Psychological Entitlement Research Articles

Perceived overqualification and knowledge sharing: The role of organizational identity and psychological entitlement.

Employees' perception of being overqualified is a critical factor in influencing their knowledge sharing behavior. However previous studies have not examined the internal mechanism by which perceived overqualification affects knowledge sharing. Drawing on social exchange theory, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between perceived overqualification and knowledge sharing and to examine the mediating effect of organizational identity and the moderating role of psychological entitlement. Participants were 284 full-time employees from different companies in China. They answered self-report questionnaires that assessed perceived overqualification, knowledge sharing, organizational identity, and psychological entitlement. Path analyses were conducted, and the latent moderated structural equations were used to judge the significance of the mediation and moderation. The results revealed that overqualified employees were less willing to share knowledge, and the mediating role of organizational identity was significant. Further, the presence of high psychological entitlement would diminish the beneficial effect of organizational identity on employee knowledge sharing. The findings of the study enrich and expand our knowledge on the relationship between overqualification and knowledge sharing and have theoretical and practical implications for promoting constructive behavior among overqualified employees.

Forms of Calling and Helping Behaviors at Work: Psychological Entitlement and Moral Duty as Mediators

Even though calling researchers have identified two major forms of calling, namely modern and neoclassical, existing studies do not agree on whether these two forms are consistent or different in their mechanisms and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether modern and neoclassical calling are both indirectly related to unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through the mediating roles of psychological entitlement and moral duty. Additionally, this study also aimed to investigate whether psychological entitlement functions as a mediator greater in magnitude for modern calling, whereas moral duty functions as a mediator greater in magnitude for neoclassical calling. Results from 463 employees in South Korea from two time points at 1 month interval revealed that both modern and neoclassical calling were indirectly positively related to UPB through psychological entitlement and indirectly positively related to OCB through moral duty. There was insufficient evidence to support the notion that the mediators would be different in magnitude based on the form of calling. Thus, this study demonstrates the double-edged nature of calling in relation to OCB and UPB. Additionally, it suggests that the outcomes of employees’ calling at work may depend more on the strength rather than the form of their calling. The implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Would entitled people be more proactive at work? Examining contrasting mechanisms based on the proactive motivation model

Previous research has largely regarded psychological entitlement as detrimental to organizational effectiveness. In contrast, this study presents a more nuanced view by exploring its relationship with proactive work behavior. Drawing on the proactive motivation model, we propose that psychological entitlement influences proactive work behavior in both positive and negative ways, with need for uniqueness, role-breadth self-efficacy, and emotional exhaustion serving as mediators for the “reason to,” “can do,” and “energized to” states, respectively. Through a field study and an experiment, our results consistently showed that psychological entitlement had positive influences on proactive work behavior. Our study thus highlights that psychological entitlement should not be seen solely as problematic, sheds light on new mechanisms through which it influences work outcomes, and deepens our understanding of individual differences in proactive behavior at work.

Psychological Entitlement and Behavioral Outcomes: An Integrated Model in Beijing's Service Sector

This paper explores the relationship between psychological entitlement and various behavioral outcomes, including job performance, turnover intentions, and interpersonal conflict, within Beijing’s service sector. The study proposes an integrated model that examines entitlement as a key factor influencing these outcomes, with potential mediating variables such as job satisfaction and moderating factors like organizational culture. The framework highlights how entitlement-driven attitudes can negatively impact employee behavior and organizational performance, particularly in high-stress service environments. The paper also suggests future empirical research to test the model across different service industries in urban centers and emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies to understand the long-term effects of psychological entitlement on employee behavior. This interdisciplinary approach offers valuable insights for managing entitlement perceptions and improving workplace dynamics.

Psychological Entitlement among Teachers in Schools with International Standards

The current research aims to identify the psychological entitlement among teachers in schools with international standards in the Directorate of Education in Basrah Governorate for the academic year (2023-2024). The sample consisted of (400) teachers in schools with international standards, and the scale was presented to a group of jury totaling (24) judges, with all items accepted at a rate of (100%). The reliability coefficient was (0.82), and the theoretical mean of the scale was (27). The results showed statistically significant differences in favor of the sample members, indicating that they have high psychological entitlement.

Impact of psychological entitlement on engagement in learning activities and psychological anxiety: the mediating role of envy

Psychological entitlement has appeared as a significant topic for research in the field of management and Psychology. From the perspective of social comparison theory, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of psychological entitlement on engagement in learning activities and psychological anxiety in the hotel industry. Furthermore, benign and malign envy were examined as an explanatory mechanism between psychological entitlement and its outcomes. Based on a three-wave time-lagged design, data were obtained from 242 employees working in the different hotels in Pakistan. We found that psychological entitlement’s has no direct influence on hotel employees engagement in learning activities, and psychological anxiety. In addition, the indirect effect of psychological entitlement on both outcomes (engagement in learning activities and psychological anxiety) was found significant through the mediating effect of benign and malign envy. The implications for research theory and practice are discussed.

The Impact of Leader's Psychological Entitlement on Subordinate's Task Performance: Mediating Effect of Relational Energy and Moderating Effect of Core Self-Evaluation

The Impact of Leader's Psychological Entitlement on Subordinate's Task Performance: Mediating Effect of Relational Energy and Moderating Effect of Core Self-Evaluation

Do Cyberbullying Victims Feel more Entitled to Bully Others Online? The Moderating Role of Gender.

Previous studies have found that adolescent cyberbullying victimization is associated with cyberbullying perpetration and have explored the potential mediating mechanisms between the two. Although some valuable research has been accumulated, further exploration is needed on the underlying mechanisms of why cyber victims are transformed into cyberbullying perpetrators. Based on the General Aggression Model of Cyberbullying and the Social Role Theory, this study examined the mediating role of psychological entitlement and the moderating role of gender on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 836 adolescents, utilizing the cyberbullying victimization scale, cyberbullying perpetration scale, and psychological entitlement questionnaire. The results found that (a) cyberbullying victimization, psychological entitlement, and cyberbullying perpetration were significantly and positively correlated with each other; (b) after controlling for gender and age, cyberbullying victimization significantly and positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration and psychological entitlement mediated the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration; (c) Gender moderates the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. Specifically, compared with the girls, cyberbullying victimization had a greater effect on cyberbullying perpetration among boys. The results of this study suggest that cyberbullying victims consider that they have more entitlement to bully others online. These findings support the General Aggression Model of Cyberbullying and provide new insights for the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying perpetration.

Class differences in gratitude and entitlement drive response to COVID‐19 measures

AbstractOwing to the COVID‐19 pandemic, strict government interventions in China have been implemented for more than 3 years as of 2023. How do people of high or low social class respond to the prolonged COVID‐19 measures? Recent evidence has yielded inconsistent conclusions. In this study, we move beyond such debate and focus on the underlying motives that are closely related to both social class and COVID‐19 measure responses. Using a large Chinese sample (N = 1193, 48.50% women, Mage = 30.92 years, SD = 6.08), we found that participants with higher (vs. lower) social class, whether subjective or objective, reported greater gratitude, which in turn increased their willingness to support COVID‐19 measures (i.e. greater public health support and self‐prevention behaviour, and less pandemic burnout). However, those with higher (vs. lower) subjective social class also reported more psychological entitlement, which decreased their willingness to support COVID‐19 measures (i.e. less public health support and greater pandemic burnout). These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of how social class may influence people's response to COVID‐19 measures.

Psychological Entitlement and Behavioral Outcomes: An Integrated Model in Beijing's Service Sector

Psychological Entitlement and Behavioral Outcomes: An Integrated Model in Beijing's Service Sector

Arrogance from favor: the better supervisor-subordinate guanxi, the more counterproductive work behaviors

PurposeDrawing on the attribution theory, this study re-examined the effect of supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG) on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) by highlighting the critical moderating role of job self-efficacy and the mediating role of psychological entitlement, with the aim of revealing the potential drawbacks of SSG.Design/methodology/approachThree-wave matched data were collected from 434 employees working in China. The authors adopted path analysis in Mplus 7.4 to test the hypotheses proposed in this study.FindingsThe results suggested that among subordinates with high job self-efficacy, SSG triggers psychological entitlement, which subsequently leads to CWBs.Originality/valueThis research challenges the prevailing consensus regarding the beneficial effects of SSG on subordinate management from the social exchange theory perspective by revealing when and why high-quality SSG can also engender subordinates’ psychological entitlement and subsequent CWBs. By doing so, this study provides a more dialectical view of the impact of establishing high-quality SSG in human resource management.

A serial mediation model reveals the association between parental over-protection and academic entitlement among nursing students

The study aims to explore the influence of parental over-protection on academic entitlement of nursing students, and examine the mediating roles of external locus of control and psychological entitlement. The study sampled two medical universities in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, China. Participants were nursing students in grades one to four (N = 1003; mean age = 19.51 years; 81.95% female). Using a structural equation model, we examined the mediating effect of external locus of control and psychological entitlement on parental over-protection and academic entitlement. The results show that there was a significant correlation between all variables, and external locus of control and psychological entitlement played a serial mediating role between parental over-protection and academic entitlement. Our findings suggest that academic entitlement of nursing students can be reduced by adjusting parental rearing behaviors, reducing students’ psychological entitlement, and teaching them how to form a healthier attribution style.

Linking proactive and reactive helping behaviour to knowledge hiding: the moral licencing perspective from China

ABSTRACT This research explores when and how employees’ helping behaviour leads to subsequent knowledge hiding. Using moral licencing theory, it examines the psychological mechanisms driving employees’ behavioural shift from good to bad. Analysis of data from a multi-point tracking questionnaire in China reveals that: (1) Both proactive and reactive helping behaviours can stimulate psychological entitlement. (2) Proactive and reactive helping indirectly influence evasive hiding and playing dumb through psychological entitlement, but not rationalized hiding. (3) Reactive helping is more likely to induce a moral licencing effect than proactive helping. (4) Moral ownership negatively moderates the relationship between proactive and reactive helping and psychological entitlement. Furthermore, moral ownership negatively moderates the mediating effect of psychological entitlement. This study offers an important theoretical framework for understanding the behavioural change from ‘good to bad’ in the workplace, offering managers insights to develop strategies for governing employees’ helping behaviour and knowledge hiding.

Organizational Identification, Moral Identity Centrality and Organizational Engagement of Millennials: Moderating Impact of Psychological Entitlement

This study analyses the moderating impact of psychological entitlement on the relationships between organisational identification, moral identity centrality and organisational engagement of Millennials. It addresses the knowledge gap pertaining to the organisational engagement of Millennials. Although engagement is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct, organisational engagement has only recently received the focus of attention of researchers. Despite Millennials being considered an entitled generation, psychological entitlement remains largely an unexplored area. The survey involved 285 Millennial Master of Business Administration (MBA) students in two leading universities in Sri Lanka. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicated no support for the premise that psychological entitlement moderated the relationships between organisational identification or moral identity centrality and organisational engagement of Millennials. The results provide valuable insights into the organisational engagement of Millennials and address some of the gaps in understanding the impact of psychological entitlement on organisational engagement.

Why pro-organizational unethical behavior contributes to helping and innovative behaviors: the mediating roles of psychological entitlement and perceived insider status

Why pro-organizational unethical behavior contributes to helping and innovative behaviors: the mediating roles of psychological entitlement and perceived insider status

Why is leader humility related to OCBs? A psychological entitlement explanation of the curvilinear moderated relations

PurposeIntegrating the reciprocity and equity lenses, this study explores the curvilinear relationship between leader humility and employee organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) by introducing psychological entitlement and perspective taking, and constructing a moderated mediation curvilinear model aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of why and how leader humility affects OCBs.Design/methodology/approachUsing multisource, three-wave data collected from 261 employees and 55 supervisors in China, we adopted multi-level modeling analysis to test the moderated mediation curvilinear model that links leader humility to OCBs.FindingsWe found a curvilinear relationship between leader humility and psychological entitlement, and psychological entitlement mediated the curvilinear indirect relationship between leader humility and OCBs. Furthermore, employees' perspective taking buffered this curvilinear indirect effect.Originality/valueFollowing social exchange theory and prior research discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of leader humility, this study developed and tested a moderated mediation curvilinear model of the relationship between leader humility and OCBs. Our study thus provides a more balanced and dialectical perspective on understanding the effects of leader humility and enriching the leadership process model. This study also offers actionable strategies for leaders and organizations to optimize the benefits of humble leadership.

A person-centered approach to behaving badly at work: An examination of workplace deviance patterns.

To investigate research questions surrounding workplace deviance, scholars have primarily applied variable-centered approaches, such as overall deviance measures or those that separate interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance. These approaches, however, ignore that individuals might employ more complex combinations of deviance behaviors that do not fit neatly within the existing variable frameworks. The present study explores whether person-centered deviance classes emerge in a comprehensive database of the prior studies. We then investigated whether these classes showed differences in antecedents and correlates in an independent sample of working adults from multiple industries. In Study 1, a multilevel latent class analysis of 20 independent samples and 6,218 individuals revealed five classes of workplace deviance, thus providing preliminary support for a person-centered approach. In Study 2, a time-lagged sample of 553 individuals showed the emergence of five classes that largely reflected the patterns found in Study 1. Study 2 points to meaningful differences between classes of deviance behaviors and antecedents, including abusive supervision, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and psychological entitlement; classes are also uniquely associated with correlates such as organizational citizenship behaviors, turnover intentions, job performance, and job satisfaction. Altogether, this work is an important first step toward understanding workplace deviance with a person-centered lens. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

How supervisor perceived overqualification influences exploitative leadership: the mediating role of job anxiety and the moderating role of psychological entitlement

PurposeDrawing on appraisal theory of emotion, this study aims to establish and test a moderated mediation model underlying the process of exploitative leadership by investigating the mediating role of job anxiety and the moderating role of psychological entitlement.Design/methodology/approachWe collected two-wave questionnaire data from 355 supervisors with matched responses from 1,065 subordinates in Hubei province of China. Hierarchical multiple regression and PROCESS macro were applied to test our hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated that supervisor perceived overqualification prompted supervisor job anxiety, which then led to raised exploitative leadership. Additionally, we found that supervisor psychological entitlement intensified the direct effect of supervisor perceived overqualification on supervisor job anxiety as well as the indirect effect of supervisor perceived overqualification on exploitative leadership through supervisor job anxiety.Originality/valueAlthough researchers have documented a growing number of consequences of exploitative leadership, less focus has been placed on its antecedents. The study extends our understanding of why, how and when supervisors engage in exploitative behaviors.

Zadowolenie rodziców dzieci z zaburzeniami ze spektrum autyzmu ze specjalistycznego wsparcia dziecka i rodziny

Introduction: There is a significant increase in the number of children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The principle of collaboration with parents is one of the basic elements of comprehensive support provided to both children with ASD and their families. Research Aim: The aim of the research was a multi-faceted approach to the level of satisfaction of parents of children with ASD with the professional support and a search for personal traits and dispositions related to the level and various aspects of parents’ satisfaction with collaboration with specialists supporting their children and families. Method: The research was carried out in a group of 204 parents of children with ASD. The following measures were used: Family-Professional Partnership Scale (FPPS), Enabling Practices Scale (EPS), Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) – TIPI-PL; Psychological Entitlement Scale (PES), and Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6). Results: The obtained results show an above-average satisfaction of parents with the support they receive. Significant predictors of the satisfaction of surveyed parents with the specialist support were the following personal characteristics and dispositions: gratitude, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Conclusions: The results enable an initial assessment of satisfaction with formal support among parents of children with ASD. They also indicate selected personal dispositions related to a high level of satisfaction with the support received.

A study on the double-edged sword effect of inclusive leadership on employees' work behaviour-dual path perspective of cognition and affection.

In order to cope with the volatile social environment and organisational change, more and more scholars call on leaders to stimulate subordinate effectiveness to a greater extent with inclusive behaviour. Existing studies focus on the positive impact of inclusive leadership, but ignore its potential negative impact. This study integrates Cognition-affection Personality System Theory to explore the double-edged sword mechanism of inclusive leadership on subordinates' work behaviour. Through the data analysis of 518 paired questionnaires collected in three stages, the results are as follows: Inclusive leadership has a positive impact on subordinates' psychological entitlement and state gratitude; Psychological entitlement and state gratitude play mediation roles not only between inclusive leadership and work withdrawal behaviour, but also between inclusive leadership and active behaviour; Subordinate narcissistic personality moderates the positive effect of inclusive leadership on psychological entitlement and state gratitude, and then moderates the indirect effect of inclusive leadership on subordinate work withdrawal behaviour and proactive behaviour through psychological entitlement and state gratitude. The above results expand the research on the action mechanism and boundary conditions of inclusive leadership in Chinese organisational context, and provide practical guidance for organisational managers to effectively conduct inclusive leadership.