Adaptive performance

One of the major endeavors in industrial, work, and organizational psychology has been to understand and predict individual job performance (Viswesvaran, 2001). Traditional models of job performance focused on individuals’ task and interpersonal behaviors in a static environment. Complementing traditional models of job performance, research on adaptive performance (AP) emphasizes individuals’ responses to changing work environments. Recent developments on AP research have warranted an in-depth review of the literature.

We begin this chapter with a brief historical background of the AP literature and discuss the primary conceptualizations of AP. Our critical review of the literature, organized by two dominant research paradigms, focuses on key studies that advance understanding of AP. After the review, we highlight the connection between the AP literature and several other bodies of literature, and end the chapter with directions for future research.