Cognitive flexibility and adaptive performance among workers: Testing the moderating effect of the situational strength on this relationship

Abstract

Adaptive performance (AP) is crucial for individuals to respond to changes in their work role. Cognitive flexibility (CF) plays a role in AP, but the impact of the work environment on this relationship is not clear. Situational strength theory suggests that a strong situation, characterized by clarity, consistency, constraints, and consequences, weakens the effect of individual characteristics on behavior. This study aimed to examine if situational strength moderates the CF-AP relationship. A sample of 464 workers were recruited. Overall, the research hypothesis was not supported, indicating no moderation effect of situational strength. However, exploratory analysis suggests that constraints limit the contribution of CF to AP. Organizations should reduce constraints to leverage workers' CF for adaptive behaviors.