Abstract:

Organizational socialization is one of the research hotspots in organizational behavior, and thus management scholars have become increasingly interested in understanding the impact of newcomers’ proactive behaviors on organizational socialization process. Based on the literature review, proactive behaviors of newcomers can be classified into three categories: role definition, relationship building and self-promotion. A set of variables consisting of personality trait, goal orientation, self-efficacy and context variables have been shown to contribute to the prediction of newcomers’ proactive behaviors. Proactive behaviors including role definition, relationship building and self-promotion have significant effects on newcomers’ organizational socialization. Future studies might consider integrating context factors and personal traits when studying the antecedents, examining the potential costs of proactive behaviors of newcomers as well as conducting indigenization researches and cross-cultural researches.

Key words: newcomers, proactive behaviors, organizational socialization