Linking perceptions of organizational support to temporary agency workers’ well-being: The mediation of motivations

Abstract

Purpose

This research focused on agency work. Previous studies highlighted the importance of motivations to understand workers’ attitudes, behaviors and well-being. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the contribution of perceptions of support from organizations to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, the relationship of motivations with workers’ well-being and the mediating role of motivations between perceptions of organizational support (POS) and workers’ well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 3,983 temporary agency workers and using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The authors verified that POS from the agency contributed to both autonomous motivation and controlled motivation for temporary agency employment, whereas POS from the client company only contributed to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment. Moreover, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was positively associated with workers’ well-being. Contrary to expectations, controlled motivation for temporary agency employment was not significantly associated with workers’ well-being. As predicted, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was a mediator in the relationship between POS and workers’ well-being.

Research limitations/implications

The study relies on self-reported data, and it does not have a longitudinal design.

Practical implications

An important implication of this research study is that organizations, through the support provided to the workers, may contribute positively to increase workers’ autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, and, in turn, more autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment relates to higher levels of workers’ well-being.

Originality/value

The study innovates by including in the same model variables that may contribute to workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment as well as the outcomes that may arise from workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment.

Citation

Lopes, S., Chambel, M.J. and Cesário, F. (2019), "Linking perceptions of organizational support to temporary agency workers’ well-being: The mediation of motivations", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 1376-1391. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-08-2018-1502