Perceived organizational support and employees’ well-being: the mediating role of organizational dehumanization

Perceived organizational support (POS) has been found to predict important organizational outcomes such as increasing employees’ well-being. In this research, we examine a new underlying mechanism of the relationship between POS and employees’ well-being, that is, employees’ perceptions that their organization dehumanizes them. This proposition was tested across two studies. Using an experimental design manipulating POS in a laboratory setting, Study 1 indicated that in the high POS condition, the subsequent feelings of being dehumanized by the organization were lower than in the low POS condition. More importantly, organizational dehumanization perceptions were found to mediate the POS condition and satisfaction link. Furthermore, using a sample of 1209 employees, results of Study 2 indicated that organizational dehumanization mediates the relationship between POS and three indicators of employees’ well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and psychosomatic strains). Implications for research on both organizational support theory and dehumanization theory are discussed.     

Professional isolation and pandemic teleworkers’ satisfaction and commitment: The role of perceived organizational and supervisor support

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly and profoundly changed the way people interact with their organization, their colleagues and their supervisor.ObjectiveThis study assesses the effects of telework-induced professional isolation due to the pandemic. Drawing on organizational support theory, this study examines the relationship between professional isolation and satisfaction with the telework experience and affective organizational commitment during mandatory teleworking caused by the COVID-19 crisis. It does so by focusing on the moderating role of perceived organizational and supervisor support in these relations.MethodsData was collected via self-reported survey questionnaires from 728 pandemic teleworkers from various industry sectors in Quebec during the COVID-19 crisis. The study's hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM), and moderation effects were probed with the Johnson-Neyman technique.ResultsThe results reveal that professional isolation negatively affects satisfaction with the telework experience, but does not affect affective organizational commitment. The relationship between satisfaction with telework and professional isolation was moderated by perceived organizational support, and the relationship between affective organizational commitment and professional isolation was moderated by perceived supervisor support.ConclusionThis study expands the organizational support theory by examining perceived organizational and supervisor support during a crisis as a counterbalance to a challenging social and organizational climate that has led to professional isolation. The implications of the findings as well as future directions for research on professional isolation and telework are discussed.     

Employees’ mood, perceptions of fairness, and organizational citizenship behavior

Previous research findings concerning employees’ perceptions of fairness and positive mood as predictors of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) have been equivocal. Explanations for this inconsistency may be related to the varying types of manipulation techniques adopted and samples tested. To address these issues, the present study adopted the mood and fairness manipulation techniques of Bachrach and Jex (2000, Journal of Applied Psychology, 30(3), 641–663) to investigate their effect on OCB amongst a sample of 138 employees from five large service organizations. The findings revealed that employees’ perceptions of fairness affected their likelihood to perform organizational citizenship behaviors. One implication of this finding is that employees’ perceptions of fairness may have a more enduring effect, in comparison to their mood, on increasing their extra role work behaviors. However, a close evaluation of the mood manipulation technique suggests that further research is needed before any firm conclusions can be made on the relative effect of empolyees’ perceived fairness and positive mood on OCB.     

Why does mentoring work? The role of perceived organizational support

The authors examined the mediating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between mentoring support received and work attitudes. Perceived organizational support partly mediated the relationship between specific types of mentoring support and job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. Specifically, sponsorship, exposure and visibility, and role modeling appear to be related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment through perceived organizational support. Perceived organizational support did not appear to mediate the relationship between other specific forms of mentoring support and job satisfaction and organizational commitment.     

Reporting daily and critical events: journalists’ perceptions of coping and savouring strategies,and of organizational support

Although journalists are increasingly being viewed by scientific research as an at-risk occupational group, there is still little knowledge on their strategies for dealing with occupational stressors, in both daily work settings and in critical scenarios, and on the support provided by the media organizations. Taking the occupational stress model as a framework, 25 Portuguese journalists, experienced in reporting critical events, were interviewed on their perceptions of the coping and savouring strategies they use, as well as of their organizations’ support in daily work and critical events. Differences among these variables, according to deployment frequency to critical events were statistically analysed. The data content analysis showed that emotion-focused coping strategies were the most frequently mentioned for both settings, whereas savouring strategies were only referred to for critical events. Perceptions of coping strategies were four times more frequent than those of savouring, and the need for organizational support was especially stressed. Significant differences were identified in all variables according to the number of deployments to critical events. These findings may contribute to a reflection on the role of media organizations in promoting journalists’ occupational health in both settings. The article closes by suggesting directions for future studies.     

Perceived organizational structure for teacher liking: the role of peers’ perceptions of teacher liking in teacher–student relationship quality,motivation, and achievement

Previous research has identified the role of perceived peer hierarchies, or organizational structures, in affecting students’ adjustment to school (Lease et al. 2003, Journal of Early Adolescence, 23, 194–217). The purpose of this study was to examine whether middle school classrooms can be described in terms of the perceived status individual students hold for who will and will not be ‘liked’ by the teacher. Specifically we examined: (1) Do students share a mutually agreed on representation, a perceived organizational structure, for describing relative status with their teacher? (2) Are teachers perceived as systematically favoring girls or boys? (3) Are peers’ perceptions of teacher liking associated with individual students’ social and academic motivation and relationship quality with teachers? (4) Are students identified by peers as ‘not liked’ at risk for long-term teacher rejection and underachievement? And, (5) What are the underlying criteria students use to judge teacher likeability? Data for this study were drawn from peer ratings from 516 (262 boys, 254 girls) middle school students in 20 classrooms. Findings indicate multidimensional scaling techniques can be used to map the ‘teacher-liking space,’ accounting for  > 90% of the variability in peers’ ratings of teacher likeability. Additionally, findings indicate perceived status in the teacher-liking space has consequences for students’ achievement and teacher relationship quality.     

Beyond social exchange: Collectivism’s moderating role in the relationship between perceived organizational support and organizational citizenship behaviour

Perceived organizational support plays an important role in the social exchange relationship between the employee and the organization. We propose that individual differences in collectivism affect the extent to which employee–organization relationships are based on social exchange, and that therefore collectivism moderates the relationship between perceived organizational support and organizational citizenship behaviour. Results of a survey (N = 293) assessing perceived organizational support, collectivism, and supervisor ratings of organizational citizenship behaviour supported this hypothesis. We conclude that organizational citizenship behaviour originates from social exchange processes only among employees who construe the self in relatively individualistic terms.     

Identification and goal choice of managerial candidates–organizational and individual perspectives

Abstract

Goal-setting theory and organizational culture research both emphasize that correspondence of individual and organizational goals is important, especially for executives and managerial candidates. The formerly dominating perspective of a passive individual eager to adopt organizational goals has recently been contrasted by a perspective of an active individual trying to pursue his/her own personal work goals in the organization. In a longitudinal study, 904 German academic managerial candidates were surveyed in order to investigate the causes of their identification with organizational goals, their expectations of advancement and their choice of personal work goals. The influence of organizational characteristics, i.e. number of employees, sector, and organizational culture, as well as the influence of individual job orientations were examined. Results show, that on the one hand organizational culture influenced managerial candidates' identification with organizational goals and their expectations of advancement, but had hardly any impact on their personal work goals. On the other hand, job orientations of managerial candidates affect both their identification with the organization and their personal work goals beyond organizational characteristics. Implications for selection and development of managerial candidates are discussed.     

The role of passion,need satisfaction,and conflict in athletes’ perceptions of burnout

This research examined the role of harmonious and obsessive passion in athletes’ perceptions of burnout. Two studies using correlational designs were carried out with different samples of athletes of varied skill levels. In Study 1, we found that obsessive passion was positively, and harmonious passion negatively, associated with burnout perceptions in athletes. Results of Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 and in addition used Structural Equation Modeling analyses to support the mediating role of conflict and need satisfaction in the relation between types of passion for sport and athletes’ perceptions of burnout. Furthermore, it was found that harmonious passion for a second activity was associated with lower athletes’ perceptions of burnout; while obsessive passion for a second activity was directly associated with it. The results have important implications for theory and research on passion as well as burnout in sport.     

The sources of bullying–psychological work environment and organizational climate

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the work-related risks of bullying in the psychological work environment and the organizational climate. Also the role of some individual and personality characteristics in becoming a victim of bullying were investigated. Altogether 949 municipal employees answered a mailed questionnaire; 10.1% of them felt themselves bullied. Especially some features in the functioning of the work unit, e.g. poor information flow, an authoritative way of settling differences of opinion, lack of mutual conversations about the tasks and goals of the work unit, and insufficient possibilities to influence matters concerning oneself can all promote bullying. Both the victims and the observers of bullying perceived deficiencies in these aspects at their workplace. Gender and age did not explain bullying. The victims of bullying felt that envy, a weak superior, competition for tasks or advancement, and competition for the supervisor's favour and approval were the most common reasons for bullying.     

What makes a group of good citizens? The role of perceived group‐level fit and critical psychological states in organizational teams

Recent studies have expanded the construct of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to the group level and demonstrated its significance in predicting group performance. In this study, we have further expanded this growing stream of research regarding group‐level OCB (GOCB), by identifying distinct group characteristics that predict GOCB. Specifically, we have isolated perceived group–organization (G–O) fit and group–task (G–T) fit as meaningful antecedents of GOCB. We further propose that the perceived G–O and G–T fit influence GOCB by shaping two intermediate psychological states of group members: cohesion and group efficacy. Our findings, which were based on multi‐source data collected from 43 organizational teams, demonstrated that cohesion completely mediated the effect of perceived G–O fit on GOCB. Group efficacy, however, proved not to be a significant mediator of the relationship between perceived G–T fit and GOCB. Instead, G–T fit had a significant direct effect on GOCB. This study highlights the significance of group‐level conceptualization of group–environment interaction as a potential driver of various group processes and outcomes.     

The theory‐ladenness of observations,the role of scientific instruments,and the Kantian a priori

During the last decades it has become widely accepted that scientific observations are ‘theory‐laden’. Scientists ‘see’ the world with their theories or theoretical presuppositions. In the present paper it is argued that they ‘see’ with their scientific instruments as well, as the uses of scientific instruments is an important characteristic of modern natural science. It is further argued that Euclidean geometry is intimately linked to technology, and hence that it plays a fundamental part in the construction and operation of scientific instruments. Finally, Euclidean geometry is compared to fractal geometry, and the question of its a priori status is raised. Although the position that Euclidean geometry is a priori in the original Kantian sense is untenable, the paper concludes that in some restricted sense Euclidean geometry may be said to be a priori.     

A time-lagged investigation of the mediating role of person–organization fit in the relationship between leader–member exchange and employee affective organizational commitment

This study provides a new perspective on the relationship between LMX and affective organizational commitment, treating person-organization fit (P-O fit) as an explanatory mechanism and identifying co-worker support and customer recognition as moderators of the first stage of this indirect relationship. Results of a three-wave time-lagged study of survey responses obtained from 137 employees working in the retail service sector over a three-year period were consistent with the proposed model. Multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses revealed that LMX indirectly and positively predicted affective organizational commitment through its positive relationship with P–O fit, suggesting that LMX provides a means by which supervisors are able to instill organizational values in employees and/or signal the degree to which their values match those of the organization. Moreover, co-worker support and customer recognition each moderated the first stage of this indirect relationship, such that the relationship between LMX and P–O fit and, in turn, its indirect relationship with affective organizational commitment is stronger as support from co-workers or customer recognition is lacking. At high levels of co-worker support and customer recognition, LMX exhibits no significant relationship with P–O fit. Together, these results provide new explanations for how and under which conditions LMX might influence employee commitment, suggesting that LMX is particularly salient when employees are lacking other sources of relational support or recognition and that high-quality relations with co-workers and/or customers may serve to compensate for low LMX quality in shaping P–O fit and affective organizational commitment.     

Does organizational reciprocity improve employees’ motivation? The mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction

Current Psychology - While the effect of organizational reciprocity on employees’ attitudes and behaviors has received much attention, the relationships between different forms of reciprocity...     

Asian adolescents’ perceptions of parent, peer, and school support and psychological adjustment: The mediating role of dispositional optimism

This investigation examines the respective contributions of perceived support from parents, peers, and school to the psychological adjustment of 519 thirteen-year-old Asian adolescents from a middle school in Singapore, and the mediating role dispositional optimism plays in these relationships. The findings suggest that positive supportive relationships with parents, peers, and the school are important contextual factors influencing the psychological well-being of these adolescents. Dispositional optimism partially mediates support from each of these three sources and psychological adjustment. Sex differences were noted. This study contributes to a small body of research highlighting the role of a positive mechanism that underpins emotional wellbeing and psychological adaptation in the three developmental contexts that are important in shaping the beliefs, thinking and behavior of the growing Asian adolescent, particularly with respect to girls. Implications arising from this study are discussed. This study was supported by the Academic Research Fund grant (RI 5/04 YLS) from National Institute of Education to Lay See Yeo.     

When and how health-oriented leadership relates to employee well-being—The role of expectations,self-care,and LMX

Despite the increasing interest in leaders’ health-promoting behavior, the employees’ role in the effectiveness of such behavior and the mechanisms underlying how such leadership behavior affects their well-being have largely been ignored. Drawing on implicit leadership theories, we advance the health-oriented leadership literature by examining employees’ ideals, that is, their expectations regarding such leader behavior, as a moderating factor. We propose that higher expectations increase the association between actual health-oriented leader behavior and employee-rated leader-member relationships (LMX) and health-oriented behaviors by employees, which, in turn, positively relate to their well-being (here: exhaustion and work engagement). We tested our theoretical model in three studies, using a cross-sectional design (Study 1, N = 307), a two-wave time-lagged design (Study 2, N = 144) and an experimental design (Study 3, N = 173). We found that the effect of actual health-oriented leader behavior on LMX is contingent on employees’ ideal health-oriented leader behavior. Yet, for employees’ self-care behavior, the proposed moderation was only significant in Study 1. High expectations strengthened the relationship between actual health-oriented leader behavior with LMX and self-care behavior, which, in turn, were associated with less exhaustion and more work engagement (only LMX), supporting most of our mediation hypotheses. Our results highlight the pivotal role of employees’ expectations regarding leaders’ health support and help in building practical interventions with regard to leaders’ health promotion.     

Nourishing or suppressing? The contradictory influences of perception of organizational politics on organizational citizenship behaviour

Drawing on both social exchange theory and impression management theory, this study sought to explain how perception of organizational politics (POP) influences organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) through two contrary psychological processes. We proposed that through the mediation of job satisfaction, POP has an inhibiting effect on OCB; through the mediation of careerism, POP has a nourishing effect on OCB. Data were obtained from 393 police officers and their colleagues from a city police department in northern Taiwan. Results from structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that the relationship between POP and OCB was negatively mediated by job satisfaction and positively mediated by careerism. Such antithetical psychological processes imply that employees may experience psychological dilemmas over the performance of OCB when they perceive their organization as political. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.     

Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The roles of leader–member exchange,self-efficacy,and organizational identification

This research investigated the link between ethical leadership and performance using data from the People’s Republic of China. Consistent with social exchange, social learning, and social identity theories, we examined leader–member exchange (LMX), self-efficacy, and organizational identification as mediators of the ethical leadership to performance relationship. Results from 72 supervisors and 201 immediate direct reports revealed that ethical leadership was positively and significantly related to employee performance as rated by their immediate supervisors and that this relationship was fully mediated by LMX, self-efficacy, and organizational identification, controlling for procedural fairness. We discuss implications of our findings for theory and practice.     

The role of imagination,rule‐operations,and atmosphere in Wittgenstein's language‐games

Wittgenstein argues that understanding a language consists of mastery of techniques for playing language‐games rather than some sort of mental state or episode such as mental imagery, rule invocation, or atmosphere investing our experience of words. His elimination of the three mentalistic alternatives presupposes the peculiar distinction, or its virtual lack, between speaker and listener presupposed by his positive claim, instead of establishing the latter. This paper vindicates the episodic nature of certain types of understanding, and gives each of his three alternatives a suitably qualified role therein, by drawing the distinctions in a less biassed way.     

What will I be? The role of temporal perspective in predictions of affect, traits, and self-narratives

This article examined the effect of temporal perspective on the multifaceted future self (i.e., affect, traits, and self-narratives). Participants imagined themselves in the near versus distant future, and subsequently predicted their affect (Experiment 1), traits (Experiment 2), and naturalistic self-concepts (Experiment 3). Drawing from the Construal Level Theory and self-enhancement literatures, we hypothesized and found across three experiments that predictions of one's self in the distant future are more positive than predictions of one's self in the near future. Furthermore, building upon literature on the existence of normative and culturally sanctioned implicit theories of positive growth throughout the life span, we hypothesized and found that increased temporal distance yielded less variable predictions of affect, traits, and self-narratives (all three experiments) and that higher-level attributions mediated the effect of temporal perspective on the positivity of self-narratives (Experiment 3) and that time distance leads to more positive and less variable future selves.