Decent Work and Workplace Deviance Among Chinese Physicians: A Relative Deprivation Perspective

Abstract

Managing workplace deviance has long been a hot topic in the organizational research. However, the mechanisms through which decent work affects workplace deviance have yet to be fully understood. Drawing upon relative deprivation theory, this study examines the relationship between decent work and workplace deviance by focusing on the mediating role of relative deprivation and the moderating role of career calling. Methods: Two waves of data from 307 doctors and 61 supervisors of public hospitals in central China were examined using a the moderated mediation model. Results: Decent work is negatively associated with workplace deviance via the mediation of relative deprivation, and the negative relationship between decent work and relative deprivation is negatively moderated by career calling. The mediating role of relative deprivation is moderated by career calling, and the indirect effect is stronger when career calling is high than when it is low. Conclusion: By focusing on the mediating role of relative deprivation and the moderating role of career calling, this study contributes to the literature by addressing the previously unexamined relationship between decent work and workplace deviance. Moreover, this study responds to calls for research on decent work from the perspective of relative deprivation.

Decent work and innovative work behavior of academic staff in higher education institutions: the mediating role of work engagement and job self-efficacy

“…Lately, vast literature (Blustein et al, 2008;Blustein et al, 2016;Duffy et al, 2016;Duffy et al, 2017) has adopted the Physiological Work Theory (PWT) to define and conceptualize decent work on an individual level as an attempt to provide the microeconomic perspective of a better quality of work and well-being. While others (such as Atitsogbe et al 2021;Buyukgoze-Kavas and Autin, 2019;Çolakoğlu and Toygar, 2021;Fan et al, 2023;Ferreira et al, 2019;Kashyap et al, 2022;Kozan et al, 2019;Masdonati et al 2022;Svicher et al, 2022;Vignoli et al, 2019) have used PWT empirically to examine and provide a better understanding of actual practices as well as determine the impact of decent work and casual relations with other organizational, economic, and social variables. PWT is an effort to fully comprehend an individual's behavior's source of life via the psychological study of working, including variables such as self-determination (Blustein et al, 2008).…”