Receiving Developmental Idiosyncratic Deals over Time: Showing Innovative Behavior is Key

Abstract

This study extends emerging research on time-variant idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) by identifying the factors that promote an increase in the receipt of developmental i-deals. Based on the moral virtue theory of status attainment, we contend that receiving more developmental i-deals carries important status confirmation signals and that employees need to engage in more virtuous actions, such as innovative behavior, to secure developmental i-deals (and therefore status confirmation). Status inhibitors, such as supervisor undermining, can stifle this status confirmation process. It is important to examine the increase in time-variant developmental i-deals because they can encourage employees to adopt more functional emotion-driven workplace attitudes, such as vigor and gratitude, and discourage them from adopting dysfunctional emotion-driven workplace attitudes, such as cynicism. Using data collected from 235 employees in Hong Kong across four waves of surveys over one year, the results of this study generally support our prediction that increased innovative behavior is related to an increase in developmental i-deals, which in turn is related to increased vigor and gratitude and decreased cynicism. In addition, increased supervisor undermining weakens this mechanism. This study contributes to the i-deal literature by enacting a status confirmation perspective on time-variant developmental i-deals.