Job-based Psychological Ownership Research Articles

Integrating the bright and dark sides of temporal leadership on employees’ thriving at work

PurposeDrawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to examine the relationship between temporal leadership (TL) and employees’ thriving at work (TW) by focusing on the positive mediating role of perception of work-goal progress (PWP), the negative mediating roles of job-based psychological ownership (JPO) and the moderating role of synchrony preference (SP).Design/methodology/approachWe employed a dedicated data collection platform called Credamo for two waves of online questionnaires in China between March 2022 and April 2022. A total of 326 questionnaires were collected and analyzed to test the hypotheses.Findings(1) TL directly and positively affects TW. (2) TL indirectly and positively affects TW via PWP. (3) TL indirectly and negatively affects TW via JPO. (4) SP positively moderates the positive mediating effect of PWP on the relationship between TL and TW. (5) SP negatively moderates the negative mediating effect of JPO on the relationship between TL and TW.Practical implicationsSupervisors in organizations ought to discreetly practice TL and try to maximize the positive role of PWP and minimize the negative role of JPO.Originality/valueThe findings simultaneously discuss the effects of TL on TW from dark and bright perspectives. The influence of interaction between contextual and individual features on TW is also specified.

Value Compatibility: Work–Family Conflict, Psychological Ownership, Person–Organisation Value Congruence and Turnover Intention amongst Chinese Social Workers

Abstract Chinese social work has experienced a sharp rise in staff turnover. Work–family conflict is a key risk factor for employees’ turnover intention. Whilst the relationship between work–family conflict and turnover intention has been widely documented, little is known about its mediating and moderating mechanisms, especially amongst social workers in China. This study explored the mediating role of job-based and collective psychological ownership and the moderating role of person–organisation value congruence. The study drew on data from the China Social Work Longitudinal Study 2019, a nationally representative sample of 1,421 Chinese social workers (79.73 per cent female; mean age = 28.9 years old). We performed a moderated mediation analysis combining a simple slope test and the Johnson–Neyman technique. Both job-based psychological ownership and collective psychological ownership were found to mediate the association between work–family conflict and turnover intention. Person–organisation value congruence moderated the indirect relationship between work–family conflict and turnover intention via collective psychological ownership. This study enhances understanding of the impact of the psychological mechanisms of work–family conflict on Chinese social workers’ turnover intention. Specific strategies should be adopted to establish a work environment that supports psychological ownership, enhance social workers’ identification with and attachment to their organisations, and thus reduce their turnover intention.

Feeling possessive, performing well? Effects of job-based psychological ownership on territoriality, information exchange, and job performance.

Job-based psychological ownership arises when workers develop personal feelings of possession over various aspects of a job. Drawing on conservation of resources and regulatory focus theory, the current research adopts a resource-based perspective to suggest a double-edged effect on job performance, mediated by three forms of territoriality (marking, defending, expanding) and information exchange and moderated by individual regulatory focus. With a multistep process in Study 1, the authors develop and validate a territorial expanding scale. Among 358 employee-supervisor dyads, Study 2 tests the proposed model; job-based psychological ownership prompts employees to engage in territorial marking, defending, and expanding. Territorial defending correlates negatively with information exchange, territorial expanding is positively related to it, and territorial marking has no relationship with information exchange. Information exchange is positively related to job performance. Job-based psychological ownership impedes job performance through increased territorial defending and reduced information exchange, especially among employees with a prevention focus. It enhances job performance through increased territorial expanding and increased information exchange, particularly if employees have a high promotion focus. These findings have notable implications for research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

An Empirical Examination of the Genesis of Psychological Ownership

While there are many empirical studies of psychological ownership, there are few that examine the origins of it. Why do people develop feelings of ownership over various entities in their lives? In this investigation we empirically explore the role played by basic psychological needs as motives for the development of job-based psychological ownership. Specifically, we hypothesize that person-job fit is positively related to job-based psychological ownership through three major routes (experienced control, intimate knowing, and/or investment of the self). Further, based on extant theory but not previously studied, we hypothesized that self-identity needs and effectance motivation act as first stage moderators of these mediated relationships. Based on data from 308 employees in China, and employing a time-lagged design, we observed a significant positive relationship between person-job fit and psychological ownership through the three routes. Most of these mediated relationships were moderated by the need for self-identity and effectance motivation, such that the positive effects became stronger as the motivational needs strengthened. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Proactively Seeking Challenges for Job Satisfaction: The Interplay of Psychological Ownership Among IT Sector Professionals

The coronavirus pandemic has put the spotlight on employee happiness and well-being. Employees’ job satisfaction in a post-COVID-19 scenario is a vital concern for academics and organizations. It is a crucial research question to decipher if employees can proactively rise to challenging job demands and achieve job satisfaction. Also, though the role of job crafting has been studied as an antecedent of job satisfaction, it has not been examined in alliance with job-based psychological ownership (PO). Taking note of this, this study examines the mediating role of job-based PO between seeking challenging job demands (SCJD) and job satisfaction (JS). The study contributes to the growing understanding of post-pandemic employee JS. It provides preliminary empirical evidence of the enabling roles of job-based PO and proactive job crafting in achieving JS. Data for the study were collected from Information Technology (IT) and IT enabled Services (ITeS) sector employees in India using online questionnaires. One hundred eighty-four solicited responses were included in the data analysis and analysed using SPSS and AMOS. Results establish that employees SCJD experience higher job satisfaction. The mediating effect of PO on the association between SCJD and JS has been found. The results have both practical and theoretical implications. This study provides evidence of the beneficiary aspect of proactive employee behaviour. Managers can adopt mechanisms to enable job crafting and ownership. JS can be enhanced by raising the levels of PO and proactive crafting undertaken by SCJD to further learning opportunities at work. Limitations of the study have been discussed.

Supplemental Material for Feeling Possessive, Performing Well? Effects of Job-Based Psychological Ownership on Territoriality, Information Exchange, and Job Performance

Supplemental Material for Feeling Possessive, Performing Well? Effects of Job-Based Psychological Ownership on Territoriality, Information Exchange, and Job Performance

Associations between psychological ownership and the service impact among Chinese disability support workers.

Ambiguous perceptions of job roles by service providers may lead to poor service quality. This study sought to examine the relationship between role ambiguity and service impact among disability support workers, and further, to compare the mediating effects of job-based and collective psychological ownership in the role ambiguity-service impact link. Data were derived from a longitudinal survey conducted in 56 cities in mainland China in 2019. 1153 social workers working in disability and rehabilitation services sectors completed the questionnaire. Structural equation modeling analyses and bootstrapping were applied to test the proposed model. The results revealed that role ambiguity is a risk factor for disability support workers' service impact. Furthermore, psychological ownership serves mediating roles in the relationship between role ambiguity and service impact among disability support workers. Even more, job-based psychological ownership plays a more critical buffering role than collective psychological ownership does among Chinese disability support workers experiencing role ambiguity. The main findings imply that human service organizations in China face the dilemma of insufficient organizational capacity, with employees tending to resolve problems by relying more on their own resources than organizational resources. Therefore, policymakers and human service organizations should develop the organizational capacity of human service organizations to help employees overcome role ambiguity.

Citizenship fatigue and psychological ownership among employees in family hotels: moderating effect of family management

PurposeThis paper examines the relationships between citizenship fatigue, organisational- and job-based psychological ownership and family management among family hotel employees in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA total of 479 workers took part in the study by completing either a self-reported questionnaire or an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The hotels and respondents were selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques, respectively. IBM SPSS version 21 and partial least squares structural equation model were used to process and analyse the data.FindingsCitizenship fatigue was found to be a negative predictor of organisational- and job-based psychological ownership. Additionally, job- and organisational-based psychological ownership were positively predicted by family management. Furthermore, family management positively moderates the relation between citizenship fatigue and organisational- and job-based psychological ownership.Originality/valueThis study appears to be one of the first to have investigated a model linking family management, citizenship fatigue and psychological ownership in the family hotel context.

Transformational Leadership Dimensions and Job-Based Psychological Ownership as Facilitators in International Intrapreneurship of Family Firms

  R esearch Aims: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of transformational leadership dimensions (TL) and job-based psychological ownership (PO) on nonfamily employee international intrapreneurship in family firms (FFs).   Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a sample of 246 key role nonfamily employees at 118 family-owned export and import SMEs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The data are analysed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results: The article identifies four dimensions of TL and international intrapreneurship in which both concepts are interlinked. Job-based PO plays a significant role in the TL dimensions' effects on international intrapreneurship.   Theoretical Contribution/Originality: The article establishes the mechanism by which TL constructs influence nonfamily employee international intrapreneurship actions by examining the mediating role of employee job-based PO in FFs.   Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context : FFs need to develop the architecture and mechanisms for enabling nonfamily employees' international intrapreneurship to be committed to TL constructs and job-based PO.   Research limitation & implications: This article contributes to international business theory by interpreting the export trading results of FFs using entrepreneurship theory. However, each stage of FFs international business requires a unique set of resources. As a result, it is necessary to incorporate theoretical perspectives from both domains to explain each internationalisation stage of FFs adequately.  

Service-oriented high-performance work systems and service role performance: Applying an integrated extended self and psychological ownership framework

How do organizations build an internal capability or processes to implement a service excellence strategy and thereby create sustained competitive advantage? Drawing on an integrated extended self and psychology of ownership framework as well as Bowen and Ostroff’s human resource (HR) system strength perspective, this study examines processes linking perceived service-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWS) and overall service role performance. Multi-wave data obtained from 530 employees and 53 supervisors in the hospitality industry were used to test our hypotheses. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) results revealed that higher levels of supervisor customer orientation strengthened the perceived service-oriented HPWS-employee customer orientation relationship leading to job-based psychological ownership. In turn, job-based psychological ownership related to overall service role performance and together with employee customer orientation, sequentially mediated the influence of perceived service-oriented HPWS on overall service role performance. We interpret our findings as providing initial evidence of an alternative motivational pathway through which an HR system influences performance in a frontline service role.

The relationship between psychological ownership and knowledge sharing

Despite great attention to the effectiveness of psychological ownership in organizations, its relationship with knowledge sharing has been barely understood with theoretical and empirical evidence. There are inconsistent theoretical predictions and empirical results on the relationship between psychological ownership and knowledge sharing. To clarify the relationship, we apply social identity theory to theorize that psychological ownership experiences a significant psychological mechanism. We posit that organization based psychological ownership (OBPO) and job based psychological ownership (JBPO) can influence knowledge sharing differently through identification with coworkers. Additionally, we propose that diversity climate can amplify or suppress the effects of psychological ownership on knowledge sharing. Using a two-wave study design, we examined the distinctive roles of diversity climate in the relationship between psychological ownership and knowledge sharing. With this study, we highlight that the relationship between psychological ownership and knowledge sharing is dependent on employees’ social identity surrounding ownership targets and diversity climate.

Perceived Service-Oriented High-Performance Work Systems and Global Service Performance

Despite its role in building an internal capability to implement a service excellence strategy, research has yet to examine whether perceptions of a strategically-focused human resource (HR) system instills customer orientation in frontline employees and ultimately, enhance their service role performance. Drawing on an integrated extended self and psychology of ownership framework, this study examines processes linking perceived service-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWS) and global service role performance. Multi-wave data obtained from 530 employees and 53 supervisors in the hospitality industry were used to test our hypotheses. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) results revealed that higher levels of supervisor customer orientation strengthened the perceived service-oriented HPWS-employee customer orientation relationship leading to job-based psychological ownership. In turn, job-based psychological ownership related to global service performance and together with employee customer orientation, sequentially mediated the influence of perceived service-oriented HPWS on a broader conceptualization of service role performance.

Team reward interdependence and team performance: roles of shared leadership and psychological ownership

PurposeDrawing on the motivated information processing in groups (MIP-G) model, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between team reward interdependence and team performance, treating shared leadership as a mediator and team average job-based psychological ownership as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a field sample of 72 knowledge-based work teams comprised of 466 team members and their team leaders. Data were analysed using hierarchical regression analysis and moderated path analysis.FindingsTeam reward interdependence was positively related to team performance through shared leadership. Team average job-based psychological ownership moderated both the relationship between team reward interdependence and shared leadership, and the indirect relationship between team reward interdependence and team performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe shared leadership literature is extended by exploring the antecedents of shared leadership from the perspective of team incentives and by examining the moderating role of team average job-based psychological ownership.Practical implicationsOrganizations and managers should pay attention to team pay system design and be aware of the importance of employees’ psychological ownership toward their jobs in promoting shared leadership in teams.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the antecedents of shared leadership from motivated information processing perspective and examines antecedent boundary conditions through the moderating role of team average job-based psychological ownership.

개인중심의 변혁적 리더십, 직무기반 심리적 주인의식, 일 몰입 및 직무성과의 구조적 관계

This study aims to examine how individual-focused transformational leaders play an essential role in employee job performance by assessing the mediating role of job-based psychological ownership and work engagement. Data was collected from a sample 597 employees working in a public sector organization in Korea. The research hypotheses were verified using a structural equation model.BRThe results indicate that individual-focused transformational leadership has a positive impact on job performance. Work engagement partially mediated the relationship between those variables, but job-based psychological ownership did not. And job-based psychological ownership and work engagement have sequential mediating effects that relationship. By identifying individual-focused transformational leadership as a determinant of job-based psychological ownership and work engagement, this paper provides a comprehensive framework to understand the process through which leadership influences individual behavior and motivation toward job performance of front-line employees.

Social exchange and psychological ownership as complementary pathways from psychological contract fulfillment to organizational citizenship behaviors

PurposeSocial comparison and job-based psychological ownership (JPO) are compared and contrasted as explanations for relationships between organization relational psychological contract fulfillment (ORPCF) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs).Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 241 employees and 82 of their managers at an information services company. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test for hypothesized and exploratory indirect relationships.FindingsConsistent results were found for sequential mediation from ORPCF to employee investment of the self into the job, to JPO, to supervisor-rated helping and voice OCBs. Employees' perception of their relational psychological contract fulfillment (social exchange) did not simultaneously mediate the relationships between ORPCF and employees' OCBs.Research limitations/implicationsPsychological ownership presents a complement to social exchange to explain effects of relational psychological contract fulfillment on employee outcomes. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the data conclusions about causality are quite limited.Practical implicationsOrganizations and managers should emphasize that fulfillment of relational psychological contract obligations represent a significant investment in employees, who reciprocate by investing themselves into their work. This in turn bolsters JPO and its positive employee outcomes.Originality/valueThis is the first study to directly compare social exchange and psychological ownership explanations for effects of psychological contract fulfillment on employees.

The future of your job represents your future: a moderated mediation model of transformational leadership and job crafting

PurposeIn this study, the authors aim to explain the mechanism between transformational leadership and job crafting. They predict that job-based psychological ownership (job-based PO) mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and job crafting. Furthermore, job-based PO is more effective when employees have a high level of affective organizational commitment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected time-lagged data through a paper–pencil survey from the sales department of large pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that job-based PO mediates the positive relationship between transformational leadership and job crafting. Moreover, the relationship of job-based PO with job crafting is moderated by affective organizational commitment such that the relationship was stronger at the high levels of affective organizational commitment than that of the low levels of affective organizational commitment.Practical implicationsOn practical grounds, job crafting can be useful for individuals and organizations. On individuals’ side, it helps them to balance their job demands and resource; on organizations’ side, it provides a solution to the ongoing problem of disengaged employees and suggests managers identify new ways to support employees with their job redesign.Originality/valueThis study suggests that job-based PO and affective organizational commitment are important factors that influence the relationship between transformational leadership and job crafting.

It's mine! Psychological ownership of one's job explains positive and negative workplace outcomes of job engagement.

Job engagement denotes the extent to which an employee invests the full self in performing the job. Extant research has investigated the positive outcomes of job engagement, paying little attention to its potential costs to the organizations. Integrating the extended self theory and the literature on psychological ownership as our overarching theoretical framework, we develop and test the double-edged effects of job engagement on workplace outcomes through the mediating role of job-based psychological ownership. Analyses of two survey studies with multisource multiphase data support that job engagement can lead to positive workplace outcomes including in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) through job-based psychological ownership. At the same time, job engagement is also positively related to negative workplace outcomes including territorial behavior, knowledge hiding, and pro-job unethical behavior through the same mechanism of job-based psychological ownership. These indirect effects of job engagement on negative work outcomes are amplified by employees' avoidance motivation. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Voice Behavior: The Role of Perceived Support and Psychological Ownership

This study aims to delineate the key socio-emotional needs important for voice behavior. To do this, we examine individual and contextual factors as mechanisms underlying how psychological ownership and perceived support influence employee voice behavior. Employing survey research of 210 employees from two big companies in Indonesia, analyses revealed that perceived supervisor support had direct and indirect effects on voice behavior, and job-based psychological ownership is a crucial mediator of the relationship between organization-based psychological ownership and perceived supervisor support on voice behavior. Path analysis offered further support for the complete model (χ = 4.25, df = 3, P-value = 0.235, RMSEA = 0.045). The present study contributes to current understanding by demonstrating that psychological ownership (i.e., an individual characteristic) and perceived supervisor support (i.e., a contextual characteristic) dynamically affect voice behavior. We discuss implications for research on voice behavior by highlighting key drivers to support employees’ emotional needs that are essential for voice behavior. 2

Acquiescent and defensive silence in an Indonesian context

Although employee silence is already well-known to cause harms to both employees and organizations, less is known about the individual and situational factors that can influence it. This study reveals the relationships among acquiescent silence, defensive silence, psychological contract breaches, job-based psychological ownership, voice efficacy, psychological safety and task cohesion. Employing scales with good reliability scores (α between 0.8 to 0.95), we conducted a survey on a sample of of 260 public employees of an Indonesia’s government institution. Analysis indicates that (1) individual factors (voice efficacy and psychological contract breach) and situational factors (task cohesion and psychological safety) work hand in hand to affect silence behavior; and (2) job-based psychological ownership has no relationship with acquiescent and defensive silence. This paper discusses (1) the importance incorporating individual and situational factors in understanding silence behavior; and (2) the collectivistic nature of Indonesian people that may contribute to the importance of situational factor (i.e., task cohesion) on silence behavior well and beyond psychological ownership.

Exploring the link between clinical managers involvement in budgeting and performance: Insights from the Italian public health care sector.

The public health care sector has had an increase in initiatives, mostly inspired by New Public Management principles, aimed at assigning financial accountability to clinical managers. However, clinical managers might experience a scarce alignment between professional values and organizational requirements, which is a potentially important phenomena that may result in negative consequences on clinical managers' job performance. Building on Psychological Ownership Theory and adopting a psychology-based management accounting research approach, we focus on the managerial (nonmedical) role the clinical manager fulfills and explore the budgetary participation-performance link via the indirect effects of job-based psychological ownership, role clarity, and clinical managers' affective commitment toward managerial roles. The data were collected by a survey conducted in an Italian hospital. The research hypotheses were tested employing a path model. Our study revealed new insights that shed some light on underexplored processes through which mental states mediate the participation-performance link. Among these latter, the findings demonstrate that (a) budgetary participation has a direct effect on job-based psychological ownership; (b) role clarity mediates participation- and job-based psychological ownership link; (c) role clarity and job-based psychological ownership partially mediate the participation-commitment link; and (d) job-based psychological ownership, role clarity, and commitment fully mediate the participation-performance link. From a managerial viewpoint, an understanding of how clinical managers' feelings of ownership toward managerial roles could be enhanced is imperative in health care because ownership accounts for important attitudinal and organizational consequences. Results suggest that health care organizations that invest in budgetary participation will directly and indirectly affect clinical managers' psychological ownership, and this, along with role clarity, motivates clinical managers' managerial work attitudes and performance.