Challenging or hindering? The roles of goal orientation and cognitive appraisal in stressor‐performance relationships
研究考察了员工目标导向如何调节压力源与认知评价的关系，并进一步影响工作绩效，发现学习导向和绩效证明导向会增强挑战性压力源与挑战评价的联系，而绩效回避导向则强化阻碍性压力源与阻碍评价的联系。
Summary Stress transactions are influenced by the properties of the stressful situation and those of the individual. Much research has focused on the differential effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on job performance, but few studies have explored individual differences in the cognitive appraisal of stressors, which is the central component of stress transactions. Therefore, the present study examined the moderating effect of employee goal orientation (i.e., learning, performance prove, and performance avoidance goal orientation) on stressor‐appraisal relationships and tested whether goal orientation further moderates the indirect relationships of stressors with job performance via appraisals. We tested the hypothesized model at both between‐ and within‐person levels and obtained convergent results across two studies with multisourced data. Goal orientation was found to be an important boundary condition of the stressor‐appraisal relationships. Specifically, the challenge stressor‐challenge appraisal relationship was strengthened by learning goal orientation and performance‐prove goal orientation. The hindrance stressor‐hindrance appraisal relationship was strengthened by performance‐prove goal orientation and performance‐avoidance goal orientation, but weakened by learning goal orientation. On this basis, employee goal orientation also moderated indirect relationships between stressors and task performance/work proactivity via appraisals. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.