Proactivity or proactive behavior refers to self-initiated behavior that endeavours to solve a problem before it has occurred. Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than reacting. It refers to taking control of a situation and making early changes, rather than adjusting to a situation or waiting for something to happen.
Reactivity, as a behaviour pattern, is a habitual mode of taking one's lead from the situation or a participant, rather than taking initiative to solve the problem on your own terms. In moderation, this can be an effective expression of social
risk aversion
In economics and finance, risk aversion is the tendency of people to prefer outcomes with low uncertainty to those outcomes with high uncertainty, even if the average outcome of the latter is equal to or higher in monetary value than the more c ...
. Taken to excess, reactivity is a form of
disempowerment.
History
The use of the word ''proactive'' (or ''pro-active'') was limited to the domain of
experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...
in the 1930s, and used with a different meaning. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED) credits Paul Whiteley and Gerald Blankfort, citing their 1933 paper discussing proactive inhibition as the "impairment or retardation of learning or of the remembering of what is learned by effects that remain active from conditions prior to the learning".
Proactive behaviour
Proactive behavior can be contrasted with other work-related behaviors, such as
proficiency, i.e. the fulfillment of predictable requirements of one’s job, or
adaptability
Adaptability ( "fit to, adjust") is a feature of a system or of a process. This word has been put to use as a specialised term in different disciplines and in business operations. Word definitions of adaptability as a specialised term differ littl ...
, the successful coping with and support of change initiated by others in the organization. In regard to the latter, whereas adaptability is about responding to change, proactivity is about initiating constructive change.
Proactivity is not restricted to
extra role performance behaviors. Employees can be proactive in their prescribed role (e.g. by changing the way they perform a core task to be more efficient). Likewise, behaviors labeled as
organizational citizenship behavior
In industrial and organizational psychology, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a person's voluntary commitment within an organization or company that is not part of his or her contractual tasks. Organizational citizenship behavior h ...
(OCB) can be carried out proactively or passively. For example, the
altruistic
Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity.
The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...
OCB can be proactive in nature (e.g. offering help to co-workers before they ask for assistance).
It aims at the identification and exploring of opportunities in taking action against the potential problems and threats.
See also
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Journal of Applied Psychology
The ''Journal of Applied Psychology'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. The journal emphasizes the publication of original investigations that contribute new knowledge and understandin ...
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Onboarding
Onboarding or organizational socialization is the American term for the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders. In other than American ...
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Personnel psychology
Personnel psychology is a subfield of industrial and organizational psychology, industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology . Personnel psychology is the area of I-O psychology that primarily deals with the recruitment, selection and evaluation ...
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Proactive communications
References
Bibliography
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*Campbell, D. J. (2000). The proactive employee: Managing workplace initiative. Academy of Management Executive, 14(3), 52-66.
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*Frese, M., Kring, W., Soose, A., & Zempel, J. (1996). Personal initiative at work: Differences between East and West Germany. Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), 37-63.
*Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. 2008. The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28: 3-34. http://www.unc.edu/~agrant/publications.htm
*Griffin, M. A., Neal, A., & Parker, S. K. (2007). A new model of work role performance: Positive behavior in uncertain and interdependent contexts. Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 327 - 347.
*Parker, S. K., & Collins, C. G. (2010). Taking stock: Integrating and differentiating multiple forms of proactive behavior. Journal of Management. 36, 633-662. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706123753/http://parker.zydec.net.au/publications/Parker%26collins_ProactivityDimensions_JOM_InPress.pdf
*Parker, S. K., Williams, H. M., & Turner, N. (2006). Modeling the antecedents of proactive behavior at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 636-652. https://web.archive.org/web/20110706123805/http://parker.zydec.net.au/publications/parker_et_al_modelingProactiveBehavior_JAP_2006.pdf
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External links
{{Aspects of organizations
Organizational theory