Year: 2016
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: An Identity-Based Perspective on Proactivity: Future Work Selves and Beyond I've never had a dream in my life Because a dream is what you want to do, but still haven't pursued I knew what I wanted and did it until it was done So I've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one.Aesop Rock, "No regrets" Proactivity refers to future-oriented behavior that aims to bring about change, and that, importantly, is self-initiated (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010;Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006).A growing body of research provides evidence for the relationship between proactive behavior and a range of positive outcomes, including career success (Seibert, Kraimer, & Crant, 2001) and job performance (Thompson, 2005), as well as job attitudes (see Thomas, Whitman, & Viswesvaran, 2010;and Tornau & Frese, 2013, for meta-analyses).The self-initiated nature of proactivity emphasizes that this type of behavior is relatively independent of external contingencies (Parker et al., 2010).This conceptualization of proactivity "makes room for individual goals that are not tied to external rewards but are pursued because they are interesting, highly valued, or reflect authentic values and interests" (Strauss & Parker, 2014a, p. 50).It highlights that proactive behavior is inherently linked to how individuals think about themselves, in other words, to their self-concept and identity.In this chapter, we extend previous theorizing on how proactivity is motivated and explore how identity motivates, shapes, and constrains proactivity, and how proactive behavior in turn influences who individuals believe they are, or may become.We specifically argue that proactive behavior is often identity-congruent, and serves the purpose of expressing one's self.We further discuss the role of future work selves: hoped for, future-
Authors: Karoline Strauss, Ciara Kelly
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2561050179