Work engagement and job performance: the moderating role of perceived organizational support

Authors

  • Guo Yongxing School of Psychology, South China Normal University.
  • Du Hongfei University of Macau
  • Xie Baoguo School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan
  • Mo Lei School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.3.238571
Keywords: work engagement, job performance, perceived organizational support, objective task performance

Abstract

The present research was aim to examine whether the relationship between work engagement and objective task performance is moderated by perceived organizational support (POS). Based on the existing literature, perceived organizational support is hypothesized to strengthen the positive association between employees’ work engagement and their objective task performance. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 1049 employees. Results of hierarchical regression analysis show that: (1) work engagement is positively related to objective task performance, and (2) the relationship between work engagement and objective task performance is moderated by POS, such that the positive relationship is more significant when POS higher than lower. In the end, theoretical and practical implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akhtar, R., Boustani, L., Tsivrikos, D., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015). The engageable personality: Personality and trait EI as predictors of work engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 44-49.DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2014.08.040

Bakker, A. B., & Bal, P. M. (2010). Weekly work engagement and performance: A study among starting teachers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 189–206.DOI:10.1348/096317909X402596

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2008). Towards a model of work engagement. Career development international, 13(3), 209-223.DOI: 10.1108/13620430810870476

Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Lieke, L. (2012). Work engagement, performance, and active learning: The role of conscientiousness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 555-564.DOI:10.1016/j.jvb.2011.08.008

Behrman, D. N., & Perreault, W. D. J. (1982). Measuring performance of industrial salespersons. Journal of Business Research, 10, 355–370.DOI:10.1016/0148-2963(82)90039-X

Christian, M. S., Garza, A. S., & Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work engagement: A quantitative review and test of its relations with task and contextual performance. Personnel Psychology, 64(1), 89-136.DOI:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01203.x

Cropanzano, R., & Wright, T. A. (2001). When a “happy” worker is really a “productive” worker: A review and further refinement of the happy-productive worker thesis. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 53, 182–199.DOI:10.1037/10614087.53.3.182

Demerouti, E. (2006). Job characteristics, flow, and performance: The moderating role of conscientiousness. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11,266–280.DOI:10.1037/1076-8998.11.3.266

Demerouti, E., & Cropanzano, R. (2010). From thought to action: Employee work engagement and job performance. In A. B. Bakker, & M. P. Leiter (Eds.), Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research. New York: Psychology Press.

Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., De Jonge, J., Janssen, P. P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). Burnout and engagement at work as a function of demands and control. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 27, 279–286.

Eisenberger, R., Armeli, S., Rexwinkel, B., Lynch, P. D., & Rhoades, L. (2001). Reciprocation of perceived organizational support. Journal of applied psychology, 86(1), 42.DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.42

Eisenberger, R., Fasolo, P., & Davis-LaMastro, V. (1990). Perceived organizational support and employee diligence, commitment, and innovation. Journal of applied psychology, 75(1), 51.DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.75.1.51

Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R. H., & Sowa, S. (1986). Perceived Organizational Support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(31).

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56,218–226.DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218

Hakanen, J., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2006). Burnout and work engagement among teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 495–513.DOI:10.1016/j.jsp.2005.11.001

Halbesleben, J. R. B., & Wheeler, A. R. (2008). The relative roles of engagement and embeddedness in predicting job performance and intention to leave. Work and Stress, 22, 242–256.DOI: 10.1080/02678370802383962

Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of management journal, 33(4), 692-724.DOI: 10.2307/256287

Kim, H. J., Shin, K. H., & Swanger, N. (2009). Burnout and engagement: A comparative analysis using the Big Five personality dimensions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1), 96-104.DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2008.06.001

Kinnunen, U., Feldt, T., & Mäkikangas, A. (2008). Testing the effort-reward imbalance model among Finnish managers: The role of perceived organizational support. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(2), 114.DOI:10.1037/1076-8998.13.2.114

Ko, J. W., Price, J. L., & Mueller, C. W. (1997). Assessment of Meyer and Allen's three-component model of organizational commitment in South Korea. Journal of applied psychology, 82(6), 961.DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.82.6.961

Macey, W. H., & Schneider, B. (2008). The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 3–30.DOI:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.0002.x

Mathieu, J. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Salas, E. (1992). Influences of individual and situational characteristics on measures of training effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 35, 828–847.DOI:10.2307/256317

May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability and the engagement of human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 11–37."DOI: 10.1348/096317904322915892

Meyer, J. P., Bobocel, D. R., & Allen, N. J. (1991). Development of organizational commitment during the first year of employment: A longitudinal study of pre-and post-entry influences. Journal of Management, 17(4), 717-733.DOI: 10.1177/014920639101700406

Motowildo, S. J., & Van Scotter, J. R. (1994). Evidence that task performance should be distinguished from contextual performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 475–480.DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.79.4.475

Murphy, K. R., & Cleveland, J. N. (1991). Performance Appraisal. An organizationalPerspective. Needham Heigths, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A., & Crawford, E. R. (2010). Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of management journal, 53(3), 617-635.DOI:10.5465/AMJ.2010.51468988

Rousseau, D. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Sage.

Salanova, M., Agut, S., & Peiró, J. M. (2005). Linking organizational resources and work engagement to employee performance and customer loyalty: The mediation of service climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1217–1227.DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1217

Schaufeli, W. B., & Van Rhenen, W. (2006). About the role of positive and negative emotions in managers’ well-being: A study using the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS). Gedrag & Organisatie, 19(4), 223-244.

Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a brief questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 701–716.DOI: 10.1348/096317909X402596

Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness studies, 3(1), 71-92.DOI: 10.1023/a: 1015630930326

Shore, L. M., & Wayne, S. J. (1993). Commitment and employee behavior: comparison of affective commitment and continuance commitment with perceived organizational support. Journal of applied psychology, 78(5), 774.10.1037/0021-9010.78.5.774

Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2009). Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 183–200.DOI: 10.1348/096317908X285633

Published
21-07-2017
How to Cite
Yongxing, G., Hongfei, D., Baoguo, X., & Lei, M. (2017). Work engagement and job performance: the moderating role of perceived organizational support. Anales de Psicología / Annals of Psychology, 33(3), 708–713. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.3.238571
Issue
Section
Social and Organizational Psychology