The U.S. Space Force: Mediating Factors for Performance

The U.S. Space Force: Mediating Factors for Performance 38 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2026 Liberty University; Florida State University; Florida Institute of Technology Date Written: January 19, 2026 There is currently little published literature because the Space Force is still in its preliminary stages, developing the elements that characterize an organization (Soto, 2023, p. 11). There are no quantitative performance studies; thus, the evidence is anecdotal. Currently, studies focus on technical integration rather than organizational or human integration. Many researchers believe that understanding the interdependent relationships among motivation, job performance, and job satisfaction is vital for addressing challenges and problems and is pertinent to organizations (Jalagat, 2016, pp. 36, 42). This research applied the mediation models of Hayes (2022) to survey data from the 2024 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Six-factor scores were derived from the 2024 FEVS questions. They are Public Service Motivation, Employee Engagement, Commitment, Resilience, Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, and Leadership. Factor scores are derived from survey items that assess an employee’s experience with the organization and its leaders. They are combined into a single factor score for interpretation and/or analysis. The PROCESS macro by Hayes (2022) in IBM SPSS Statistics version 30.0 estimates coefficients in mediation models and provides modern inferential methods for indirect effects, including bootstrap confidence intervals. In an intervening-variable model, variable X is posited to affect an outcome variable Y via one or more intervening variables, also called mediators. Four mediation models were applied in this research: the relationship between resilience and job performance was mediated by job satisfaction and work engagement; whether work-life balance mediates the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction; if satisfaction and engagement were statistically significant mediators of the relationship between resilience and job performance, and whether public service motivation was a statistically significant mediator of the relationship between work engagement and job performance. Declaration of Interest Declaration of interests ☒ The author declares that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ☐ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships, which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ethics Approval SSRN Elsevier Publishing Company Author Statement I declare that this manuscript is original, has not been published before, and it is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. I confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. The order of authors listed in our manuscript has been approved by me. The Corresponding Author is the sole contact for the Editorial process. Dr. McGinnis is responsible for communicating the progress, revisions, and final approval of proofs. Dr. Harold K. “Harry” McGinnis Professor Liberty University hmcginnis3@liberty.edu Funder Statement There was no private or public fiusning for the development of the article. Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation The U.S. Space Force: Mediating Factors for Performance Political Institutions: Bureaucracies & Public Administration eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Political Methods: Quantitative Methods eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Change Management & Organizational Behavior eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Motivation, Influence & Organizational Behavior eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Public Sector Strategy & Organizational Behavior eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Political Economy - Development: Political Institutions eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Space & Planetary Science Education eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic