Topic: Culture, Self Efficacy, Work Environment
Publication: Applied Psychology: An International Review (JAN 2010)
Article:
A cross-national examination of self-efficacy as a moderator of autonomy/job
strain relationships
Authors:
M.M. Nauta, C. Liu, and C. Li
Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger
In work settings, autonomy refers to the degree of control that employees have
over their work. While research
has generally shown that low levels of autonomy are stressful to employees
(i.e., leads them to experience strain), this is not necessarily true for all
employees. Indeed, employees who
are confident in their ability to exercise control over their lives and work
environments (i.e., high generalized self-efficacy) appear to be buffered from the negative effects of
low autonomy. However, most of the
research on this topic has been conducted in North America and it is unclear
whether these findings are consistent across cultures.
Recently, Nauta, Liu, and Li (2010) explored whether
culture plays a role in determining how employees respond to low (vs. high)
levels of autonomy and self-efficacy.
The authors chose to compare American and Chinese employees because they
typify individualistic and collectivistic cultures respectively. That is, employees in the U.S. tend to
be more individualistic and place a heavier focus on independence, while Chinese
employees tend to be more collectivistic and place a heavier focus on the needs
of the group to which they belong.
Nauta, Liu, and Li collected data from a wide range
of university employees working at a large university in the U.S. and three
universities in China.
Much like
U.S. employees, low levels of autonomy appear to make highly efficacious
Chinese employees uncomfortable.
In other words, for employees who feel confident that they can
effectively exert control over their work environment, not being able to do so
is stressful (regardless of culture).
However, Nauta et al. discovered an interesting
difference in how American and Chinese employees, low in self-efficacy, react
to autonomy. In other words, American employees who lack confidence in their
ability to exert control over their work find low levels of autonomy stressful,
while Chinese employees who lack such confidence find high levels of autonomy
stressful.
These findings are particularly pertinent to
organizations operating globally.
If nothing else, Nauta et al.’s study is a reminder that management
policies and job characteristics in one country or culture may not have the
same effects in another country or for another culture.
Nauta,
M.M., Liu, C., & Li, C. (2010). A cross-national examination of self-efficacy as a moderator of autonomy/job strain
relationships. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 59(1), 159-179.
