Wise Proactivity

Antecedents, Outcomes, and a Mechanism

Bibliographic Data

ID6437397
AuthorsYing Wang (0000-0003-3126-1134, School of Management RMIT University Melbourne Australia), K Parker (0000-0002-0978-1873, Centre for Transformative Work Design, Faculty of Business and Law Curtin University Perth Australia), Chia‐huei Wu (0000-0002-8011-6323, Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations, King's Business School King's College London London UK), Mingjian Zhou (0000-0001-9395-9656, School of Economics and Management Harbin Institute of Technology at Shenzhen Shenzhen China), Jenny Liao (Business School University of Western Australia Perth Australia)
Year2025
Volume46
Issue6
Pages923-938
Publication date2025-04-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Organizational Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0894-3796 • E-ISSN: 1099-1379
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/job.2887
OpenAlexW4409899689
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited85

Being proactive involves taking personal initiative to change a situation or oneself. While research to date has paid considerable attention to the frequency with which individuals engage in proactive behaviors, less attention has been given to the ways in which people act proactively to garner positive outcomes. In this paper, we draw on the conceptualization of wise proactivity developed by Parker, Wang, and Liao in 2019 to construct a measure that captures employees' deliberate and thoughtful consideration of context, others, and self as they proactively initiate and pursue change in the workplace. Through a series of empirical studies, we investigate the key antecedents of wise proactivity, showing that it is predicted by wisdom and political skills. We also examine whether, and through what mechanism, wise proactivity affects the outcome of job performance. We show that wise proactivity predicts job performance above and beyond the frequency with which one engages in proactivity and does so because wise proactivity is perceived of as desirable. Our study highlights the value of shifting the focus in proactivity research and practice to explore how employees can engage in proactive behavior in a wise manner

Epistemology · Mechanism (biology · Proactivity · Aging and Gerontology Research · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Philosophy · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access