Rethinking the effects of stressors: a longitudinal study on personal initiative.

This study examined the relationship between stressors at work and personal initiative (PI), one proactive concept of extra-role performance. Using a control theory framework to describe the stress process, the authors hypothesized that stressors should be positively related to PI. This departs from findings of negative relationships between stressors and other types of performance. Furthermore, curvilinear relationships were tested. The analyses, based on 4 measurement waves of a longitudinal field study with 172 to 193 participants, showed that stressors were positively related to subsequent changes in PI; there was no support for a curvilinear relationship.