Research topics

In today’s global economy, organizations face complex environments that require rapid responses to changing external environments. To succeed within these increasingly uncertain operating environments, in addition to adapting to changes, employees can proactively respond to challenges to improve the work environment or themselves. For example, to face the anticipated challenge and industry trends, employees can create, introduce, and apply new ideas at work. They can make constructive suggestions to improve the work environment. Employees can also be proactive to advance their careers, for example, by actively building relationships with colleagues, seeking information and feedback from supervisors and senior colleagues for how to do jobs well, or negotiating job contents to fully utilize their skills and interests. However, not all employees are willing or able to take the initiative at work. Why some employees are more proactive than others? What makes some people more likely to initiate positive change within their organizations? What supervisors, team managers, and organizations can do to promote employees’ proactivity? Whether being proactive can always bring benefits to the individual and the team or organization? We conduct research to address these questions. 

1. Chiu, C. Y., Wu, C. H., Bartram, A., Parker, S. & Lee, C. (2023). Is leader proactivity enough: Importance of leader competency in shaping team role breadth efficacy and proactive performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 143, 103865.

2. Li*, C., Wu*, C. H., Dong, Y., Weisman, H., Sun, L. Y. (in press).  A psychological contract perspective on how and when employees’ promotive voice enhances promotability. Human Resource Management Journal. (*Equal contribution). 

3. Deng, H., Coyle-Shapiro, J., Zhu, Y., Wu, C-H. (in press). Serving the cause when my organization does not: A self-affirmation model of employees’ compensatory responses to ideological contract breach. Personnel psychology.

4. Lyu, Y. Wu, C. H., Kwan, H. K., Lee, C., & Deng, H. (in press). Why and when job insecurity hinders employees’ taking charge behavior: The roles of flexibility and work-based self-esteem. Economic and Industrial Democracy. 

5. Yoshikawa, K., Wu, C. H., & Lee, H. (in press). Knowledge sharing on online platforms within organizations: An interactionist perspective on generalized exchange. Applied Psychology: An International Review.

6. Li, C., Dong, Y., Wu, C.-H., Brown, M. E., & Sun, L.-Y. (2022). Appreciation that inspires: The impact of leader trait gratitude on team innovation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43, 693-708.

7. Lin, S. Y., Hirst, G., Wu, C. H., Lee, C., Wu, W., Chang, C. C. (2023). When anything less than perfect isn’t good enough: How parental and supervisor perfectionistic expectations determine fear of failure and employee creativity. Journal of Business Research, 154, 113341. 

8. Jiang, Z., Wang, Y., Li, W., Peng, K. Z., & Wu, C. H. (2023). Career proactivity: A bibliometric literature review and a future research agenda. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 72, 144-184.

9. Jiang, Z., Wu, C. H., Wang, Y., Peng, K. Z., & Li, W. (2023). Moving forward: Diverse conceptual and theoretical perspectives to advance career proactivity research. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 72, 205-210.

10. Xu, L., Liu, Z., Ji, M., Dong, Y, Wu, C. H. (2022). Leader perfectionism—friend or foe of employee creativity? Locus of control as a key contingency. Academy of Management Journal, 65, 2092–2117.

11. Yang H., Van der Heijden, B., Shipton, H., & Wu, C. H. (2022). The cross-level moderating effect of team task support on the nonlinear relationship between proactive personality and employee reflective learning. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43, 483-496.

12. Duan, J., Xia, Y., Xu, Y., Wu, C. H. (2022). The curvilinear effect of perceived overqualification on constructive voice: The moderating role of leader consultation and the mediating role of work engagement. Human Resource Management, 61, 489-510. 

13. Peng, K. Z., & Wu, C. H. (eds) (2021). Emotion and Proactivity at Work: Prospects and Dialogues. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press.

14. Wu C. H., & Li C. (2021). Other-Praising Emotions and Employee Proactivity. In: Peng K, Z. & Wu C. H. (eds.) Emotion and Proactivity at Work: Prospects and Dialogues. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. 

15. Duan, J., Xu, Y., Wang, X., Wu, C. H. & Wang, Y. (2021). Voice for oneself: Self-interested voice and its antecedents and consequences. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 94, 1-28.

16. Zheng, Y., Zheng, X., Wu, C. H., Yao, X., & Wang, Y. (2021). Newcomers' relationship-building behavior, mentors' information sharing, and newcomer adjustment: The moderating effects of perceived mentors' and newcomers' deep similarity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 125, 103519.

17. Yan, H., Hu, X., & Wu, C. H. (2021). When and why does proactive personality inhibit corner-cutting behaviours: A moderated mediation model of customer orientation and productivity climate. Personality and Individual Differences, 170, 110443. 

18. Wu, C. H., de Jong, J. P. J., Raasch, C. & Poldervaart S. (2020). Work process-related lead userness as an antecedent of innovative behavior and user innovation in organizations. Research Policy, 49, 103986.

19. Yoshikawa, K., Wu, C. H., & Lee, H. (2020). Generalized Exchange Orientation: Conceptualization and scale development. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105, 294–311. 

20. Zheng, Y., Wu, C. H., & Graham, L. (2020). Work-to-nonwork spillover: the impact of PSM and meaningfulness on outcomes in work and personal life domains. Public Management Review, 22, 578-601. 

21. Ma, C., Wu, C. H.,  Chen, Z. X., Jiang, X., Wei, W.  (2020). Why and when leader humility promotes constructive voice: A crossover of energy perspective. Personnel Review, 49, 1157-1175. 

22. Wu, C. H. (2019). Employee proactivity in organizations: An attachment perspective. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press.

23. Wang, Y., Ang, C., Jiang, Z, Wu, C. H. (2019). The role of trait extraversion in shaping proactive behavior: A multilevel examination of the impact of high-activated positive affect. Personality and Individual Differences, 136, 107-112. 

24. Wu, C. H., Parker, S. K., Wu, L. Z. & Lee, C. (2018). When and why people engage in different forms of proactive behavior: Interactive effects of self-construals and work characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 61, 293-323.

25. Wu, C. H., Deng, H., & Li, Y. (2018). Enhancing a sense of competence at work by engaging in proactive behavior: The role of proactive personality. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 801-816.

26. Wu, C. H., & Parker, S. K. (2017). The role of leader support in facilitating proactive work behavior: A perspective from attachment theory. Journal of Management, 43, 1025–1049.

27. Duan, J., Li, C., Xu, Y., & Wu, C. H. (2017). Transformational leadership and employee voice behavior: A Pygmalion mechanism. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38, 650-670.

28. Wu, C. H., Li, W-D (2017). Individual differences in proactivity: A developmental perspective. In S. Parker & U. Bindl (Eds). Proactivity at Work. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. 

29. Wu, C. H., Liu, J., Kwan, H. K. & Lee, C. (2016). Why and when workplace ostracism inhibits organizational citizenship behaviors: An organizational identification perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 362-378.

30. De Jong J. P.J., Parker S. K., Wennekers, S., Wu, C. H. (2015). Entrepreneurial behavior in organizations: Does job design matter? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 39, 981-995.

31. Wu, C.-H., & Wang, Z. (2015). How transformational leadership shapes team proactivity: The mediating role of positive affective tone and the moderating role of team task variety. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19, 137-151.

32. Wu, C. H., Parker, S. K., De Jong, J. P. J. (2014). Need for cognition as an antecedent of individual innovation behavior. Journal of Management, 40, 1511-1534.

33. Parker, S. K. & Wu, C. H. (2014). Leading for proactivity: How leaders cultivate staff who make things happen. In D. V. Day (Ed). The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

34. Wu, C.-H., Parker, S. K., & Bindl, U. K. (2013). Who is proactive and why? Unpacking individual differences in employee proactivity. In A. B. Bakker (Ed.), Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 261-280). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing. 

35. Wu, C. H., & Parker, S. K. (2012). The role of attachment styles in shaping proactive behavior: An intra-individual analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85, 523-530. 

36. Wu, C. H., & Parker, S. K. (2011). Proactivity in the work place: Looking back and looking forward. In Kim Cameron & Gretchen Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (p. 84-96). New York: Oxford University Press. 

Can work experiences shape our personality? If so, how? An increasingly prominent research line over recent years has started to indicate that personality is not fixed and it even changes in middle and late life. Work experiences have been proposed as triggers to drive personality change because what we do in our daily jobs shapes our beliefs and behaviors every day, and who we are in the long run. I am interested in the role of work experiences in shaping personality change. Using longitudinal data over multiple years, my colleagues and i have found that job autonomy, time demands, job satisfaction, job stress, and chronic job insecurity are factors associated with personality change. More studies will come to unpack how work can drive personality development.

Representative work

1. Li, W.-D., Li, S., Feng, J. (J.), Wang, M., Zhang, H., Frese, M., & Wu, C.-H. (2021). Can becoming a leader change your personality? An investigation with two longitudinal studies from a role-based perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106, 882-901.

2. Wang Y, Wu C. H. (2021). Work and Personality Change: What You Do Makes Who You Are. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. (Forbes)

3. Wu, C. H., Wang, Y., Parker, S. K., & Griffin, M. A. (2020). Effects of chronic job insecurity on Big Five personality change. Journal of Applied Psychology,105(11), 1308-1326. 

4. Woods, S. A., Wille, B., Wu, C. H., Lievens, F., De Fruty, F. (2019) The influence of work on personality trait development: The demands-affordances transactional (DATA) model, an integrative review, and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 258-271.

5. Wang, Y.,Wu, C. H., Parker, S. K., Griffin, M. A. (2018). Developing goal orientations conducive to learning and performance: An intervention study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91, 875-895.

6. Wu, C. H. (2016). Personality change via work: A job demand-control model of big-five personality changes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 92, 157-166.

7. Wu, C.-H., Griffin, M. A., & Parker, S. K. (2015). Developing agency through good work: Longitudinal effects of job autonomy and skill utilization on locus of control. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 102-108.

8. Wu, C. H., & Griffin, M. A. (2012). Longitudinal relationships between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 331-342.

1. Duan, J., Xia, Y., Xu, Y., Wu, C. H. (2022). The curvilinear effect of perceived overqualification on constructive voice: The moderating role of leader consultation and the mediating role of work engagement. Human Resource Management, 61, 489-510. 

2. Wu, C. H., Weisman, H., Sung, L.-K., Erdogan, B., Bauer, T. N. (2022).  Perceived Overqualification, Felt Organizational Obligation, and Extra-Role Behavior during COVID-19: The Moderating Role of Self-Sacrificial Leadership. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 71, 983-1013.

3. Luksyte, A., Bauer, T. N., Debus, M., Erdogan B., & Wu, C. H. (2022). Perceived overqualification and collectivism orientation: Implications for work and non-work outcomes. Journal of Management, 48, 319-349.

4. Deng, H., Guan, Y., Wu, C. H., Erdogan, B, Bauer., T. &, Yao, X. (2018). A relational model of overqualification: The role of interpersonal influence on overqualified employees’ social acceptance and performance. Journal of Management, 44, 3288-3310. 

5. Wu, C. H., Tian, W., & Luksyte, A., & Spitzmueller, C. (2017). On the association between perceived overqualification and adaptive behavior. Personnel Review, 46, 339 - 354. 

6. Wu, C. H., Luksyte A., & Parker, S. K. (2015). Overqualification and subjective well-being at work: The moderating role of job autonomy and culture. Social Indicators Research, 121, 917-937. 

1. Wu, C. H., Ho, K. K., Liu, J., & Lee, C. (2021). When and how favor rendering ameliorates workplace ostracism over time: moderating effect of self-monitoring and mediating effect of popularity enhancement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 94, 107-131. 

2. Wu, C. H., Liu, J., Kwan, H. K. & Lee, C. (2016). Why and when workplace ostracism inhibits organizational citizenship behaviors: An organizational identification perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 362-378. 

1. Zhou, Y., Zou, M., Wu, C. H., Parker, S. K. & Griffin, M. (In press). A study of new labour market entrants’ job satisfaction trajectories during a series of consecutive job changes. Journal of Applied Psychology.

2. Shu, S., Wang, Y., Kang, H., Wu, C. H., & Arenius, P. (in press). Understanding the role of job quality in the association of employees’ career change to self-employment and job satisfaction. Personnel Review. 

3. Zhou, Y., Wu, C. H., Zou, M., & Williams, M. (2021). When is the grass greener on the other side? A longitudinal study of the joint effect of occupational mobility and personality on the honeymoon-hangover experience during job change. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42, 551-566.

4. Zhou, Y., Zou, M., Woods, S. A., & Wu, C. H. (2019). The restorative effect of work after unemployment. Journal of Applied Psychology,104, 1195-1206. 

1. Zhou, Q., Edafioghor, T., Wu, C. H., & Doherty, B. (in press). Building organizational resilience capability in small and medium-sized enterprises: The role of high-performance work systems. Human Resource Management Journal.

2. Ye, Y-C., Wu, C. H., Huang T. Y., Yang, C-T. (in press). The difference between the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale when assessing resilience: Confirmatory factor analysis and predictive effects. Global Mental Health.

1. Weisman, H., Wu, C. H., Yoshikawa, K., & Lee, H. J (in press). Antecedents of organizational identification: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management.

2. Wu, C. H., Liu, J., Kwan, H. K. & Lee, C. (2016). Why and when workplace ostracism inhibits organizational citizenship behaviors: An organizational identification perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 362-378.

1. Hu, X., Yan, H., Casey, T., & Wu, C. H. (2021). Creating a safe haven during the crisis: How organizations can achieve deep compliance with COVID-19 safety measures in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 92, 102662.

1. Wang, Y., Wu, C-H., & Chen, L H. (in press). A longitudinal investigation of coaches’ autonomy support in reducing athletes’ experiential avoidance: The mediating role of subjective vitality. Psychology of Sport & Exercise. 

2. Ni, Y. L., Kuo, C. C., Chang, W. H., Wu, C. H. & Chen, L. H. (in press). How advertising claims affect sports consumers’ purchase intention: the role of regulatory fit. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.

3. Chen, L. H., Wu, C. H., Ni, Y. L., & Kuo, C. C. (in press). The differential interaction effect of mastery and performance climate on athletes’ emotional and physical exhaustion: The role of athletes' gratitude. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. 

4. Chang, W. H., Chi, L., Wu, C.-H., & Chen, L. H. (2019). Perceived coach autonomy support and athlete burnout: The role of athletes’ experiential avoidance. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 50(6), 503-522.  

5. Chen, L. H., Wu, C. H., Lin, S-H., & Ye, Y-C. (2018). Top-down or button-up? The reciprocal longitudinal relationship between athletes’ team satisfaction and life satisfaction. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 7, 1-12. 

6. Chang,  W. H., Wu, C. H., Kuo, C. C., & Chen, L. H. (2018). The role of athletic identity in the development of athlete burnout: The moderating role of psychological flexibility. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 39, 45-51. 

7. ​Chen, L. H., & Wu, C. H. (2016). When does dispositional gratitude help athletes to move away from experiential avoidance? The moderating role of perceived coach autonomy support. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28, 338-349. 

8. Chen, L. H. & Wu, C. H. (2014). Gratitude enhances change of athlete’s self-esteem: The moderating role of trust in coach. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 349-362.