The impact of organizational dehumanization on creative performance through self-esteem threat: the moderating role of work locus of control
| Date | 19 November 2024 |
| Pages | 130-149 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2023-0071 |
| Published date | 19 November 2024 |
| Author | Qurat-ul-ain Talpur,Rahman Khan,M. Abdur Rahman Malik,Ghulam Murtaza |
The impact of organizational
dehumanization on creative
performance through self-esteem
threat: the moderating role of work
locus of control
Qurat-ul-ain Talpur
ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France
Rahman Khan
The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK and
Westminster International University in Tashkent, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
M. Abdur Rahman Malik
Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences,
Lahore, Pakistan, and
Ghulam Murtaza
Kedge Business School, Marseille, France
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to enhance our understanding of how organizational dehumanization affects
employees’ creative performance. Wepropose the self-esteem threat as a mediator in the relationship between
organizational dehumanization and employees’ creative performance. We also examine how work locus of
control moderates the relationship between organizational dehumanization and creative performance.
Design/methodology/approach –Through convenience sampling, online and face-to-face surveys,
multisource time-lagged data (N5257) were collected from full-time employees and their supervisors in
Pakistani organizations in the information technology, media industry and oil and gas sectors.
Findings –Organizational dehumanization negatively affects employees’ creative performance, and threats to
self-esteem mediate this relationship. Work locus of control moderates the effect of organizational
dehumanization on creative performance, and this negative relationship is attenuated when individuals have
an external work locus of control.
Originality/value –This study provides novel insights into the process underlying the relationship between
organizationaldehumanization and creative performance by revealing the mediating role of threat to self-esteem
and the buffering role of work locus of control.
Keywords Organizational dehumanization, Threat to self-esteem, Creative performance, Work locus of control
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Primarily rooted in social psychology (Haslam, 2006;Staub, 1989), the concept of
organizational dehumanization has recently received increasing attention in organizational
management (Lagios et al., 2023a;Nguyen et al., 2022;Stinglhamber et al., 2023). The reason
for this growing interest is the widespread mistreatment of employees in modern organizations
(Taskin et al., 2019). Organizational dehumanization is “the experience of an employee who
feels objectified by his or her organization, denied personal subjectivity,and made to feel like a
tool or an instrument for the organization’s ends” (Bell and Khoury, 2011, p. 170). As an
example, warehouse workers described their struggle to even find time for bathroom breaks
during the workday due to strict requirements to meet productivity goals (Ghosh, 2018).
Consistent with this perspective, Picchi (2018) found that warehouse workers criticized the
company for treating human beings as robots. Indeed, people want to feel valued, but being
PR
54,1
130
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0048-3486.htm
Received 4 February 2023
Revised 24 January 2024
30 April 2024
4 September 2024
25 September 2024
Accepted 10 October 2024
PersonnelReview
Vol.54 No. 1, 2025
pp.130-149
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI10.1108/PR-02-2023-0071
treated like a machine can undermine their sense of personal worth and belonging.
Specifically, employees who perceive themselves being dehumanized by their organization
are more likely to experience burnout (Baldissarri et al., 2014), low satisfaction (Caesens et al.,
2017), and physical strain (Nguyen and Stinglhamber, 2020).
Research demonstrates the detrimental effects of dehumanization on a range of employee
outcomes, including well-being, commitment, turnover intentions, and knowledge-hiding
behaviors (Caesens and Stinglhamber, 2019;Lagios et al., 2021,2023b;Muhammad and
Sarwar, 2021;Stinglhamber et al., 2023). Some studies have focused on the role of
organizational dehumanization in predicting employee performance, such as in-role and extra-
role performance, and service recovery performance (Gip et al., 2023;Sarwar and
Muhammad, 2021;Taskin et al., 2019). Management practitioners and scholars have
particularly focused on one dimension of employee performance, namely creative
performance, which is critical for organizational survival and success (Coelho et al., 2011;
Scott and Bruce, 1994;Wang et al., 2019). Employee creativity is strongly associated with
the effective functioning of an organization and creates a competitive advantage that drives the
rise and fall of organizations (Anderson et al., 2014;Weinzimmer et al., 2011). Given the
implications for organizations, we examine how a specific negative environment –
organizational dehumanization – may affect employees’ creative performance. In light of
the finding that being treated as a tool can undermine employees’ work and well-being (Sarwar
et al., 2021), we sought to understand how employees who are treated like robots make sense
of their experiences and the consequences of dehumanization on their creative performance.
In addition, we theorize how the detrimental effects of dehumanization extend to creative
performance. Research has proposed various mediating mechanisms, such as thoughts of
revenge, thwarting of psychological needs, and perceived incivility, in the relationship
between organizational dehumanization and employee outcomes (Lagios et al., 2021;
Muhammad and Sarwar, 2021;Stinghamber et al., 2023). To extend this knowledge, we
examine a novel mechanism, i.e. self-esteem threat, to link organizational dehumanization to
employee creative performance. Previous evidence confirms that stressful conditions in the
form of workplace mistreatment cause self-esteem threat which in turn negative has a negative
effect on employee performance (Amarnani et al., 2019b). This remains aligned with previous
evidence confirming self-esteem threat as a mediating mechanism on the relationship between
workplace injustice and employee behavioral reaction in the form of workplace deviance
(Ferris et al., 2012). The existing literature particularly suggests that individuals who
experience dehumanization at work are vulnerable to threats to their self-esteem (Demoulin
et al., 2023). We argue that employees who perceive that their organization views them as
robots or treats them as tools that can easily be replaced are more likely to have threatened self-
esteem, which in turn is likely to contribute to lower creative performance. Consequently, we
propose and test self-esteem threat as a mediating mechanism that may explain the relationship
between dehumanization and creative performance.
We also test a boundary condition on the relationship between organizational
dehumanization and creative performance. Studies confirm the positive role of individual
differences in buffering the negative impact of organizational dehumanization on employee
outcomes (Muhammad and Sarwar,2021;Sarwar et al., 2021;Stinglhamber et al., 2023). Such
individual characteristics may provide a protective shield against negative feelings at work
(Roberts et al., 2011). In this study, we consider one such individual characteristic, i.e. work
locus of control (WLOC). WLOC is employees’ beliefs about the extent to which their rewards
or outcomes, such as promotions, favorable circumstances, salary increases, and general
career advancement relate to their own behavior (Spector, 1988). Specifically,external WLOC
is the orientation that work outcomes are controlled by luck or powerful others (Wang et al.,
2010). Studies confirm the beneficial role of external WLOC in coping with stressful or
demanding situations (Siu et al., 2002) and that employees’ WLOC plays an important role in
predicting innovative work behavior and organizational citizenship behaviors at work
(Blakely et al., 2005;Elsayed et al., 2020;Ng et al., 2014). More importantly, work locus of
Personnel Review
131
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