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Dissatisfied employees, diminished helping: Using psychological capital to buffer the damaging effects of job dissatisfaction on helping behaviours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2019

Dirk De Clercq Open the ORCID record for Dirk De Clercq [Opens in a new window] ,
Inam Ul Haq  and
Muhammad Umer Azeem
Dirk De Clercq*
Affiliation:
Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada
Inam Ul Haq
Affiliation:
Lahore Business School, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Umer Azeem
Affiliation:
School of Business and Economics, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: ddeclercq@brocku.ca
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Abstract

Drawing from conservation of resources theory, this study considers how employees' job dissatisfaction might reduce their engagement in helping behaviour, whereas their psychological capital might enhance this behaviour. The negative relationship between job dissatisfaction and helping behaviour in turn might be buffered by psychological capital. Data from Pakistani organizations provide empirical support for these theoretical predictions. The findings indicate that organizations with employees who feel unhappy about their job situation can still enjoy productive helping behaviours, to the extent they develop adequate personal resources within their ranks.

Keywords

helping behaviourjob dissatisfactionpsychological capitalconservation of resources theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , September 2023 , pp. 968 - 982
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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