Finding one's own way: How newcomers who differ stay well

Chen, Jenny; Cooper-Thomas, Helena D.

Abstract

Purpose: Being different from others can be stressful, and this may be especially salient for newcomers during organizational socialization when they may be expected to fit in. Thus, drawing on conservation of resources theory, the authors examine the effects of newcomers' individual differentiation on their subsequent emotional exhaustion. Design/methodology/approach: The authors test a multiple mediation model with data from 161 UK graduates collected at three times using structural equation modeling. Findings: The results largely support the hypotheses, identifying individual differentiation as a motivational resource associated with the proactive behavior of changing work procedures. In turn, changing work procedures links with the personal resource of positive affect, which facilitates the relational resource of social acceptance and predicts lower emotional exhaustion. Individual differentiation predicts lower social acceptance also, but not via monitoring as anticipated. Originality/value: The results provide novel insights into the effects of individual differentiation on emotional exhaustion in the context of organizational socialization. The study highlights that, while newcomers high in individual differentiation face depletion of the relational resource of social acceptance, they can still adjust well and avoid emotional exhaustion through changing work procedures to foster positive affect.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 10, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 4, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: Evidence-based HRM
• Print ISSN: 2049-3983
• Electronic ISSN: 2049-3991
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-06-2022-0153
• Keywords: Organizational socialization; Conversation of resources theory; Individual differentiation; Emotional exhaustion; Newcomer
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9968585
• Publisher URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EBHRM-06-2022-0153/full/html