Does Fear Affect Work Productivity

Assignment 1: Draft Research Proposal

1. Research question

How does fear affect work productivity?

2. Type and goal of the research

The type of this research is positive. This is because the question focuses on explaining the relationships fear and work productivity. In fact, positive research question focuses on describing, understanding, explaining or predicting reality as it is, according to Toshkov (2016, p.24). Thus, the question of this study is positive.

In addition, this research aims to explain the effects fears has on work productivity. This goal classifies this research under explanatory box. In other words, this research is explanatory. This is because one of explanatory research goal is to identify general causal effects (Toshkov,

In fact, Giorgi and al (2015), in their research, found that fear affect employees’ mental health and therefore organization wellbeing. Also, Ragins and al (2014) who studied spillover of fear of home foreclosure to the workplace, found that employees with greater fear of losing their home reported to have great stress at work and this fear affect their commitment at work. Other studies elaborated measures to solve the impacts of fears. For instance, Leather and al (1997), in their study, explained that violence at work generate fears of becoming victim which in turn, generate less job satisfaction and less commitment at work, therefore, less work productivity. They provided a model such as integration of fear of appraisal in the organization as a solution to address that problem (Leather and al,

As a matter of facts, Guenin-Paracini et al.(2014) explicated that fear in audit organization also helps to stimulate vigilance, encourage self-surpassment, mitigate the anesthetizing effect of habit and maintain reputation. In addition, Samnani and Singh (2014) illustrated, in their research on performance –enhancing compensation practives and employee productivity the role of workplace bulllying, that fear increase productivity of bullying makers employees and decrease the productivity of victims of bullying at the workplace.

These studies have explained negative impact of fear in productivity and some positive effect of fears in certain workplace. However, they did not show the mechanism that link fears and work productivity. They only exposed some effects of fear. As a result, this research will address this particular issue.

5. Theoretical model and causal