Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute? A Relational Approach to Employee's Organization-Based Self-Esteem and Job Performance

Drawing on the relational perspective and self-consistency theory, we theorize how relationships involving work-centric, off-work-centric, and/or personal components can affect an employee's organization-based self-esteem and job performance in Chinese organizational contexts. Matched data were collected from a multi-source sample that included 219 employee-supervisor dyads from a Chinese bank. Results based on hierarchical regression analyses reveal that a high-quality relationship with a supervisor through work and off-work domains (leader-member exchange and guanxi) is positively related to organization-based self-esteem. Organization-based self-esteem plays a mediating role in the relationship between guanxi and job performance. Additionally, career mentoring from a supervisor (a work-centric relationship involving personal components) moderates the relationship between organization-based self-esteem and job performance.