APPLICATIONS OF ACTION THEORY

Action theory has implications for several domains, including stress, training, job analysis, work design, error management, emotion regulation, competence development, and personality enhancement. 

Action theorists emphasize socialization processes by considering malleable facets of personality, motivation, and cognitive ability as dependent variables that may be affected by work action. For example, work environments encouraging forward thinking induce action styles such as planfulness (i.e., the detailed development and persistent implementation of long-range plans). 

New ideas on error management and the function of errors in the learning and training process were also derived from action theory. Research examining why so-called superworkers produce superior results without spending more time at work revealed that they

engage more frequently in planning and have better operative image systems, reflected in greater knowledge of error frequencies, the signals indicating errors, and the duration and efficiency of different

strategies of dealing with errors.

Conceptualizing stress as a disturbance of action regulation, action theory offers a theoretically grounded stressor taxonomy, composed of three categories: 

(a) regulation obstacles (i.e., interruptions and

regulation difficulties such as poor visibility or lack of information); 

(b) regulation uncertainties (e.g., role ambiguity); and 

(c) overtaxing regulations (e.g., time pressure). 

Multiple job analysis tools have been developed based on action theory. These tools typically provide a structured assessment of regulatory requirements and difficulties (e.g., the degree to which the

work requires a conscious development and coordination of new plans). The function of emotions for action regulation, particularly in service work, has also been analyzed within an action theory context. Emotions enable people to continue with the action process

despite barriers and difficulties. Examples are the motivation derived from pride in anticipation of goal attainment and the role of negative affect in facilitating an objective assessment of environmental barriers.