Depletion from Self-Regulation: A Resource-Based Account of the Effect of Value Incongruence

Personnel Psychology, 69, 431-465

58 Pages Posted: 1 May 2016

See all articles by Hong Deng

Hong Deng

University of Manchester - Alliance Manchester Business School

Chia‐Huei Wu

University of Leeds - Division of Management

Kwok Leung

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Management Sciences

Yanjun Guan

Durham Business School

Date Written: April 28, 2016

Abstract

Value incongruence between employees and organizations has been identified as a negative work condition. An attitude-based account suggests that value incongruence gives rise to negative attitudes toward organizations and thus causes low performance. To complement this mechanism, we propose a resource-based account based on ego-depletion theory, which suggests that value incongruence consumes an individual’s regulatory resources and leads to low work performance. In support of this view, results from two survey studies and a vignette experiment reveal that value incongruence is positively associated with ego depletion, which in turn is negatively related to work performance. The mediation effect of ego depletion is independent of the attitude-based mechanism as represented by job satisfaction and affective commitment. Consistent with the affective consistency perspective, the relationship between value incongruence and ego depletion is stronger among employees high in positive affectivity, and weaker among employees high in negative affectivity. The corresponding moderated mediation analysis shows that the indirect effects of value incongruence on work performance through ego depletion vary as a function of positive and negative affectivity. This investigation unravels the self-regulatory consequence of value incongruence and shows that the resource-based mechanism of value incongruence operates differentially as a function of dispositional affectivity.

Keywords: Value incongruence, work performance, dispositional affectivity, ego depletion

Suggested Citation

Deng, Hong and Wu, Chia‐Huei and Leung, Kwok and Guan, Yanjun, Depletion from Self-Regulation: A Resource-Based Account of the Effect of Value Incongruence (April 28, 2016). Personnel Psychology, 69, 431-465, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2772313

Hong Deng

University of Manchester - Alliance Manchester Business School ( email )

Booth Street West
Manchester, M15 6PB
United Kingdom

Chia‐Huei Wu (Contact Author)

University of Leeds - Division of Management ( email )

United Kingdom

Kwok Leung

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Management Sciences ( email )

Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon
Hong Kong
852-2788-8985 (Phone)
852-2788-8960 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cityu.edu.hk

Yanjun Guan

Durham Business School ( email )

Mill Hill Lane
Durham, Durham DH1 3LB
United Kingdom

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