Journal of Ergonomics

Abstract                                                                

Introduction: Job stress such as role ambiguity, a situation that arises from the interaction between people and jobs, reduces the performance and job satisfaction. Proactive people eliminate ambiguity in their jobs by behaviors such as innovation. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of proactive personality on job satisfaction and performance mediated by information seeking.

Methods: The statistical population of this survey consisted of the official staff and contractual personnel of Bid Boland gas refinery, from whom 260 were selected using the hierarchical random sampling method. The research design of this study was correlation, through structural equation modeling. The data collection tools were Role Ambiguity Scale, Proactive Behavior Questionnaire (Ashford and Black), Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Brayfield & Rothe), and Job Performance Questionnaire (Paterson). The assessment of the proposed pattern was conducted through path analysis.

Results: The results supported the suitability of the relationship between the patterns and the collected data. The results revealed that proactive behavior mediated the effect of role ambiguity in job satisfaction and performance. All the routes in the research model were meaningful (P < 0.001) and the overall fit index [root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)] was 0.04, which represents an excellent fit pattern.

Conclusions: Proactive behavior eliminates uncertainty for employees and finally eliminates the negative effects of role ambiguity on job performance and satisfaction and leads to increased performance and satisfaction of employees.