Abstract
This study used a nationally representative random sample of social workers (N = 3896) collected from a cross-sectional study of the First Wave of the China Social Work Longitudinal Study in 2019. This study examined the indirect effect of autonomy on job satisfaction through the mechanism of collective psychological ownership (CPO) characterized by sharedness. The results showed that autonomy had a positive association with CPO, and that CPO had a positive association with job satisfaction. The results also revealed that autonomy influenced job satisfaction indirectly through the psychological mechanism of CPO. The discussion of findings provides insights into the research and practice of a less-territorial notion of collective psychological ownership theory. The findings will inspire organizational management in terms of enhancing the job satisfaction of social workers through strengthening their autonomy and CPO. The existing territorial notion of psychological ownership (PO) has shown its negative outcomes such as groupthink and resistance to sharing and changes in organizational contexts. Emphasizing the importance of sharedness, CPO embodying two specific factors, namely, shared decision-making and shared hardship endurance, is an emerging concept in organizational management. This is the first study examining the impact of a less-territorial notion of CPO in organizational contexts with a nationally representative sample.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The dataset used for this manuscript belongs to the China Social Work Longitudinal Study 2019.
References
Abu-Bader, S. H. (2005). Gender, ethnicity, and job satisfaction among social workers in Israel. Administration in Social Work, 29(3), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1300/J147v29n03_02
Acker, G. M. (2004). The effect of organizational conditions (role conflict, role ambiguity, opportunities for professional development, and social support) on job satisfaction and intention to leave among social workers inmental health care. Community Mental Health Journal, 40(1), 65–73. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/B:COMH.0000015218.12111.26.pdf. Accessed 9 Jul 2021
Acker, G. M. (2018). Self–care practices among social workers: Do they predict job satisfaction and turnover intention? Social Work in Mental Health, 16(6), 713–727. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2018.1494082
Acquavita, S. P., Pittman, J., Gibbons, M., & Castellanos-Brown, K. (2009). Personal and organizational diversity factors' impact on social workers' job satisfaction: Results from a national internet-based survey. Administration in Social Work, 33(2), 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/03643100902768824
Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage Publications.
Altman, I. (1975). The environment and social behavior: Privacy, personal space, territory, and crowding. Brooks/Cole Publishing.
Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., Crossley, C. D., & Luthans, F. (2009). Psychological ownership: Theoretical extensions, measurement and relation to work outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(2), 173–191. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.583
Baldschun, A., Hämäläinen, J., Töttö, P., Rantonen, O., & Salo, P. (2019). Job-strain and well-being among Finnish social workers: Exploring the differences in occupational well-being between child protection social workers and social workers without duties in child protection. European Journal of Social Work, 22(1), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2017.1357025
Bernhard, F., & O'Driscoll, M. P. (2011). Psychological ownership in small family-owned businesses: Leadership style and nonfamily-employees’ work attitudes and behaviors. Group & Organization Management, 36(3), 345–384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111402684
Brown, G., & Crossley, C. (2008). What about psychological ownership and territoriality? Questions we are starting to ask [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the academy of management, August, Los Angeles, CA.
Brown, G., Pierce, J. L., & Crossley, C. (2014). Toward an understanding of the development of ownership feelings. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 318–338. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1869
Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2011). Building theory about theory building: What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 36(1), 12–32 http://www.jstor.com/stable/29765013
Dittamar, H. (1992). The social psychology of material possessions: To have is to be. Harvester Wheatsheaf and St. Martin's Press.
Djupvik, A. R., Pithouse, A., Myklebust, V., Rees, A., Ekeland, T. J., & Brookfield, C. (2019). New public management and practitioner autonomy in children’s services in Norway and Wales: Views from the frontline. European Journal of Social Work, 24, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2019.1693338
Gao, J. G., & Yan, M. C. (2015). Social work in the making: The state and social work development in China. International Journal of Social Welfare, 24(1), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12089
Gómez García, R., Alonso Sangregorio, M., & Lucía Llamazares Sánchez, M. (2018). Evaluation of job satisfaction in a sample of Spanish social workers through the ‘job satisfaction survey’ scale. European Journal of Social Work, 21(1), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2016.1255929
Gray, M., Coates, J., & Bird, M. Y. (Eds.). (2008). Indigenous social work around the world: Towards culturally relevant education and practice. Ashgate Publishing Ltd..
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7
Hair Jr., J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications.
Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
Holzner, B. (1967). The concept “integration” in sociological theory. The Sociological Quarterly, 8(1), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1967.tb02273.x
Honneth, A. (1996). The struggle for recognition: The moral grammar of social conflicts. Polity.
Honneth, A. (2014). The I in we: Studies in the theory of recognition. Polity.
Jeanson, S., & Michinov, E. (2020). What is the key to researchers’ job satisfaction? One response is professional identification mediated by work engagement. Current Psychology, 39(2), 518–527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9778-2
Jeong, H., & Lee, W. (2016). The pure and the overarching: An application of Bifactor model to safety attitudes questionnaire. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal, 4(6), 222–232. https://doi.org/10.15406/bbij.2016.04.00110
Jiang, H., Wang, Y., Chui, E., & Xu, Y. (2019). Professional identity and turnover intentions of social workers in Beijing, China: The roles of job satisfaction and agency type. International Social Work, 62(1), 146–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872817712564
Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 75–170). Consulting Psychologists Press.
Kanfer, R. (1992). Work motivation: New directions in theory and research. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1–53). John Wiley.
Karasek, R., Brisson, C., Kawakami, N., Houtman, I., Bongers, P., & Amick, B. (1998). The job content questionnaire (JCQ): An instrument for internationally comparative assessments of psychosocial job characteristics. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3(4), 322–355. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.3.4.322
Kim, H., Ji, J., & Kao, D. (2011). Burnout and physical health among social workers: A three-year longitudinal study. Social Work, 56(3), 258–268. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/56.3.258
Kim, B., Liu, L., Ishikawa, H., & Park, S. H. (2019). Relationships between social support, job autonomy, job satisfaction, and burnout among care workers in long-term care facilities in Hawaii. Educational Gerontology, 45(1), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2019.1580938
Lee, J., & Suh, A. (2015). How do virtual community members develop psychological ownership and what are the effects of psychological ownership in virtual communities? Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 382–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.002
Lodge, G. C. (1987). Introduction: Ideology and country analysis. In G. C. Lodge & E. F. Vogel (Eds.), Ideology and national competitiveness: An analysis of nine countries (pp. 1–28). Harvard Business School Press.
Lu, L., Lu, A. C. C., Gursoy, D., & Neale, N. R. (2016). Work engagement, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28, 737–761. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2014-0360
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
Mo, K. Y. H., & Lai, H. S. (2018). Social worker turnover issue in mainland China: Organizations can do something. The Hong Kong Journal of Social Work, 52(01n02), 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219246218000062
Mustafa, M., Martin, L., & Hughes, M. (2016). Psychological ownership, job satisfaction, and middle manager entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 23(3), 272–287 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/17174/1/17174.pdf
Ng, S. M., & Su, X. (2018). An investigation into the correlates of collective psychological ownership in organizational context. Cogent Psychology, 5(1), 1470484. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2018.1470484
Niu, D., & Haugen, H. Ø. (2019). Social workers in China: Professional identity in the making. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(7), 1932–1949. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06006.x
Novaes, V. P., Ferreira, M. C., & Valentini, F. (2018). Psychological flexibility as a moderator of the relationships between job demands and resources and occupational well-being. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 21. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2018.14
Peng, H., & Pierce, J. (2015). Job-and organization-based psychological ownership: Relationship and outcomes. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(2), 151–168. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-07-2012-0201
Pierce, J. L., & Jussila, I. (2010). Collective psychological ownership within the work and organizational context: Construct introduction and elaboration. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(6), 810–834. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.628
Pierce, J. L., & Jussila, I. (2011). Psychological ownership and the organizational context: Theory, research evidence, and application. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Pierce, J. L., Kostova, T., & Dirks, K. T. (2001). Toward a theory of psychological ownership in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 298–310. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2001.4378028
Pierce, J. L., Jussila, I., & Li, D. (2018). Development and validation of an instrument for assessing collective psychological ownership in organizational field settings. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(6), 776–792. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2016.66
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Moorman, R. H., & Fetter, R. (1990). Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 1(2), 107–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(90)90009-7
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Poulin, J. E., & Walter, C. A. (1992). Retention plans and job satisfaction of gerontological social workers. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 19(1), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.1300/J083v19n01_06
Riccobono, F., Bruccoleri, M., & Größler, A. (2016). Groupthink and project performance: The influence of personal traits and interpersonal ties. Production and Operations Management, 25(4), 609–629. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.12431
Schmid, H. B., Schulte-Ostermann, K., & Psarros, N. (Eds.). (2013). Concepts of sharedness: Essays on collective intentionality (Vol. 26). Walter de Gruyter.
Su, X. (2020). Validation of the Chinese version of the turnover intention scale in social workers. Journal of Social Service Research, 47, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2020.1738312
Su, X., & Ng, S. M. (2018). Development and validation of the collective psychological ownership scale in organizational contexts. International Social Work, 62(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872818767483
Su, X., & Ng, S. M. (2019). The differential impacts of collective psychological ownership and membership identification on work burnout and engagement. Journal of Social Service Research, 45(1), 44–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2018.1479340
Su, X., Liang, K., & Wong, V. (2021). The impact of collective psychological ownership on turnover intention among social service workers. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2021.1898072
Thompson, E. R., & Phua, F. T. (2012). A brief index of affective job satisfaction. Group & Organization Management, 37(3), 275–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111434201
Thrasher, F. M. (2013). The gang: A study of 1,313 gangs in Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
Tian, K., & Belk, R. W. (2005). Extended self and possessions in the workplace. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(2), 297–310. https://doi.org/10.1086/432239
Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review, 96(3), 506–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.3.506
Triandis, H. C. (1993). Collectivism and individualism as cultural syndromes. Cross-Cultural Research, 27(3–4), 155–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/106939719302700301
Van den Tooren, M., & de Jong, J. (2014). Job demands-resources and employee health and well-being. Career Development International, 19, 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-05-2013-0058
Van Dyne, L., & Pierce, J. L. (2004). Psychological ownership and feelings of possession: Three field studies predicting employee attitudes and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(4), 439–459. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.249
Wagner, J. A., & Moch, M. K. (1986). Individualism-collectivism: Concept and measure. Group & Organization Studies, 11(3), 280–304. https://doi.org/10.1177/105960118601100309
Yablonsky, L. (1962). The violent gang. Macmillan.
Yuan, Y., Liu, C., Sun, Z., & He, X. (2021). Baseline survey of China social work longitudinal study 2019: Design and implementation. Research on Social Work Practice, 31, 513–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731520984536
Funding
This work was supported by the China National Social Science Fund under Grant No. 19CSH063 and Shanghai Social Science Foundation under Grant No. 2018BSH011. The authors thank the CSWLS program for making the data available for analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Xuebing SU: Designed the study, conducted data analysis, wrote up the manuscript and revised the article according to reviewers’ comments.
Victor WONG: Designed the study, co-drafted the manuscript, and revised the article according to reviewers’ comments.
Kun LIANG: Supported with data collection, co-edited the manuscript, and revised the article according to reviewers’ comments.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval Statement & Consent Form
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Committee of the East China University of Science and Technology and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All participants were well informed about the objectives of the research and signed a consent form before joining the research.
Conflicting Interests
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Su, X., Wong, V. & Liang, K. The indirect effect of autonomy on job satisfaction through collective psychological ownership: the case of social workers in China. Curr Psychol 42, 8805–8815 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02194-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02194-5