New employees with low positive affectivity perceive less support from supervisors

It is commonly known that positive emotions support personal growth, life satisfaction, and that they enhance personal and social resources, whereas negative emotions focus on taking immediate action in response to the environment — what is known as the fight or flight response when we feel threatened. This response is also the case when new employees face a new unknown situation such as when they enter the organization and meet their new boss.

During organizational socialization, those newcomers with a tendency to experience positive emotions or positive affectivity are adaptable, and seek opportunities to establish social exchanges with their new supervisors to obtain support. In contrast, new employees predisposed to experience negative emotions or negative affectivity, will perceive their supervisor’s support as low because they tend to appraise new environments in a threatening way, and when this happens, their overall organizational commitment will also be negatively affected.

Perceiving that your supervisor is supportive, declines faster in new employees predisposed to negative emotions

Research conducted in 2019, studied the relationship between positive and negative affectivity, perceived supervisor support, and organizational commitment during socialization. It was found that the level of support perceived by new employees changes according to their predispositions to positive or negative affectivity; that in turn, affects their organizational commitment over time (Vandenberghe et al., 2019). In a sample of 158 recent college graduates entering the workforce in France, participants first answered a survey at the time they started working. They rated their perceptions on supervisor support to help them feel positive and more committed to their new company. Three months into the job, participants answered the same survey, and then again at six months from entry.

The researchers found that the perception of supervisor support over time decreases faster in employees with a predisposition to negative affectivity than in those predisposed towards positive affectivity. Newcomers predisposed to negative emotions experience a negative perception bias regarding their work environment from the moment they begin their new jobs.

New employees predisposed to experience positive emotions build enduring personal and social resources upon entering the organization and tend to obtain resources from supervisors. Because they are generally enthusiastic, pleasant, sociable, and joyful, their supervisors are more inclined to support them. Newcomers predisposed to negative affectivity tend to focus on recalling negative events, thus thinking that they don’t receive enough supervisor support instead of focusing on obtaining resources.

Additionally, the researchers found that the decrease in perceived supervisor support beginning during the first months on the job, yields to a decrease in organizational commitment over time. Therefore, it was found that newcomers predisposed to negative emotions experience stronger and faster declines in organizational commitment, leading to higher employee turnover.

Practical Implications

The researchers advise supervisors to consider implementing several strategies to help new employees to perceive adequate support from them and to support organizational commitment. For those employees who experience less joy and excitement in the workplace, such as those predisposed to negative emotions, it is advised supervisors maintain higher levels of support by being assertive and specific during interactions, and by providing ongoing advice and proactive support to reduce any anxiety in the newcomer.

Supervisors need to communicate their availability in clear ways, specifying levels of support, and how the support will be reduced over time, and why. This is important not only to set realistic expectations, but also because new employees need to become more autonomous over time. Supervisors should mention to employees that help will remain available after the initial level of support has been reduced. Last, it is also significant for companies to enhance supervisors’ support behaviors by providing training and assistance.

Reference

Vandenberghe, C., Panaccio, A., Bentein, K., Mignonac, K., Roussel, P., & Ayed, A. K. B. (2019). Time‐based differences in the effects of positive and negative affectivity on perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among newcomers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(3), 264–281.

Title: New employees with low positive affectivity perceive less support from supervisors

Topics: Perceived supervisor support, organizational commitment, negative and positive affectivity.

Publication: Journal of Organizational Behavior (2019)

Article: Time‐based differences in the effects of positive and negative affectivity on perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment among newcomers

Authors: Vandenberghe, C., Panaccio, A., Bentein, K., Mignonac, K., Roussel, P., & Ayed, A. K. B.

Reviewed by: Diana Keay