We provide a meta-analytic examination of the regulatory strategies that employees adopt to cope with different types of stressors in the workplace and how these strategies are linked to work and personal outcomes. Drawing from regulatory focus theory, we introduce a new taxonomy of promotion- and prevention-focused coping that complements the traditional taxonomy of problem- and emotion-focused coping in the transactional theory of stress. In addition, we propose that challenge stressors tend to evoke promotion-focused coping, whereas hindrance stressors tend to evoke prevention-focused coping. As a pair of important coping mechanisms in the work stress process, promotion-focused coping is positively related to employees’ job performance, job attitudes, and personal well-being, whereas prevention-focused coping is negatively related to these outcomes. We conducted an original meta-analysis of coping strategies in the workplace and tested the hypotheses with 550 effect sizes drawn from 156 samples that involved a total of 75,344 employees. We also tested the tenability of the proposed stressor-coping-outcome processes using meta-analytic path models and further examined the robustness of these models using full-information bootstrapping technique. The results converge to show that promotion- and prevention-focused coping serve as important intervening mechanisms that account for the relationships between work stressors and individual outcomes.
Academic & Professional Qualification
- PhD ANU
Research Interest
- Leadership
- Entrepreneurship
- Cross-cultural management
Selected Publications
- Lam, S.S.K and Chan, K. (2023). Entrepreneurship: The Key Lessons. Peking University Press.
- “The Impact of Leader Eye Gaze on Disparity in Member Influence: Implications for Process and Performance in Diverse Groups,” (with Shim, S., Livingston, R.W., and Phillips, K.W.), Academy of Management Journal, 2021, 64, 1873-1900.
- “Promotion- and prevention-focused coping: A meta-analytic examination of regulatory strategies in the work stress process,” (with Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., and Ng, T.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2019, 104, 1296-1323.
- Lam, S.S.K and Chan, K. (2018). Entrepreneurial Quotient. Citic Press.
- “Can Peers’ Ethical and Transformational Leadership Improve Coworkers’ Service Quality? A Latent Growth Analysis,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Peng, A), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2016, 33, 45-58.
- “Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Counterproductive Work Behavior: Do Males and Females Differ?” (with Ng, T., and Feldman, D.), Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2016, 93, 11-32.
- “What Good Soldiers are Made of: The Role of Personality Similarity,” (with Lai, J., and Chow, C.), Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2015, 30, 1003-1018.
- “Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Work Groups: A Team Cultural Perspective,” (with Lai, J., and Lam, L.), Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2013, 34, 1039-1058.
- “Do Customers and Employees Enjoy Service Participation? Synergistic Effects of Self- and Other Efficacy,” (with Yim, C.Y., and Chan, K.), Journal of Marketing, 2012, 76, 121-140.
- “The Relationship Between External Job Mobility and Salary Attainment Across Career Stages,” (with Ng, T., and Feldman, D.), Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2012, 80, 129-136.
- “Cognitive-Based and Affect-Based Trust as Mediators of Leader Behavior Influences on Team Performance,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Pang, A.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2011, 96, 863-871.
- “Information Sharing and Group Efficacy Influences on Communication and Decision Quality,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2011, 26, 509-528.
- “Psychological Contract Breaches, Organizational Commitment, and Innovation-Related Behaviors: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach,” (with Ng, T., and Feldman, D.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2010, 95, 744-751.
- “Is customer participating in value creation a double-edged sword?” (with Chan, K., and Yim, C.), Journal of Marketing, 2010, 74, 48-64.
- “Staff Localization and Environmental Uncertainty on Firm Performance in China,” (with Yeung, J), Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2010, 27, 766-695.
- “Theories of Job Stress and the Role of Traditional Values: A Longitudinal Study in China,” (with Xie, J., and Schaubroeck, J.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008, 93, 831-848.
- “Embracing Transformational Leadership: Team Values and the Impact of Leader Behavior on Team Performance,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Cha, S.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2007, 92, 1020-1030.
- “Active Trust Development of Local Senior Managers in International Subsidiaries,” (with Li, J., Zhou, K., and Tse, D.), Journal of Business Research, 2006, 59, 73-80.
- “Group Citizenship Behaviour: Conceptualization and Preliminary Tests of its Antecedents and Consequences,” (with Chen, X., Naumann, S., and Schaubroeck, J.), Management and Organization Review, 2005, 1, 273-300.
- “Gender, Extra-firm Mobility, and Compensation Attainment in the and Hong Kong,” (with Dreher, G), Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2004, 25, 791-805.
- “Esteem Maintenance Among Groups: Laboratory and Field Studies of Group Performance Cognitions,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Brown, A.), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2004, 94, 86-101.
- “Comparing Lots Before and After: Promotion Rejectees’ Invidious Reactions to Promotees,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2004, 94, 33-47.
- “The Effects of Job Complexity and Autonomy on Cohesiveness in Collectivistic and Individualistic work groups: A Cross-Cultural Analysis,” (with Man, D.), Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2003, 24, 979-1001.
- “Dispositional Similarity, Group Homogeneity and Organizational Advancement in Different Cultures,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Academy of Management Journal, 2002, 45, 1120-1136.
- “Responses to Formal Performance Appraisal Feedback: The Role of Negative Affectivity,” (with Yik, S., and Schaubroeck, J.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2002, 87, 192-201.
- “Participative Decision Making and Employee Performance in Different Cultures: The Moderating Effects of Allocentrism-Idiocentrism and Efficacy,” (with Chen, X., and Schaubroeck, J.), Academy of Management Journal, 2002, 45, 905-914.
- “Relationship Between Organizational Justice and Employee Work Outcomes: A Cross-National Study,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Aryee, S.), Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2002, 23, 1-18.
- “Can Good Citizens Lead the Way in Proving Quality Service? A Field Quasi-Experiment,” (with Hui, C., and Schaubroeck, J.), Academy of Management Journal, 2001, 44, 988-995.
- “A Field Experiment Testing Frontline Opinion Leaders as Change Agents,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2001, 85, 987-995.
- “The Effects of Group Decision Support Systems on Pooling of Unshared Information During Group Discussion,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2000, 85, 565-573.
- “Instrumental Values of Organizational Citizenship Behavior for Promotion: A Field Quasi-Experiment,” (with Hui, C., and Law, K.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2000, 85, 822-828.
- “Collective Efficacy Versus Self-Efficacy in Coping Responses to Stressors and Control: A Cross-Cultural Study,” (with Schaubroeck, J., and Xie, J.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 2000, 85, 512-525.
- “The Role of Locus of Control in Reactions to Being Promoted and to Being Passed Over: A Quasi-Experiment,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Academy of Management Journal, 2000, 43, 66-78.
- “Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Comparing Perspectives of Supervisors and Subordinates across Four International Samples,” (with Hui, C., and Law, K.), Journal of Applied Psychology, 1999, 84, 594-601.
- “Total Quality Management and Performance Appraisal: An Experimental Study of Process Versus Results and Group Versus Individual Approaches,” (with Schaubroeck, J.), Journal of Organizational Behavior, 1999, 20, 445-457.
- “The Effects of Group Decision Support Systems and Task Structures on Group Communication and Decision Quality,” Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997, 3, 93-215.
Recent Publications
1Oct
1 Oct 2019
Journal of Applied Psychology