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We examined how Conservation of Resources (COR) theory has been applied to work and stress in organizational settings. COR theory has drawn increasing interest in the organizational literature. It is both a stress and motivational theory that outlines how individuals and organizations are likely to be impacted by stressful circumstances, what those stressful circumstances are likely to be, and how individuals and organizations act in order to garner and protect their resources. To date, individual studies and meta-analyses have found COR theory to be a major explanatory model for understanding the stress process at work. Applications of COR theory to burnout, respite, and preventive intervention were detailed. Studies have shown that resource loss is a critical component of the stress process in organizations and that limiting resource loss is a key to successful prevention and post-stress intervention. Applications for future work, moving COR theory to the study of the acquisition, maintenance, fostering, and protection of key resources was discussed.

Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper aims to explore the potential influence of perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip on abusive supervision in China. Moreover, the COR theory helps in examining the mediating role of self-esteem threat and psychological distress and the moderating role of mindfulness on the effects of perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip on abusive supervision.

Data was collected from 305 supervisor-subordinate dyads in China using the time-lagged and multi-source methods and hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results reveal that perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip is positively related to abusive supervision and the relationship is moderated by the supervisor’s traits of mindfulness. In addition, perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip has an indirect effect on abusive supervision via self-esteem threat (cognition) and psychological distress (emotion).

The study helps to understand the influence of perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip on abusive supervision based on the COR theory. At the same time, it also enriches the understanding of the internal mechanism between perceived subordinates’ negative workplace gossip and abusive supervision.

Drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) and attribution theories, prior research in helping behavior has mainly focused on an independent view of the helper’s personal resources. This perspective, however, falls short of capturing the comparative nature of personal resources and attributions in a helping context. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to develop a theoretical model that helps predict employees’ decisions to help or not to help.

A theoretical model was developed by integrating social comparison, COR and attribution theories.

The theoretical model proposes the following. First, when employees perceive that they have fewer personal resources than a coworker who needs help, they are less likely to help. Second, when employees perceive that they have more personal resources than a coworker who needs help, they make causal attributions as to why the coworker failed to deploy personal resources. Finally, when employees have more personal resources than a coworker who needs help, they are more likely to help if they make situational, unstable and uncontrollable attributions to the coworker’s failure to deploy personal resources.

This paper extends the literature by offering a theoretical model that emphasizes comparisons and attributions of personal resources in a helping context. Additionally, this paper offers several managerial implications that help managers manage helping behavior effectively.

The conservation of resources (COR) theory provides a theoretical foundation for work-family research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate thoroughly the associations between threat of or actual loss of resources as well as gain of resources and work-family interaction, employing COR assumptions and measures.

A sample of 216 working mothers filled out a questionnaire that included conservation of resources evaluation and scales measuring work-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment. Analyses of variance were performed to test the hypothesized associations.

WFC and family-work conflict (FWC) were positively correlated with the threat of and actual loss of resources; family-work enrichment (FWE) was positively correlated with the gain of resources. Participants who reported higher threat of loss of resources compared to gain of resources reported high levels of WFC and FWC; those who reported higher loss of resources compared to gain of resources reported high levels of FWC. In addition, participants who reported gains that outweighed losses (whether actual loss or simply threat of loss) reported higher levels of FWE.

The findings support using the COR theory as a theoretical basis for work-family research and emphasize the detrimental role of threat of loss of resources. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This chapter presents an investigation of the relationship between psychological entitlement and stress. Empirical and conceptual evidence is considered suggesting that Conservation of Resources (COR) theory may apply differently to employees with a heightened sense of entitlement. Using attribution and COR theory, a conceptual framework is offered predicting that entitlement is positively associated with subjective stress, based on the logic that psychologically entitled employees develop unjustifiably inflated levels of self-evaluative internal coping resources such as self-esteem and self-efficacy that promote unmet expectations. It is also proposed that political skill and the ability to manage perceptions of competency may attenuate this relationship. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges associated with managing psychologically entitled employees.

A growing body of literature suggests that unpredictable, resource-depleting shocks – ranging from natural disasters to public health crises and beyond – require the firm to respond adaptively. However, how firms do so remains largely undertheorized. To contribute to this line of literature, the authors borrow from the conservation of resources (COR) theory of stress and the dynamic capabilities perspective to introduce the concept of firm stress – a state of reduced and irregular readiness firms enter into following unpredictable, resource-depleting shocks. Our theoretical model illustrates that firms must punctuate the stress state to adapt by first deploying a retrenchment response, thereby conserving resources and allowing the firm to consider how to best redeploy its dynamic capabilities to adapt. Subsequently, the firm can redeploy its capabilities and adaptively respond in one of three ways: exiting (reconfiguring resources for alternative use), persevering (reconfiguring resources for better use), or innovating (developing new resources). Overall, the authors offer a process model of firm stress and adaptive responses following an unpredictable, resource-depleting shock that paves the way for future research on stress in the strategy literature.

Using conservation of resources (CoR) theory, this study investigates the role of emotional energy as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between workplace ostracism and employees' service-oriented behaviour, as well as the moderating result of workload on the relationship between emotional energy and service-oriented behaviour.

The opinions of 554 customer-contact employees working in Bangladesh are collected via convenience sampling. Partial least squares structural equation modelling is performed to test the model.

Workplace ostracism and emotional energy are negatively related. Emotional energy is positively associated with service-oriented behaviour and mediates the link between ostracism and service-oriented behaviour. Workload significantly and negatively moderates the association between emotional energy and service-oriented behaviour.

Hoteliers need to improve employees' emotional energy, distribute workload appropriately and fairly and implement effective strategies to minimise workplace ostracism.

The findings contribute to the CoR theory by explaining the mediating role of emotional energy and moderating role of workload in the Bangladeshi hospitality industry.

While research on the influence of ethical and unethical behaviour on employee well-being abound, we still know little of how well-being is shaped under the dual positive and negative behavioural influences in the workplace. To address this limitation, this paper aims to investigate the relative effects of ethical behaviour of leadership and unethical bullying behaviour on employee well-being through the application of the conservation of resources theory.

This study was conducted in the context of Pakistan by seeking views of 330 employees in academic work settings.

The data analysis revealed that occurrence of unethical behaviour plays a more potent role than ethical behaviour in shaping employee well-being. These findings lend support to the conservation of resources theoretical perspective by reiterating the salience of resource loss over resource gain in shaping employee well-being.

This study offers a new insight into the management literature by highlighting that combating workplace bullying not only conserves employee well-being, but also allows organisations to capitalise more fully on the positive process enabled by leadership.

In light of the widely acknowledged significance of GHRM practices, this study improves comprehension pertaining to GHRM practices and employee workplace outcome relationships. Drawing on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, the association between GHRM practices and employee workplace outcomes, namely green commitment and thriving at work, was explored, with a specific focus on the mediating role of organizational pride.

A quantitative research design was adopted, and data was collected through a multistage sampling technique, yielding a sample of 255 employees working in six textile manufacturing organizations in Pakistan, all of which held the ISO 14001 certification. The model was tested using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

The findings of this study reveal a significant link between GHRM practices and organizational pride. Moreover, organizational pride was found to mediate the relationship between GHRM practices and thriving at work while partially mediating the relationship between GHRM practices and green commitment.

The outcomes of this study have implications for organizations seeking to enhance sustainability and employee well-being by adopting GHRM practices. Specifically, fostering a sense of organizational pride can further enhance thriving at work and green commitment among employees.

The findings contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the positive impact of GHRM practices on employee workplace outcomes and the importance of organizational pride as a mediating mechanism.

Meaningful feedback at work signals effective performance management. Drawing on a new perspective of the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper aims to examine the mediating effect of relational energy in the relationship between supervisor developmental feedback and subordinates' task performance with the moderating role of learning demands.

Data from 230 supervisor-subordinate dyads were collected at two time points of four enterprises in China.

The results support the proposed mediation effect that supervisor developmental feedback positively predicts subordinates' task performance via boosting subordinates' relational energy. Furthermore, the results highlighted the moderating role of learning demands in the relationship between supervisor developmental feedback and subordinates' relational energy. The moderated–mediated relationship for subordinates' task performance was also supported.

Drawing on COR theory, this paper contributes to a complete understanding of how supervisor developmental feedback may support or build employees' relational energy, facilitating task performance and further exploring learning demands as a boundary condition of this indirect relationship.