Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-2006

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Eric Sundstrom

Committee Members

Schuyler Huck, John Lounsbury, Rich Saudergas

Abstract

The two-fold purpose of this field study was to examine: 1) the collective contributions of supervisor support (PSS), coworker support (PCS), and direct report support (DRS)to an employee’s global sense of organizational support (POS), and 2) the additive value of counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) to a performance outcome model of POS that also includes in-role and extra-role performance. To this end, the researcher predicted a 360-model of POS such that PSS, PCS, and DRS would better predict POS than any individual support variable alone. Additionally, the researcher hypothesized that POS would predict in-role performance, extra-role performance, and CWB over time. The author gathered self-report questionnaires (n = 154) from the employees and supervisors of a community college, a non-profit counseling group, and a correctional facility at two points in time with at least a one-month time lapse between administrations. Results indicate that PSS, PCS, and DRS are positively related to POS, but PSS remained the only significant predictor of POS. In addition, POS predicted all performance outcomes at Time 1, but neglected to predict Time 2 performance. These results further existing knowledge concerning both the antecedents and consequences of POS. Present findings indicate that PSS is the most important variable concerning an employee’s POS to the extent that it stifles the effects of all other individual support variables. Previous research has found consistently strong evidence of the relationship between POS, performance, and withdrawal behaviors, but has not addressed the potential relationship between POS and active deviant behaviors such as CWB. Present findings add to this literature and suggest that not only is POS a strong predictor of positive work behavior, but it is also a strong predictor of employees’ active negative work behaviors.

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