Do employee responses to organizational support depend on their personality? The joint moderating role of conscientiousness and emotional stability

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored whether two Big Five traits – conscientiousness and emotional stability – jointly moderate the positive effects of perceived organizational support (POS) on employee commitment and job performance. Drawing on organizational support theory and a self-regulation perspective, we proposed that employees high on both traits will more effectively leverage POS to enhance both their commitment and their performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 141 employees in a multinational transportation security firm. Employees completed measures assessing their POS, personality and affective commitment. Supervisors provided ratings of employees' job performance.

Findings

Results indicated that POS exerts a stronger influence on both employee commitment and performance when workers are high on conscientiousness and emotional stability. Moreover, POS was only found to be significantly associated with job performance when employees were high on both traits.

Research limitations/implications

These results suggest that personality traits play an integral role in influencing workers' perceptions of, and responses to, POS. Specifically, employees who demonstrate a stronger task focus and self-regulation capabilities appear to respond more favorably to POS.

Practical implications

These findings reinforce the value of implementing HR practices that convey support for employees but also highlight the importance of attracting and retaining employees who are conscientious and emotional stable in order to fully realize the benefits of these practices.

Originality/value

Recent evidence indicates that the relationship between POS and employee performance is tenuous. Our results are consistent with a contingency perspective on POS and signal that this may be partly owing to the `influence of individual differences, such as personality traits, in moderating the effects of POS.

Citation

Sears, G.J. and Han, Y. (2021), "Do employee responses to organizational support depend on their personality? The joint moderating role of conscientiousness and emotional stability", Employee Relations, Vol. 43 No. 5, pp. 1130-1146. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2020-0267