Who needs nature? The influence of employee speciesism on nature-based need satisfaction and subsequent work behavior.

Scholars have long upheld the notion that exposure to nature benefits individuals. Recently, organizational researchers have theorized that these benefits extend to the workplace, leading to calls for organizations to incorporate contact with nature into employees' jobs. However, it is unclear whether the effects of nature are strong enough to meaningfully impact employee performance, thereby justifying organizations' investments in them. In this research, we draw on self-determination theory to develop a theoretical model predicting that exposure to nature at work satisfies employees' psychological needs (i.e., needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and positively affects their subsequent task performance and prosocial behavior. In addition, we theorize that the effects of nature on need satisfaction are weaker in employees higher on speciesism (i.e., the belief that humans are superior to other forms of life). We test these predictions with a mixed-method approach comprised of an online experiment in the United States (Study 1), a field experiment in Hong Kong (Study 2), a multiwave, multisource field study in Taiwan (Study 3), and a multiwave, multisource field study (with objective performance scores) in New Zealand (Study 4). Overall, our findings largely support our theoretical model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Working through an "infodemic": The impact of COVID-19 news consumption on employee uncertainty and work behaviors.

Uncertainty is a defining feature of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because uncertainty is an aversive state, uncertainty reduction theory (URT) holds that employees try to manage it by obtaining information. To date, most evidence for the effectiveness of obtaining information to reduce uncertainty stems from research conducted in relatively stable contexts wherein employees can acquire consistent information. Yet, research on crises and news consumption provides reasons to believe that the potential for information to mitigate uncertainty as specified by URT may break down during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Integrating URT with research on crises and news consumption, we predict that consuming news information during crises-which tends to be distressing, constantly evolving, and inconsistent-will be positively related to uncertainty. This in turn may have negative implications for employee goal progress and creativity; two work outcomes that take on substantial significance in times of uncertainty and the pandemic. We further predict that death anxiety will moderate this relationship, such that the link between employees' news consumption and uncertainty is stronger for those with lower levels of death anxiety, compared to those with higher levels. We test our theorizing via an experience-sampling study with 180 full-time employees, with results providing support for our conceptual model. Our study reveals important theoretical and practical implications regarding information consumption during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Transformed by the family: An episodic, attachment theory perspective on family-work enrichment and transformational leadership.

While transformational leadership is foundational to individual, team, and organizational success, many managers struggle to consistently exhibit the behaviors captured in transformational leadership. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about what factors explain this day-to-day variation on transformational leadership. Drawing upon and extending attachment theory, we assert that one answer is found at home: managers need daily family support to ensure that they consistently display transformational leader behaviors at work. We thus develop a model suggesting that family-work enrichment (FWE) acts as a within-person prime of promotion focus, which in turn enables supervisors to engage in transformational behaviors on a daily basis. In so doing, we explore a pair of theoretically derived boundary conditions of this effect-supervisor attachment styles. The results from two experience-sampling studies support our model. Specifically, daily FWE was positively associated with transformational leadership through daily promotion focus, with the positive effects being weaker for those higher on attachment avoidance and stronger for those higher on attachment anxiety. This article thus expands our understanding of the link between positive family experiences and leader behaviors, suggesting that while the family is a daily source of positive inspiration for supervisors, these positive results are not universal across all supervisors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).