Publication Date

Spring 2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Howard Tokunaga

Keywords

organizational support, supervisor support

Subject Areas

Psychology; Behavioral psychology

Abstract

Research has examined how providing employees with support through the organization and its supervisors is related to beneficial workplace outcomes. However, the use of nearly identical scales in measuring perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) might have led to consistent correlations and redundancies between the two constructs. To explore whether these scales are problematic in measuring POS and PSS, the purpose of this study was to develop and test new measures of POS and PSS designed to capture the unique characteristics of each construct. Additionally, organizations have become particularly interested in the benefits of work engagement; more specifically, POS and PSS have been found to be predictive of work engagement. Thus, the purpose of this study was also to use the proposed scales to measure POS and PSS as antecedents of work engagement. Participants in this study included 382 employees in a Southern California healthcare company. The findings of this study suggest that the proposed measures were able to successfully capture the unique qualities of POS and PSS. Furthermore, POS and PSS were found to be predictive of work engagement, with POS being the stronger predictor. These findings also suggest that while providing employees with supervisor support increases engagement, organizational support is likely to make a larger impact. However, perceptions of organizational support are likely to include how employees perceive support from their supervisors.

Download

Share

COinS