Challenging or hindering? The roles of goal orientation and cognitive appraisal in stressor-performance relationships

Stress transactions are influenced by the properties of the stressful situation and those of the individual. Much research has focused on the differential effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on job performance, but few studies have explored individual differences in the cognitive appraisal of stressors, which is the central component of stress transactions. Therefore, the present study examined the moderating effect of employee goal orientation (i.e., learning, performance prove, and performance avoidance goal orientation) on stressor-appraisal relationships and tested whether goal orientation further moderates the indirect relationships of stressors with job performance via appraisals. We tested the hypothesized model at both between- and within-person levels and obtained convergent results across two studies with multisourced data. Goal orientation was found to be an important boundary condition of the stressor-appraisal relationships. Specifically, the challenge stressor-challenge appraisal relationship was strengthened by learning goal orientation and performance-prove goal orientation. The hindrance stressor-hindrance appraisal relationship was strengthened by performance-prove goal orientation and performance-avoidance goal orientation, but weakened by learning goal orientation. On this basis, employee goal orientation also moderated indirect relationships between stressors and task performance/work proactivity via appraisals. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.