Modification, elaboration and empirical evaluation of a psychological ownership structural model
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The level of work performance attained by an individual employee is the expression of the lawful interaction of a complex nomological network of latent variables that characterise the individual and his or her work environment.A critical latent variable in this nomological network that influences work performance is psychological ownership.Psychological ownership is a unidimensional, intrapersonal psychological state (affective, cognitive and conative) in which an employee develops an attachment to a target of ownership (job or organisation), through specific actions (routes) aimed at the satisfaction of specific human motives (roots).It is a crucial psychological state that a company needs to cultivate and foster in its employees if it wishes to attain competitive advantage in the market.A substantive number of studies have empirically demonstrated a link between psychological ownership and a range of desirable behaviours and attitudes such as organisational citizenship behaviour, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and work engagement.The objective of this study was to modify, elaborate and empirically evaluate the psychological ownership structural model developed by Lee (2017).The overarching research-initiating question that underpinned this study was therefore: What other latent variables and critical psychological conditions, besides those identified by Lee (2017), create variance in psychological ownership?Furthermore, the study also focused on the question concerning the potential reciprocal relationship between performance outcomes and psychological ownership: How do performance outcomes create variance in the psychological state of psychological ownership?An elaborated explanatory psychological ownership structural model, derived through theorising, was proposed.An ex post facto correlation design, with structural equation modelling (SEM) as the analysis technique, was used to empirically evaluate the secondgeneration psychological ownership structural model.The final sample comprised of 340 permanent, full-time employees across various industries, organisations, job levels and countries.The psychometric properties of the measurement instruments were investigated via item analysis and dimensionality analysis.Successful operationalisation of the latent variables that comprise the structural model was confirmed by the finding of close measurement model fit and satisfactory measurement model parameter estimates.The revised psychological ownership structural model obtained reasonable fit.Support was obtained for 20 of the 23 proposed path-specific substantive hypotheses.Only one hypothesis was not corroborated and two could not be tested.The study concludes with the Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iv theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings, the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.
Author: Amor Gita Kriek
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3004188015