›› 2016, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (4): 109-122.

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Empirical Study Concerning the Effect of Psychological Attachment on Employees' Behavior——Based on a Sample of China's Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises

Yan Jing1, Fan Yun2, Zhang Xu2   

  1. 1. School of Economics and Management, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071;
    2. The Key Lab of the Ministry of Education for Process Control & Efficiency Engineering, School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049
  • Received:2014-01-17 Online:2016-04-28 Published:2016-05-16

Abstract:

Based on attachment theory and social exchange theory, this study explores an integrated model of employees' idealized and situated psychological attachment. Attachment can be divided into two dimensions (resource-based and identity-based). The research investigates the interaction effect of the two dimensions and contextual factors (role ambiguity and personal guanxi) on citizenship behavior toward different foci (supervisor and organization). Results show that identity-based attachment has a positive effect on citizenship behavior toward the organization, resource-based attachment has a positive effect on citizenship behavior toward the supervisor; only when the level of role ambiguity is high, personal guanxi has a positive effect on the relationship between attachment to supervisor and citizenship behavior toward the supervisor; the interaction between role ambiguity and personal guanxi has a negative effect on the relationship between attachment to the organization and the citizenship behavior toward the organization.

Key words: psychological attachment, citizenship behavior, role ambiguity, personal guanxi, Chinese SMEs