Psychological Ownership Research Articles

The Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership and Job Satisfaction in Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Loyalty: A Case Study of Sichuan University of Technology

The Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership and Job Satisfaction in Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Loyalty: A Case Study of Sichuan University of Technology

Young consumers' online experiential consumption behavior of foreign contemporary music: generational and gender differences in the refined stimulus-organism-response theory

PurposeThis study aims to examine the younger generations’ experiential consumption of foreign contemporary music online (i.e. digital music streaming services) by generation and gender in the US market.Design/methodology/approachThe author proposes a sequential experiential consumption model by applying Jacoby’s refined stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory to better understand the experiential sequences in foreign music consumption among young generations in the US market. The proposed model, using structural equation modeling (SEM), examines a cognitive permeable role and a hierarchical affective mediating role. Also, moderating roles of generation and gender are simultaneously tested in overall and specific causal relationships.FindingsThe refined S-O-R framework is superior to a linear one in better understanding young consumers’ online experiential foreign music consumption behavior. Moreover, hierarchical sequenced affective organismic behavior is crucial to enhance young consumers’ online music consumption experiences to regulate subsequent behavioral responses. Furthermore, gender differences but no generational differences exist in the experiential consumption process among young consumers. Nevertheless, the strength of S-O-R factors affecting experiential consumption seems idiosyncratic simultaneously in gender and generation.Practical implicationsThe study suggests foreign music streaming services boost profitability by focusing on young consumers' psychological ownership and tailored experiences, encouraging a shift from freemium to premium subscriptions. Also, the findings recommend adopting phygital experiences using technologies like AR, VR and MR to enhance engagement and create unique, emotionally resonant experiences for young consumers, thus fostering a more profitable business model.Originality/valueThe authors address under-researched topics relevant to young generations by applying Jacoby’s refined S-O-R framework to foreign music consumption through online streaming. This approach delves into a lesser-explored consumer behavior framework, highlighting young generations’ musical trends. The model reveals cognitive and affective roles, offering advantages over traditional linear S-O-R models. It also uniquely incorporates the moderating effects of generation and gender in music consumption studies, addressing a gap in music-related studies.

Understanding the dynamics of social interaction in SIoT: Human-machine engagement

The Social Internet of Things (SIoT) amalgamates social networks with the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable intelligent devices to form social connections analogous to human networks. This research is grounded in psychological contract theory, which examines the reciprocal mechanisms arising from diverse customer interactions to encourage user engagement and provide recommendations on social media platforms. This study in particular identifies the factors that drive customer engagement on social media. It is unique in its exploration of customer interactions within the framework of psychological contracts across multiple levels of customer engagement (through customer empowerment). The findings reveal that psychological ownership among customers is influenced by empowering interactions on social media, which ultimately drive engagement behaviors.

Putting workers’ safety front and center: Employee-organization exchange and employee safety performance

Introduction: The global occupational accident situation remains severe. As enhancing employee safety performance constitutes a crucial part of accident prevention and safety management, the study aims to examine, from an employment relationship perspective, the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral mechanisms through which employee-organization exchange (EOX), as a social exchange type of employment relationship, can affect employee safety performance. Method: Data were collected from 672 subordinates and their immediate 100 supervisors in three large manufacturing firms in Guangdong province, China. Results: The results shows that: (1) EOX has a positive effect on employees’ safety risk perception, psychological ownership of safety promotion, and safety communication; (2) safety risk perception, psychological ownership of safety promotion and safety communication (as cognitive, motivational and behavioral mechanisms) mediate the relationship between EOX and safety performance (both safety compliance and safety participation); and (3) management commitment to safety moderates the direct effect of EOX on safety risk perception, psychological ownership of safety promotion, and safety communication, and its indirect effect on two forms of safety performance via the three mediating mechanisms. The moderating effect and moderated indirect effect are stronger when management commits more to safety. The study contributes to the employee safety literature. Practical Applications: Employers should establish a long-term oriented social exchange relationship with their employees for effective safety management.

Enhancing the Collective Psychological Ownership of Young Adult Social Workers in Chinese Organizational Contexts: A Recognition Perspective

ABSTRACT Informed by the recognition theory conceptualized by Axel Honneth, this study examined collective psychological ownership (CPO) and mis(recognition) perceived and experienced by young adult social workers (YASWs) aged 21–29. Using thematic analysis, the study thoroughly examined 16 transcripts collected from individual interviews and three focus group transcripts. The findings revealed that 1) recognition from different sources may foster a sense of commitment and encourage continued contributions among YASWs; (2) the effects of various forms of social recognition, including care/support, respect, and social esteem, on CPO may vary depending on different features of the recognition; (3) misrecognition encountered by YASWs on various levels in organizational contexts, including deprivation of care/support, undermining of agency, and diminution of esteem, may harm their CPO; and (4) social recognition can influence YASWs’ career planning, and excessive dependence on social recognition may have negative consequences for their CPO. The findings of this study also showed the constraining effects of contextual factors such as policy shortcomings, excessive workloads, and dynamics among stakeholders on the exercise and power of (mis)recognition. This study sheds light on the development of recognition-based human resources strategies in social service organizational contexts, with the aim of fostering a work climate characterized by sharedness.

Unpacking the dynamics of workplace innovation among nurses: The synergistic relationship between psychological ownership and high-performance work systems

ABSTRACT The study investigated the influence of high-performance work systems on the relationship between psychological ownership and workplace innovation among nurses in the health sector of Ghana. A sample of 327 nurses was selected using convenience sampling technique. The data obtained from self-reported questionnaires were evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results indicate that psychological ownership and high-performance work systems positively influence workplace innovation, and high-performance work systems enhance the nexus between psychological ownership and workplace innovation. The findings suggest that the management of health care entities should focus on creating a workplace culture that cultivates psychological ownership among employees and implements high-performance work systems to foster workplace innovation.

Do Psychological Ownership and Communicative Presence Matter? Examining How User-Generated Content in E-Commerce Live Streaming Influences Consumers' Purchase Intention.

E-commerce live streaming has become a lucrative global industry. As the main carrier to convey information in live broadcasting, user-generated content (UGC)-and especially bullet screens-are crucial in influencing users' purchase intentions. However, the influence of bullet screens' multidimensional information characteristics on consumers' decision-making processes requires further exploration. Additionally, most existing studies start with the short-term effects of live product realization, and must address how to enhance customers' psychological ownership using new means of live streaming marketing to obtain long-term sustainable brand-building effects. This study introduces psychological ownership and the communicative presence as mediating variables based on the theory of elaboration likelihood modeling to explore the mechanism of the influence of UGC's multidimensional features on viewers' purchase intentions in live e-commerce broadcasting rooms. We collected 404 valid online questionnaires and tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling. These findings indicate that UGC emotions, quality, and their interaction significantly and positively affect purchase intentions. Moreover, psychological ownership and the communicative presence mediate UGC's effect on purchase intentions. These results provide a new perspective for understanding consumer behavior in live e-commerce to improve marketing effectiveness of e-commerce live streaming platforms.

Steering agricultural interventions towards sustained irrigation adoption by farmers: socio-psychological analysis of irrigation practices in Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT Complex contextual and sociopsychological factors influence the adoption of agricultural technologies like irrigation. This study used the sociopsychological Risk-Attitude-Norms-Abilities-Self-Regulation (RANAS) framework to examine the factors impacting irrigation adoption in Maharashtra (India). Logistic regression modelling was conducted based on cross-sectional surveys in 2019 and 2022, with interim interventions promoting risk-awareness and irrigation technology training. Effects of the interventions on the psychological variables in 2022 were corrected using instrumental variable regression. While micro-irrigation adoption rose from 36.9% to 62.8%, overall irrigation counterproductively decreased from 81.6% to 70.4%. Results indicated that wealth and risk-aversion remained relevant, while self-perceived ability and attitude towards irrigation became non-significant to irrigation adoption. This study highlights the unintended consequences of interventions and the necessity to also transform attitudes, and promote psychological ownership and trust to sustain irrigation technology adoption behaviour. These results could support stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, water authorities) in designing and implementing more sustainable interventions.

Do you own Mazu’s glorious sunlight? The mediating role of psychological ownership between authentic experiences and behavioural intentions

ABSTRACT Searching for authentic experiences and perceiving ownership of God's favour are critical motivations for pilgrims. However, the link between authentic experiences, psychological ownership, and pilgrims’ behavioural intentions is not fully explored, and how psychological ownership mediates the effect of authentic experiences on intentions remains unclear. This study develops a theoretical model of the relationships among existential authentic experience, object-based authentic experience, psychological ownership, and the behavioural intentions of pilgrims in the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage, Taiwan. The analytical findings reveal that both types of authentic experiences significantly enhance psychological ownership, which positively affects behavioural intentions. However, while object-based authentic experience directly influences behavioural intention, existential authentic experience impacts behavioural intention only indirectly through psychological ownership, emphasising the crucial mediating role of psychological ownership. The practical implications suggest strategies to enhance authentic experiences and utilise virtual reality technology to strengthen pilgrims’ connection and sense of ownership. These insights provide valuable guidance for pilgrimage organisers to improve pilgrims’ engagement, fostering increased revisit intentions and positive word-of-mouth. This research is original in its thorough investigation of psychological ownership’s mediating effects and its integration of both existential and object-based authentic experiences, offering a deeper understanding of creating more meaningful and engaging pilgrimage experiences.

Institutional quarantine and dishonest behavior

Quarantine has been implemented worldwide to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Although recent literature has outlined the mental and psychological costs of quarantine, its ethical costs are not fully understood. In two online experiments conducted during an institutional quarantine event (481 participants), we find that institutional quarantine leads to more dishonest behavior, including lying about the outcome of a random-draw task and overreporting one’s performance in a real-effort task to gain financial benefits. By directly manipulating individuals’ perceived psychological ownership, we provide suggestive evidence that psychological ownership may be one mechanism underlying the relationship between institutional quarantine and dishonest behavior. A complementary experiment (226 participants) suggests that anxiety and frustration may also serve as explanatory factors for this effect. We then discuss the implications of our findings, which may inspire approaches to mitigate the negative effects of institutional quarantine on honesty.

Exploring the role of psychological ownership toward organizational innovation in family businesses

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the link between psychological ownership and organizational innovation in family businesses. The research also explored the mediating effect of knowledge transfer alongside the moderating role of governance practices. Design/methodology/approach A total of 116 family businesses across India took part in the study. Data were collected with the help of a structured questionnaire supplied to the seniormost family member of each firm. The data were analyzed by using the moderated mediation model analysis in R. Findings The findings indicate that psychological ownership is a key driver of organizational innovation in family businesses. The transfer of knowledge mediates the relationship between psychological ownership and organizational innovation. Moreover, governance practices of the businesses moderate the association between psychological ownership and knowledge transfer, and its downstream consequences on organizational innovation. Originality/value While previous research has explored various aspects of nurturing innovation, the present study explores the effect of psychological ownership in the context of family businesses in India. This study also gives insights into how knowledge transfer and governance practices work together to influence innovation in these businesses.

The Dual Effects of AI-Enhanced Task Automation on Team Members’ Psychological Ownership

The Dual Effects of AI-Enhanced Task Automation on Team Members’ Psychological Ownership

Collective Psychological Ownership Leverages Feedback-Seeking for New Venture Performance

Collective Psychological Ownership Leverages Feedback-Seeking for New Venture Performance

How Promotive Psychological Ownership Helps Employees High in Competitive Orientation Become Stars

How Promotive Psychological Ownership Helps Employees High in Competitive Orientation Become Stars

How does knowledge leadership influence knowledge hiding? A psychological ownership perspective

ABSTRACT This study explores how knowledge leadership mitigates knowledge hiding within cross-functional project teams (CFPTs). From a psychological ownership perspective, this study hypothesizes that knowledge leadership influences knowledge hiding via the mediating effect of knowledge-based and organization-based psychological ownership. Additionally, this study proposes the moderating role of mastery climate between psychological ownership and knowledge hiding. Then, this study used a questionnaire-based survey to collect data and adopted regression analysis and bootstrapping methods to analyse the data to test the proposed hypotheses. Results indicate that (1) knowledge leadership has a negative effect on knowledge hiding; (2) both knowledge-based and organization-based psychological ownership play the mediating role between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding; (3) the relationship between organization-based psychological ownership and knowledge hiding is moderated by mastery climate. The relationship between knowledge-based psychological ownership and knowledge hiding is also moderated by mastery climate. This study provides implications for managers to mitigate knowledge hiding within CFPTs.

What do you own if you have nothing? Psychological ownership in the context of institutional minimalism in the armed forces

In an era where capitalism and sustainability must cooperate to preserve resources, a new minimalist lifestyle trend has emerged. While material possessions offer comfort, immaterial possessions like relationships provide meaning and purpose. Psychological ownership suggests people can become attached to both material and immaterial objects, even without legal ownership. This article explores ownership targets and their meaning in a minimalist professional setting through a qualitative study of 84 interviews. The research expands existing PO classifications, by introducing a new category, and explores the link with team cohesion. It also provides insights into the development of possession feelings, proposing concepts like “reversed” psychological ownership, where individuals feel “owned” by their organization instead of owning it, and “wandering” psychological ownership, highlighting the fluidity and adaptability of perceived ownership feelings.

The Impact of Green HRM Practices on Employee Performance: Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership in The Banking Sector of Pakistan

This paper investigates the mediating role of psychological ownership in the association between green human resource management and employee performance. The study utilized a quantitative research design based on data analysis of 980 employees from 20 commercial banks in Pakistan. Psychological ownership mediates the association between green human resource management practices and employee performance. The paper highlights the significance of green human resource management practices in fostering psychological ownership and enhancing employee performance in the workplace. For future studies, longitudinal designs with multiple sources and stages of data collection will be essential to gain a profound understanding of the relationship between the constructs. Testing across various organizational forms and cultures is recommended for a comprehensive assessment. Managers are encouraged to raise employee awareness through green human resource management practices to help employees attain a competitive edge by enriching their knowledge, skills, and abilities, enhancing their quality of life and work performance. This study contributes to the existing literature by offering a descriptive and practical elucidation of the role of psychological ownership among the employees of the banking sector in Pakistan in the connection between green human resource management practices and employee performance. The banks must recruit those individuals who have the knowledge and work for a sustainable environment, and they own their position at the workplace.

Psychological empowerment and employee resilience in travel agencies and hotels

Purpose Responding to the need for exploration of psychological predictors influencing innovation, this study aims to examine the impact of psychological ownership (PO) in employee innovation behavior (EIB) with a focus on psychological empowerment (PE) and employee resilience (ER) as mediators. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from full-time employees working in travel agencies and five-star hotels in Egypt. A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling analysis was performed on 409 valid responses. Findings The findings of this study revealed PO has a positive effect on EIB. Such relationship is partially mediated by PE and ER. Originality/value Theoretically, this study offers valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms that elucidate how PO influences employees' innovation behavior and resilience, while aligning with the principles of self-determination theory.

Knowledge Hiding Behavior in Online Learning Communities: A Chain Mediation Based on Self-Efficacy and Organizational Psychological Ownership

With its flexible and convenient learning methods, rich learning resources and convenient information transmission channels, the online learning community has injected new impetus into the cause of education. However, the open and generative characteristics of the online learning community also preclude learning activities from implementing collective constraints, resulting in the emergence of knowledge hiding behavior. Based on this, researchers have attempted to explore the factors that affect knowledge hiding behavior and to identify the influencing mechanisms. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), this study analyzed a questionnaire on the knowledge hiding behavior of 420 graduate students in online learning communities and found that professional commitment, transformational leadership and a proactive personality have a negative impact on knowledge hiding behavior through self-efficacy and organizational psychological ownership. Based on the model interpretation, this paper suggests that the following aspects should be explored for their potential to diminish knowledge hiding behavior: Assess the proactive personality level of graduate students; the training unit can stimulate students’ self-efficacy in terms of the expected results, rewards, relationships and perceived costs of the individual; the supervisor should establish and improve the knowledge sharing mechanism within the organization; the tutor should strengthen the cultural construction of the scientific research team.

How to Extend China’s Rural Land Contracts for Another 30 Years: A Psychological Ownership Perspective

In China’s rural land system, the collective owns the land, and farmers, as members of the collective, can acquire land contractual management rights through land contracting. With the second round of land contracts nearing expiration, the central government has announced that the term should be extended for 30 years. This paper introduces the theory of psychological ownership to explore the implementation paths of the 30-year extension policy. The study finds that (1) farmers generally exhibit strong psychological ownership towards the contracted land. (2) The Household Contract Responsibility System satisfies the three routes for the formation of psychological ownership—control, intimate knowledge, and self-investment. As the duration of farmers’ possession of contracted land extends, their psychological ownership gradually forms and strengthens. (3) Farmers’ psychological ownership has both positive and negative effects. The 30-year extension policy must adhere to the path dependence formed by the evolution of the land contract system, comply with the institutional constraints imposed by rural land collective ownership, and simultaneously meet the practical demands posed by urban–rural integration and agricultural development. Drawing on the complex effects of farmers’ psychological ownership and considering the historical, institutional, and practical contexts of policy implementation, this study proposes the dual necessity of facilitating and restraining farmers’ psychological ownership when extending for another 30 years and offers corresponding policy suggestions. Facilitation requires empowering farmers with more stable land possession and stronger land rights. Restraint requires preventing the permanent locking of rural land allocation patterns to achieve fair and efficient land allocation.