JOOP - Call for papers

Special Section: Call for Submissions

Extending the Boundaries of Psychological Resource Theories in Organizations

Guest Editors:

Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA (halbesjr@uwec.edu)

Marjan J. Gorgievski, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands (gorgievski@fsw.eur.nl)

Arnold B. Bakker, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands (bakker@fsw.eur.nl)

Issue scope:

The Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (JOOP) invites submissions for a special section on "Extending the boundaries of psychological resource theories in organizations." It is anticipated that the special section will appear in the December 2010 issue of JOOP.

In recent years, theories regarding psychological resources (e.g., conservation of resources theory and selection-optimization-compensation theory) have formed the basis for much of the literature on stress and its related constructs. However, in many cases, the originators of these theories did not explicitly suggest they be limited to stress. For example, conservation of resources theory, while increasingly common in the stress literature, has broad implications for literature in motivation, decision-making, and other psychological constructs.

The goal of this special issue is to expand the boundaries of resource theories in work and organizational psychology beyond the study of stress. To that end, we encourage authors to submit papers addressing:

• Further development of the notion of psychological resource investment to understand decision-making strategies (e.g., the investment in proactive behaviors at work)
• Clearer understanding of the role of individual differences in the acquisition and utilization of psychological resources
• Social networks perspectives on the transfer and utilization of psychological resources (e.g. a social capital approach of resources)
• The impact of psychological resources on the relationship between work and family/life roles
• Dynamic processes, such as gain cycles or gain spirals of job resources and work motivation
• Multilevel perspectives on psychological resources (e.g., group-level resource constructs)
• The application of psychological resource theories to entirely new aspects of work and organizations
• The impact of aging on the utilization of resources

The above list is meant to provide illustrations and is not exhaustive. Other proposals for relevant papers are encouraged by the Guest Editors. Both empirical and conceptual/theoretical papers will be considered; however, empirical papers must explicate a clear extension of resource theories. Informal inquiries about the Special Issue can be made to Jonathon Halbesleben (halbesjr@uwec.edu), Marjan Gorgievski (gorgievski@fsw.eur.nl), or Arnold Bakker (bakker@fsw.eur.nl).

Manuscripts must be received by January 15, 2010. Manuscripts, which should be clearly labelled as submissions intended for this Special Section, should be submitted through JOOP's online review system, Editorial Manager, in accordance with regular JOOP guidelines. All submissions will be anonymously reviewed, using the normal JOOP review criteria while also taking into account the contribution of the paper to extending resource-based psychological theories.

Consistent with JOOP editorial policy, papers based entirely on non-working populations (e.g. student samples) will only be considered in rather unusual circumstances. The Guest Editors retain discretion to publish this kind of data, for instance where it is clearly demonstrated that the data obtained can be generalised to working populations. Moreover, studies conducted using only cross-sectional self-report data will be considered only in exceptional circumstances. For example; if the sample is exceptionally large, representative or multiple. In all other cases, cross-sectional self-report data should form part of a wider selection of data, including other measures such as longitudinal or experimental elements, corroborating or comparison data, third party records or psycho-physiological data.

Rationale for Special Issue

Interest in psychological resource theories has increased significantly in recent years, driven primarily by studies of conservation of resources theory and job demands-resources theory in the stress literature. In recent years, there has been an increase in the application of these theories to new contexts (e.g., politics and job performance; see Treadway, Ferris, Hochwarter, Perrewé, Witt, & Goodman, 2005). This trend is seen as a healthy one; as noted in the proposed call for papers, the originators of these theories did not necessarily explicitly limit their theories to understanding stress. However, this trend has occurred in piecemeal fashion. This special issue would offer an opportunity to bring together researchers concerned with resource theories in a single forum to allow them an opportunity to integrate their work.

Reference

Treadway, D. C., Ferris, G. R., Hochwarter, W., Perrewé, P., Witt, L. A., Goodman, J. M. (2005). The role of age in the perceptions of politics--job performance relationship: A three-study constructive replication. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 872-881.

1. Proposed Timeline

June 2009 Call for papers

January 15, 2010 Deadline for initial submissions

February 1, 2010 First round of reviews; feedback to authors

May 1, 2010 Deadline revised submissions, final acceptance decisions made

December 2010 Publication (Volume 83 part 4)

• JOOP Notes for Contributors
• Submit your paper online