Advantages of feeling appreciated: An examination of how receipt of gratitude influences the linkages between PSM and behaviour
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| Author | Randall S. Davis,Edmund C. Stazyk,Zachary T. Dickman |
| Date | 01 December 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12707 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Advantages of feeling appreciated:
An examination of how receipt of gratitude
influences the linkages between PSM and
behaviour
Randall S. Davis
1
| Edmund C. Stazyk
2
| Zachary T. Dickman
2
1
School of Management and Marketing,
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA
2
Department of Public Administration &
Policy, University at Albany, State University
of New York, USA
Correspondence
Randall S. Davis, School of Management and
Marketing, Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, 1000 Faner Drive, Mail Code
4501, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
Email: rsdavis@siu.edu
Abstract
In this article, we examine several situational factors that
condition the relationship between public service motiva-
tion (PSM) and organizational behaviours. Specifically, we
examine how the receipt of gratitude and appreciation is
associated with the complex relationships between PSM,
work attitudes and turnover intent. We analyse the condi-
tional indirect effects from PSM to turnover intent with a
series of structural equation models using data from the
2010 US Merit Systems Protection Board. Our findings indi-
cate that the relationship between PSM and blaming others
for diminished performance capacity is moderated by feel-
ing appreciated, which conditions the indirect relationship
to turnover intent. In other words, increases in PSM appear
to lead individuals to internalize diminished performance
capacity and remain with their organization as long as they
believe their work is appreciated. These findings provide
guidance for structuring feedback to capitalize on the bene-
fits of PSM.
1|INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Scholars interested in organizations and employee performance have long recognized the importance of creating
organizational cultures and climates that are perceived as supportive and welcoming by employees (e.g., Blau 1964;
Eisenberger et al. 1986; Eisenberger et al. 2002; Dutton 2003; Schein 2010). The roots of such notions stretch back
at least to the work of Mary Parker Follett (1927), Charles Barnard (1938), and James McGregor (1960), and that cor-
pus of research is generally categorized as part and parcel of the human relations movement. However, over the past
Received: 21 April 2020 Revised: 17 September 2020 Accepted: 25 October 2020
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12707
Public Admin. 2021;99:723–739. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 723
four decades, a growing number of theorists have started to more fully explore the nuanced role that organizational
support, gratitude and appreciation play in shaping positive employee behaviours (e.g., Bateman and Organ 1983;
Brief and Motowidlo 1986; Eisenberger et al. 1986; Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002; Cameron and Spreitzer 2012;
Fehr et al. 2017).
Efforts to unpack these concepts have their roots in social exchange and perceived organizational support (POS)
theories, which dovetail nicely and, when taken together, demonstrate that both employees and employers recognize
the value of positive workplace relationships (e.g., Bateman and Organ 1983; Brief and Motowidlo 1986; Eisenberger
et al. 1986; Shore and Shore 1995). For organizations, positive workplace relationships lead to reduced employee
turnover, lower absenteeism, stronger organizational commitment, and improved organizational performance
(Mowday et al. 1982; Mathieu and Zajac 1990; Meyer and Allen 1997; Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002). Employees,
for their part, view positive workplace environments as a sign that an employer is cognizant and appreciativeof their
contributions and general well-being. This, in turn, suggests to workers that employers will provide them with various
material benefits in exchange for their efforts, including respect, rewards (e.g., pay and promotion) and support
(e.g., adequate resources, information, and aid). Essentially, both theories lead to the conclusion that norms of reci-
procity in workplace settings create instances where employees ‘trade [their] effort and loyalty for tangible benefits
and social rewards’that are imparted voluntarily by their employers; this then produces several positive outcomes
for employees and employers (Gouldner 1960; Blau 1964; Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002, p. 698).
Research on POS has gone a step further,examining a wide range of antecedents and correlates seemingly related
to employees' perceptions of organizational support. For example, research suggests that key antecedents include
employees' evaluations of organizational fairness (usually construed as procedural justice and/or organizational poli-
tics), supervisory support(e.g., supervisors' evaluations of subordinates), organizationalrewards (i.e., recognition, com-
pensation and promotions) and job conditions (e.g., job security, autonomy, role stressors,training, and organizational
size) (see Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002). When employees perceive that high levels of antecedents are present in
their organization, they are likely to exhibit higher levels of organizational commitment, positive job-related affect,
greater job involvement,stronger performance and improved coping skills (see e.g., Rhoadesand Eisenberger 2002).
Over time, social exchange theory and POS have come to constitute one conceptual lens commonly used to
understand employee behaviour. Yet, these perspectives have been critiqued—even by their progenitors—as primar-
ily interested in ‘global beliefs’(Eisenberger et al. 1986; Eisenberger et al. 1990), which pay ‘less attention …to the
mechanisms presumed to underlie the positive relationship between POS and work-related outcomes’(Armeli
et al. 1998, p. 289). Given this, an emerging body of scholarship in positive and industrial-organizational psychology
has begun to look more closely at specific socio-emotional factors that explain workers' behaviours. This emerging
branch of research aims to unpack the individual-level mechanisms that explain why the global assertions of social
exchange theory and POS have merit. One area of research in this space evaluates the influence of gratitude and
appreciation conveyed by managers upon their subordinates.
Scholars often view appreciation and gratitude as generally valuable in so far as they produce higher levels of life
satisfaction among employees and concomitantly help connect employees to an organization and its mission; this, in
turn, improves the probability that an organization can realize its mission and goals (see e.g., Rousseau 1989; Fehr
et al. 2017; Lee et al. 2019). Yet, appreciation and gratitude also appear specifically valuable to the extent that they
foster higher levels of prosocial motivation and engagement among employees (McCulloughet al. 2001; McCullough
et al. 2002; Bartlett and DeSteno 2006; Tsang 2006; Fehr et al. 2017). Research on this topic coalesces on several
important points: (1) gratitude and appreciation are practically valuable, significant drivers of employee behaviours;
(2) gratitude and appreciation are empirically distinguishable from affect and social pressures that often drive
employee behaviour and conduct (e.g., such as those stemming from norms of reciprocity); and (3) employees who
perceive adequate receipt of gratitude and appreciation often increase their prosocial motivation and engagement,
even when encountering personal costs (see e.g., Emmons and McCullough 2004; Bartlett and DeSteno 2006;
Tsang 2006). In short, existing research demonstrates that appreciation and gratitude are complex phenomena that
can shape employee behaviours.
724 DAVIS ET AL.
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