The affect-proactive performance link and its reciprocal process: A hedonic contingency theory perspective

Employees’ proactive performance is future-oriented and contributes to organizational effectiveness and sustainability. The proactivity literature shows that positive affect and negative affect may have differential effects to motivate various proactive behaviors at work. However, direct empirical evidence of the impact of affect on proactive performance is limited. It is also important to investigate whether the motivational effect of positive and negative affect on proactive performance can be sustained over time. Responding to these knowledge gaps, we apply the Hedonic Contingency Theory (HCT), and hypothesize a positive reciprocal relationship between positive affect and proactive performance over time, while such effect does not exist for negative affect. Results from two independent studies – a cross-sectional and a longitudinal one – provide support for hypotheses drawn from HCT. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.