The Impact Of Reciprocity On Employees' Task Performance And Well-being

Reciprocity is the norm reflecting mutual assistance and obligations between the organization and employees.Reciprocity is widely embedded in the organization's human resource management policies and practices,and has an important impact on employees' work attitude,behavior and outcomes.According to the equivalence,timeliness and self-interest of returns,reciprocity is divided into three types: generalized reciprocity,balanced reciprocity and negative reciprocity.Based on social exchange theory,self-determination theory,and emotion regulation theory,this research initially studies the influence of different reciprocity norms on employees' work motivation,and then focuses on whether different types of reciprocity have different impacts on employees' task performance and well-being and their mechanisms.This paper mainly carries out three empirical studies,which are mainly reflected in the following chapters.In chapter 3,based on social exchange theory and self-determination theory,we built and tested a theoretical model to explore whether and how different type of reciprocity impacts employees' motivation during the work.Work motivation is an important indicator that affects employees' work attitude and behavior.It is also a key step for scholars to study the influence of organizational context on employees' work outcomes.This study collected data from 753 employees and managers in organizations operating in China by conducting the questionnaire survey.The structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the data in this chapter,and it was found that:Generalized reciprocity was positively related to employees' autonomous motivation;balanced reciprocity was positively related to employees' controlled motivation;negative reciprocity was negatively related to employees' autonomous motivation and controlled motivation;basic psychological need satisfaction mediated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and autonomous motivation;basic psychological need satisfaction mediated the relationship between negative reciprocity and autonomous motivation;autonomy support moderated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and basic psychological need satisfaction,such that it was stronger when autonomy support was high rather than low;autonomy support moderated the relationship between negative reciprocity and basic psychological need satisfaction,such that it was weaker when autonomy support was high rather than low.This study confirmed that different types of reciprocity affect employees' autonomous motivation and controlled motivation differently.Basic psychological needs satisfaction plays a mediating role in their relationship,and autonomous support has a moderating role between reciprocity and basic psychological needs.This study lays a foundation for the research of reciprocal effects on employees' task performance and well-being.In chapter 4,based on social exchange theory and emotion regulation theory,we built and tested a theoretical model to explore whether and how generalized reciprocity and negative reciprocity influence employees' task performance.This study collected data from 584 employees and managers in organizations operating in China by conducting the questionnaire survey.The data was analyzed by using the structural equation modeling,and the results showed that: generalized reciprocity was positively related to employees' task performance;negative reciprocity was negatively related to employees' task performance;social exchange mediated the positive relationship between generalized reciprocity and task performance;social exchange also mediated the negative relationship between negative reciprocity and task performance;deep acting moderated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and social exchange,such that it was stronger when deep acting was high rather than low;deep acting moderated the relationship between negative reciprocity and social exchange,such that it was weaker when deep acting was high rather than low;surface acting moderated the relationship between negative reciprocity and social exchange,such that it was stronger when surface acting was high rather than low;surface acting moderated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and social exchange,such that it was weaker when surface acting was high rather than low.In chapter 5,based on social exchange theory and self-determination theory,we built and tested a theoretical model to explore whether and how generalized reciprocity and negative reciprocity influence employees' well-being.This study collected data from 551 employees and managers in organizations operating in China by conducting the questionnaire survey.The data was analyzed by using the structural equation modeling,and the results showed that: generalized reciprocity was positively related to well-being;negative reciprocity was negatively related to well-being;intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and well-being;intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between negative reciprocity and wellbeing;the perception of organizational obstruction mediated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and well-being;the perception of organizational obstruction mediated the relationship between negative reciprocity and well-being;strength use moderated the relationship between generalized reciprocity and intrinsic motivation,such that it was stronger when strength use was high rather than low;strength use also moderated the relationship between negative reciprocity and the perception of organizational obstruction,such that it was weaker when strength use was high rather than low.The main contributions were as follows: first,from the perspective of reciprocity,this paper explores the different effects of different types of reciprocity(i.e.,generalized reciprocity,negative reciprocity and balanced reciprocity)on employees' work motivation(i.e.,autonomous motivation,controlled motivation)and employees' outcome variables(i.e.,task performance,well-being),which broadens the application of social exchange theory and self-determination theory in the study of reciprocity and supplements the reciprocity literature of social exchange theory and self-determination theory.Second,based on social exchange theory and self-determination theory,this paper further broadens the antecedents of employees' work motivation,task performance,and well-being from the perspective of reciprocity.Third,the mediating mechanisms of the influences of different types of reciprocity(i.e.,generalized reciprocity,negative reciprocity,and balanced reciprocity)on employees' psychological motivation and outcome variables(i.e.,basic psychological needs satisfaction,social exchange,intrinsic motivation,and the perception of organizational obstruction)are studied in the basis of social exchange theory and self-determination theory,which clarifies the processes of the effects of different types of reciprocity on employees' work motivation and task performance and well-being.Fourth,based on social exchange theory,self-determination theory,and emotion regulation theory,this paper further expands the boundary conditions of the influences of different types of reciprocity(i.e.,generalized reciprocity,negative reciprocity,and balanced reciprocity)on employees' work psychological states(i.e.,autonomy support,deep acting,surface acting,and strength use).