Organizational Support in the Workplace: The Case of Korean Hospital Employees

This paper tests three hypotheses on who gets more support from his or her work organization: (1) The validation hypothesis predicts that employees with greater social support from their co-workers and supervisors receive more organizational support, because their support validates or legitimizes organizational support; (2) the positive affectivity hypothesis predicts that employees high on positive affect receive more organizational support, because they are more likable; and (3) the moderation hypothesis predicts that positive affect and social support do not generate organizational support independently, but each acts on the other to affect organizational support. An assessment of the hypotheses over a sample of 1882 hospital employees in Korea provided strong support for the validation hypothesis and partial support for the moderation hypothesis. Contrary to the positive affectivity hypothesis, employees' good disposition in itself works against the bringing forth of relevant organizational support, net of support from their supervisors and co-workers. Additional findings related to the unique features of the current hospital employees in Korea are also reported. Finally, we discuss cross-cultural research implications of the study in more detail.