Disengagement in work-role transitions

Citation

Niessen, C. (2011), "Disengagement in work-role transitions", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 25 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2011.08125cad.006

Disengagement in work-role transitions

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 25, Issue 3

Niessen C., , Binewies C. and , Rank J.Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, September 2010, Vol. 83, No. 3, Start page: 695, No. of pages: 21

The present study examines whether disengagement from previous work-roles positively predicts adaptation to a new work-role (here, becoming self-employed) by reducing negative consequences of psychological attachment to these previous roles. Disengagement involves an individual’s effort to release attention from thoughts and behaviours related to the previous work-role. A three-wave longitudinal study investigated the relationship between psychological attachment (measured as affective commitment) to a prior work-role, disengagement from the prior work-role, and adaptation to a new work-role (pursuit of learning, fit perceptions with self-employment, task performance over time). Participants included 131 persons who recently founded a small business. Results indicated that psychological attachment to the past work-role was negatively related to pursuit of learning and fit with the new work-role. Disengagement from the past work-role was positively related to pursuit of learning in the new work-role, and buffered the negative relationship between psychological attachment and fit as well as task performance. Article type: Research paper ISSN: 0963-1798 Reference: 40AA714

Keywords: Job roles, Learning, Organizational change