The role of individual goal orientations in shaping skill utilization over time: a four-year longitudinal study

ABSTRACT Skill utilization is a critically important enacted job characteristic that is assumed to change over time. Building on work design process theory, we investigate the role of goal orientations (performance-approach, performance-avoid, and learning orientation) in gradually shaping job performance change patterns through their impact on skill utilization change trajectories. We tested our hypotheses using a 3-wave longitudinal study from 238 nurses collected over a four-year observation period. Using latent growth curve modelling, our results showed that performance-approach orientation positively predicted growth in skill utilization. In contrast, performance-avoid orientation negatively predicted skill utilization trajectories. Over time, skill utilization trajectories were also associated with job performance trajectories. Learning orientation was associated with higher initial levels of skill utilization, but unexpectedly, these high levels were not maintained over time. Our results help to provide a more nuanced understanding of the influence of goal orientations on temporal trajectories of skill utilization and performance. We discuss implications for designing effective, targeted interventions for providing opportunities to apply skills in nursing and health-related contexts.