Building on appraisal theory, we investigate how proactive individuals experience and react to resistance to their proactive behavior within organizations on a daily basis. We propose that, for proactive individuals, resistance to their proactive behavior is associated with the negative emotions of anger and anxiety. These emotions, usually seen as problematic, in turn affect differentially subsequent behavior. More specifically, we hypothesize that anger is associated with counterproductive work behavior and that anxiety is associated with further proactive behavior. Using a diary study with event sampling, we asked participants recruited via an online panel during five consecutive days whether they tried to proactively initiate a change at work before displaying event-specific questions. Results based on 124 proactivity events from 82 respondents indicated that resistance to proactive behavior is followed by anger and anxiety. Anger was associated with counterproductive work behavior. Anxiety was associated with further proactive behavior. Our findings highlight that, when faced with resistance, proactive individuals may experience the negative emotions of anger and fear. We also show that some negative emotions (anxiety), usually seen as problematic, may be linked to positive outcomes and fuel further proactive behavior.
