Students: Dissertation: Jennifer Sommers Tucker

Jennifer Sommers Tucker

ABSTRACT
Counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) are intentional behaviors by employees that are contrary to the goals of the organization. Occupational stress is posited as a proximal antecedent to CWB. Stress may weaken and eventually override the cognitive controls that prevent CWB. This dissertation utilized a longitudinal design to examine the relationships between two dimensions of occupational stress (task demands and job control) and CWB. In this study, I examined whether Soldiers' appraisals of stress changed over time (i.e., from a challenge to a threat) and whether these appraisals resulted in CWB.

The data for this dissertation were collected over a two-year period from a sample of 1,703 Soldiers. Soldiers' perceptions of stress and strain were obtained through self-report assessments while incidents of CWB were obtained from their personnel records. Random coefficient modeling was used to answer five research questions related to the temporal effects of stress on CWB, the mediating effects of strain, the moderating effects of gender and deployment status, and reverse causal effects. As expected, both work overload and job control predicted CWB; however, their effects depended on whether CWB was assessed in the short- or long-term. Autonomy was a stronger predictor of shorter-term within-person changes in CWB while work overload and schedule predictability were predictors of longer-term between-person changes in CWB. The results revealed a cubic trend for CWB such that Soldiers initially coped effectively with the stress; however, over time, they committed CWB. The results provided support for both an adjustment stress model in which Soldiers exhibited effective coping responses and a sleeper- effect model in which the effects of early reports of stress resulted in later CWB even after the stressor was removed.

The findings of this dissertation provide a better understanding of the temporal effects of these stressors on CWB. Specifically, different stressors may be better predictors of CWB depending on when CWB is measured and whether researchers are interested in within-person changes or between-person differences in CWB trends. Managers looking for effective ways to reduce CWB should implement primary interventions, such as job redesign, to decrease employees' workload and increase their feelings of job control.

date
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Robert Sinclair, Chair
Talya Bauer
Cynthia Mohr
Wayne W. Wakeland
Alan Cabelly, Graduate Studies Representative