performance climates). Based on data from three military academies, the results revealed that cadets’ goal orientations and their perceptions of the motivational climate remained relatively stable throughout the 2 years of study across three time-points. We also found that a mastery climate predicted individual mastery orientation, and that a performance climate predicted individual performance orientation. These findings contribute to achievement goal theory by clarifying the importance of considering goal orientation contextualized within a certain motivational climate over time. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Frontiers in Psychology 11 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01107

Emerging trends in the workforce point to the necessity of facilitating work lives that foster constructive and balanced relationships between professional and private spheres in order to retain employees. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we propose that motivational climate influences turnover intention through the facilitation of work–home spillover. Specifically, we argue that employees working in a perceived mastery climate are less likely to consider voluntarily leaving their employer because of increased positive–and reduced negative—work–home spillover experiences. We further argue that employees working in a perceived performance climate are more likely to consider voluntarily leaving their employer because of reduced positive—and increased negative—work–home spillover experiences. In a cross—lagged survey of 1074 employees in a Norwegian financial-sector organization, we found that work–home spillover partly mediates the relationship between a perceived motivational climate and turnover intention. Specifically, mastery climates seem to facilitate positive—and reduce negative—spillover between the professional and private spheres, which in turn decreases employees’ turnover intention. Contrary to our expectations, a perceived performance climate slightly increased both positive and negative work-home spillover, however increasing employees’ turnover intention. We discuss implications for practice and future research.

Nordic Psychology 73(1) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2020.1817770

Job embeddedness was developed as a new perspective to explain employee retention, and recent research has demonstrated its predictive power of voluntary turnover. However, little is known about factors that might influence job embeddedness. The aim of this study was to examine if a perceived mastery climate at work predicts job embeddedness (i.e., links, fit and sacrifice) and whether satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence would mediate this relationship. In a survey of 430 employees from six organizations in Iceland and one in Norway, we found that the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness mediated the relationship between a perceived mastery climate and the links, fit, and sacrifice dimensions of on-the-job embeddedness. We discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) 16(11) p. 1-21 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111979

In this study, we propose that when employees become too engaged, they may become burnt out due to resource depletion. We further suggest that this negative outcome is contingent upon the perceived motivational psychological climate (mastery and performance climates) at work. A two-wave field study of 1081 employees revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between work engagement and burnout. This finding suggests that employees with too much work engagement may be exposed to a higher risk of burnout. Further, a performance climate, with its emphasis on social comparison, may enhance—and a mastery climate, which focuses on growth, cooperation and effort, may mitigate the likelihood that employees become cynical towards work—an important dimension of burnout.

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2019.3

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 6 p. 115-144 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062547

Goal orientation, a theory that originated primarily in the educational and social psychology fields, has emerged in the past two decades as a prominent theory in organizational psychology and organizational behavior. We review the state of affairs for goal orientation research with the following roadmap. First, we discuss the historical roots of goal orientation. Next, we summarize the nomological network of goal orientation and describe the processing frameworks associated with goal orientation factors. We then discuss the crucial role of moderator variables to explain the notable variance found in goal orientation– outcome variable relationships. We next summarize the research findings on the relationship of goal orientation with the proximal mediator and distal outcome variables. We conclude the review with a miles-to-go discussion of several major issues currently faced in goal orientation research.

Human Resource Management 57(5) p. 1285-1302 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21904

While previous studies have increased our knowledge of how employees’ perceptions of devel-opment practices influence employee outcomes, the role of potential contingencies in this rela-tionship remains relatively unexplored. In the present study, we set out to contribute to thisresearch by exploring whether congruence or lack of congruence between perceived employeedevelopment practices and the perceived motivational climate at work influence employee per-formance and turnover intention. A field study among 169 employees from a Norwegian finan-cial organization revealed that lack of congruence may be detrimental in terms of workperformance and turnover intention. Implications for practice and future research arediscussed.

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 59(6) p. 661-667 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12490

The purpose of this study was to respond to the call for research on goal orientation (mastery and performance orientation) profiles in work contexts. Among 8,282 engineers and technologists, Latent profile analyses indicated that four different goal orientation profiles existed – primarily mastery oriented, indifferent, moderate multiple goals, and success oriented. Both success oriented employees and employees who are primarily mastery oriented indicated the highest individual work performance. Further, mastery and performance climates were found to be relevant antecedents of employees’ goal orientation profiles. Supplementary analyses suggested that a primarily mastery oriented profile seems to be more beneficial for the facilitation of employee well‐being. The practical implications of these findings and directions for future research are presented.

Journal of Organizational Behavior 39(4) p. 429-447 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2241

Interpersonal trust is associated with a range of adaptive outcomes, including knowledge sharing. However, to date, our knowledge of antecedents and consequences of employees feeling trusted by supervisors in organizations remains limited. On the basis of a multisource, multiwave field study among 956 employees from 5 Norwegian organizations, we examined the predictive roles of perceived mastery climate and employee felt trust for employees' knowledge sharing. Drawing on the achievement goal theory, we develop and test a model to demonstrate that when employees perceive a mastery climate, they are more likely to feel trusted by their supervisors at both the individual and group levels. Moreover, the relationship between employees' perceptions of a mastery climate and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing is mediated by perceptions of being trusted by the supervisor. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

European Management Review 16(2) p. 285-302 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12151

Not all creative ideas end up being implemented. Drawing on micro‐innovation literature and achievement goal theory, we propose that the interplay of two types of work motivational climates (mastery and performance) moderates a curvilinear relationship between the frequency of idea‐generation and idea‐implementation behavior. Field studies in two non‐Western countries (China, with a study of 117 employees nested within 21 groups, and Slovenia, with a study of 240 employees nested within 34 groups) revealed a three‐way interaction of idea generation, performance climate, and mastery climate as joint predictors of idea implementation. Specifically, results of random coefficient modeling show that when combined, mastery and performance climates transform the relationship between the frequency of idea generation and idea implementation from an inverse U‐shaped curvilinear relationship to a positive and more linear one. These findings suggest that ideas are most frequently implemented in organizational contexts characterized by both high‐mastery and high‐performance climates. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Journal of Economic Psychology 61 p. 244-258 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2017.05.004

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 27(2) p. 245-253 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12634

This study examined the interplay between perceived mastery and performance climates in predicting increased intrinsic motivation. The results of a two-wave longitudinal study comprising of 141 individuals from three military academies revealed a positive relationship between a perceived mastery climate and increased intrinsic motivation only for individuals who perceived a low performance climate. This finding suggests a positive relationship between a perceived mastery climate and increased intrinsic motivation only when combined with low perceptions of a performance climate. Hence, introducing a performance climate in addition to a mastery climate can be an undermining motivational strategy, as it attenuates the positive relationship between a mastery climate and increased intrinsic motivation. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Produktiv motivasjon i arbeidslivet p. 233-260

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2016.13685abstract

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2016.10864abstract

Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations p. 86-99 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783476503.00016

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 21(1) p. 77-90 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039389

This study explored the relationship between obsessive passion for work and incivility instigations, as well as the moderating role of a mastery motivational climate. A longitudinal, three-wave study was conducted among 1,263 employees from a large Norwegian workers’ union across a 10-month time span. The results show that obsessive passion for work relates positively to incivility instigations and that this relationship is stable over time. Building on the person–environment fit perspective, we find that the relationship between obsessive passion for work and incivility instigations is stronger for employees with both high levels of obsessive passion and high perceptions of a mastery climate. Our results underline the importance of considering not only the individual in his/her context, but also of considering the match between the individual’s values and the contextual values.

Produktiv motivasjon i arbeidslivet p. 63-86

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings 1(15286) Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2015.15286abstract

Journal of Sports Sciences 34(3) p. 267-277 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2015.1048522

Drawing upon achievement goal theory, this study explored the interplay between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and objective measurements of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). The results of a study of 123 individuals from three Norwegian military academies revealed that under the condition of a high-performance orientation there is a stronger positive relationship between performance climate and VO2max for individuals reporting a low (rather than high)-mastery orientation. Furthermore, we found that for individuals with a high-mastery orientation there is a stronger positive relationship between mastery climate and VO2max for individuals reporting a low (rather than high)-performance orientation. These findings contribute to achievement goal theory by providing support for an interactionist person–environment fit perspective. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Human Resource Management 54(4) p. 623-635 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21635

Academy of Management Journal 57(1) p. 172-192 Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0122

Personnel Review 43(2) p. 246-271 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-01-2012-0008

BI Leadership Magazine p. 6-7

The Fulfilling Workplace: The Organization's Role in Achieving Individual and Organizational Health p. 121-138

Journal of Applied Social Psychology 43(11) p. 2231-2250 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12174

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51(4) p. 326-333 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00770.x