Abstract: In the Chinese context, vertical supervisor-subordinate relationships and horizontal coworker relationships of grassroots civil servants are important interpersonal relationships that they have to handle in their work. To a certain extent, these two interpersonal relationships of grassroots civil servants determine their work well-being. However, there is limited research on how the heterogeneity of supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships of grassroots civil servants affects their work well-being. Based on the self-determination theory, this study constructs a theoretical hypothesis and explanatory model for the impact of heterogeneity of the supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships on work well-being, and conducts an empirical analysis on a sample of 1,073 grassroots civil servants. The results show that: (1) Both supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships have a positive impact on work well-being, but the effect is significantly heterogeneous. The coworker relationships have a greater impact on job happiness than the supervisor-subordinate relationships. (2) Both supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships have a positive impact on the driving factors of work well-being (career calling and job performance) of grassroots civil servants. The coworker relationships have a greater impact on the driving factors (career calling and job performance) of work well-being than the supervisor-subordinate relationships. (3) The interactive influence of supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships on the driving mechanism of work well-being are significantly heterogeneous. The supervisor-subordinate relationships play a bigger role than coworker relationships in boosting the positive impact of career calling on work performance. The coworker relationships play a bigger role than the supervisor-subordinate relationships in boosting the positive impact of job performance on work well-being. When both supervisor-subordinate and coworker relationships are at high levels, job performance significantly mediates the relationship between career calling and work well-being.

Key words: supervisor-subordinate relationships, coworker relationships, work well-being, grassroots civil servants, self-determination theory