The Moderating Role of Generations in the Effect of General Life Satisfaction on Psychological Ownership Via Psychological Well-Being

This comprehensive study examines the complex relationship between individuals’ overall life satisfaction and their psychological ownership. The primary aim is to investigate the mediating role of psychological well-being in this relationship and the moderating effect of generational differences. The main assumption of the study is that higher life satisfaction increases psychological well-being, which, in turn, strengthens employees’ psychological ownership of their organizations. The study sample consisted of 386 employees working in public and private healthcare institutions in Konya province. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys. SPSS Process Macro software was used to analyze the quantitative data to examine relational and mediating effects. In this context, Hayes’ Model 58 was employed to test whether the indirect effect of life satisfaction on psychological ownership varies across generations, with psychological well-being as the mediator. The results indicate that general life satisfaction has a statistically significant and positive effect on both psychological well-being and psychological ownership. Furthermore, psychological well-being partially mediated the relationship between life satisfaction and psychological ownership. In addition, generational differences were shown to play a significant moderating role in this model. Specifically, the conditional indirect effect was significant for both Generation X and Generation Y employees, with stronger effects observed in Generation X. These findings highlight the importance of considering generational dynamics in organizational practices aimed at enhancing employee satisfaction and strengthening psychological ownership.