15 General Introduction Research Question 1: How can proactive vitality management be conceptualized and reliably measured? The first goal of this dissertation is to identify and explore a particular type of behavior that I call ‘proactive vitality management.’ To this end, proactive vitality management is conceptualized and embedded into the existing literature in Chapter 2. To thoroughly explore proactive vitality management, an instrument to capture the phenomenon and foster systematic research on it is required. Such an instrument allows for an examination of potential individual differences and within-person fluctuations in proactive vitality management. Moreover, the instrument may be used to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms, consequences, and other relevant factors and conditions surrounding the proactive vitality management process (research goals 2 and 3). These insights support theory-building and, therefore, contribute to the literature and help yield valuable practical implications and recommendations. In Chapter 2, the development and validation of the proactive vitality management (PVM) scale is presented. The items for the scale are formulated to capture the goaloriented nature of the construct, referring to behaviors aimed at promoting work. Moreover, based on the vitality literature, the physical, affective, and cognitive aspects inherent to vitality are included in the scale. The psychometric quality of the instrument is tested by examining its reliability and factor structure. In addition, because there may be intraindividual fluctuations in the use of proactive vitality management, the validation of the state-version of the scale is presented in Chapter 2 as well. Finally, the nomological network of both scales is examined to ensure that proactive vitality management has some conceptual overlap, but may also be meaningfully distinguished from theoretically associated constructs. Research Question 2: What are the consequential processes of proactive vitality management? The second objective of this dissertation is to explore the consequential processes of proactive vitality management. In line with the key attributes of proactive behavior established by Parker et al. (2010), proactive vitality management is not only selfstarting, but also inherently change-oriented, and future-focused. By using proactive vitality management, individuals may aim to achieve a different future – more specifically, optimal functioning at work (see Figure 1). Throughout the chapters in this
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