The roller coaster of happiness: an investigation of intern’s happiness variability, LMX, and job-seeking goals

Masterson, Courtney, Sun, Jiaqing ORCID: 0000-0002-7896-5860, Wayne, Sandy J. and Kluemper, Donald (2021) The roller coaster of happiness: an investigation of intern’s happiness variability, LMX, and job-seeking goals. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 131. ISSN 0001-8791

Text (Sun_the-roller-coaster-of-happiness--accepted) - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (555kB)

• Author
• Scopus publication

Abstract

In the context of internships, we develop and test theory regarding the relationship between interns' happiness and their perceptions of leader-member exchange (LMX). Adopting a discrete and dynamic emotions perspective, we examine interns' happiness that is elicited by the most memorable daily interactions with their supervisor and bring attention to the construct of happiness variability (i.e., between-person differences in the fluctuation of happiness over time). Integrating Affective Events Theory and Feelings as Information Theory, we theorize and investigate how interns' happiness variability interacts with their psychological resources (i.e., optimism and core self-evaluation) to inform their perceptions of LMX, and ultimately, is indirectly associated with interns' job-seeking goals related to future employment with the organization. Findings from our daily field study reveal a positive relationship between happiness variability and LMX among interns low in optimism and interns low in core self-evaluation. The findings also provide evidence of a conditional indirect relationship between interns' happiness variability and a key employment outcome, job-seeking goals, via their perceptions of LMX. Extending our results, we discuss theoretical and empirical implications for future research and practice.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-v...
Additional Information:	© 2022 Elsevier Inc
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2022 11:09
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 00:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/116952

Actions (login required)

View Item