Antecedents and outcomes of idiosyneratic deals in academic supervisor- scholar relationships in India

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to explore idiosyncratic deals under the lens of Theory of Prosocial Reasoning, Self-determination theory and Signaling Theory and examine additional antecedents and outcomes of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) in the context of academic supervisor-scholar relationships. Two conceptual models are proposed. Model 1 or the antecedent model tests the relationship between two dimensions of empathy i.e. perspective-taking and empathic-concern and three types of i-deals i.e. task & work responsibility, schedule flexibility and location flexibility i-deals with prosocial motivation as the moderator. Model 2 investigates the relationship between ideals and dropout intentions among scholars through the intermediate processes of competence-need satisfaction, perceived trust, academic self-concept, motivation and perceived stress. To test the proposed hypotheses, data was obtained through survey method employing structured questionnaire in both online and in-person mode. Data was collected from 317 supervisors and 797 research scholars across Central Universities, IIMs, IITs, NITs and Other Ivy league institutions selected based on latest NIRF rankings. Data was subjected to demographic analysis and moderation analysis using SPSS and Process Macro and structural equation modelling using AMOS. Results indicated that perspective-taking positively relates to all the three types of-ideals whereas empathicconcern relates positively with only task and work responsibility i-deals. Prosocial motivation moderated the relationship between empathy and task and work responsibility i-deals such that at higher levels of prosocial motivation enhanced the possibility of authorization task i-deals in the presence of cognitive and affective empathy dimensions. The authorization of i-deals also related positively to supervisors’ perceived outcomes in terms of improved performance, increased motivation and better work-life balance. Further, i-deal receipt related negatively to dropout intentions indicating reduction in intention to dropout on receiving i-deals as it leads to competence-need satisfaction and greater perceived trust which in turn lead to higher academic self-concept, motivation and reduced stress. The present study makes a theoretical contribution by advancing theories of prosocial motivation and i-deals theory in a novel context as well as extends a practical solution for effective management of supervisor-scholar relationship in academic institutions. Keywords: Empathy, idiosyncratic deals, supervisor-scholar relationships, doctoral attrition.