Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment

Maan, Annum Tariq; Abid, Ghulam; Butt, Tahira Hassan; Ashfaq, Fouzia; Ahmed, Saira Article Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment Future Business Journal Provided in Cooperation with: Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, Future University Suggested Citation: Maan, Annum Tariq; Abid, Ghulam; Butt, Tahira Hassan; Ashfaq, Fouzia; Ahmed, Saira (2020) : Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment, Future Business Journal, ISSN 2314-7210, Springer, Heidelberg, Vol. 6, Iss. 1, pp. 1-12, https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-020-00027-8 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/246632 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. 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Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-020-00027-8 RESEARCH Perceived organizational support andjob satisfaction: amoderated mediation model ofproactive personality andpsychological empowerment Annum Tariq Maan1, Ghulam Abid1, Tahira Hassan Butt1*, Fouzia Ashfaq2 and Saira Ahmed3 Abstract Drawing on social exchange theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of proactive personality in the relationship between POS and job satisfaction. The data were collected from 936 employees working in various manufacturing and service sectors by using selfreport survey questionnaires by employing time-lagged cross-sectional study design. The study findings demonstrate that POS positively influenced psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Moreover, it is also revealed that the relationship between POS and job satisfaction is weaker when employees’ proactive personality is higher rather than lower. The findings of the current study pose a framework for organizational representatives of both service and manufacturing industries to strengthen individual psychological empowerment and job satisfaction by offering organizational support to those individuals who are less proactive. Keywords: Perceived organizational support (POS), Social exchange theory, Job satisfaction, Psychological empowerment, Proactive personality © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/. Introduction A long-lasting employment bond comprises positive social exchange approaches in employee–employer relationship whereupon the needs of both parties are addressed [40]. In the exchange relationship, the employer is worried about the employees’ devotion, engagement and trustworthiness toward them, while employees are conscious about whether their employer is keeping their promises by caring their well-being [48, 61]. The theory of organizational support and construct of perceived organizational support (POS) was developed by Eisenberger and his research fellows in [26, 27] using social exchange theory [15, 37, 40]. POS is defined as the perception of employees about the degree to which their contributions at organizations are valued, which implies that their associated well-being is given full consideration [5, 26, 61]. The organizational support theory states that individuals form POS, a universal faith that their employer has an advantageous or a disadvantageous inclination toward them [40, 61]. Literature also confirms that individuals’ POS helps boost their obligations toward organization in order to reciprocate favorably. Furthermore, they also want to satisfy their socioemotional needs and incorporate organizational affiliation into their social identity [21, 29]. In addition, extant literature has shown that individuals’ POS enhances both in-role performance such as goal attainment and extrarole performance such as helping and supportive behavior toward coworkers [29]. By utilizing social exchange theory as its grounding, researchers have begun to study POS in interpersonal connections with organizations and recognized it as a Open Access Future Business Journal *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 School of Business Administration, National College of Business Administration and Economics, Lahore, Pakistan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Page 2 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 vital ingredient in subordinate–manager relations [65]. Meta-analysis conducted by Rhoades and Eisenberger [61] revealed the favorable treatments such as rewards from the organization, beneficial working conditions and fairness received by employees are directly linked to POS. Moreover, POS promotes auspicious outcomes such as high job satisfaction, lower turnover, enhanced dedication, positive emotions and better performance [77]. Multi-foci methods to social exchange have highlighted the significance of many sources of support, according to which individuals develop distinct give-and-take relationships with different organizational objectives [51]. The positive association of POS with job satisfaction, performance, organizational commitment and turnover intention has gained attention in number of employee– organization-related studies [30, 74]. Similarly, the outcomes that are relevant to organizational support are job satisfaction, innovative work behavior, learning goal orientation, core self-evaluations and organizational commitment [1, 59, 71, 74, 78]. Furthermore, the literature reveals that organizations achieve favorable outcomes if workers feel superior treatment within the organization [74]. Based upon the theoretical perspective of social exchange theory, the current study proposes that psychological empowerment influences the behavior of employees by facilitating them in preserving high-quality relationships. We suggest that psychological empowerment works as the intervening variable that links the POS with the job satisfaction. Psychological empowerment is defined as the perception of employees regarding the degree of their competence, influence and autonomy toward work environment and meaningfulness of their job [62]. It is the procedure by which employees achieve mastery and control in their lives, and develop a sense of critical understanding toward dealing their situation [12, 55]. Researchers Chang and Liu [17], Savery and Luks [63], Laschinger and Finegan [50] contended that empowered employees at the workplace have increased personal, political and interpersonal powers that enhance their physical and mental health. Thus, another purpose of the current study is to investigate the linkage between perceived organizational support and job satisfaction via the mediating role of employees’ psychological empowerment. However, the understanding of the work context that enables empowerment has significant practical and theoretical implications [16], but we do not know how and why this is the case. This research also examined whether and how proactive individuals might be a boundary condition for the impact of POS on psychological empowerment. In addition, it explored how the overall mediation process differs under various proactive personality levels. Proactive personality refers to the tendency of individuals to take initiatives for establishing a positive environment [10, 22, 70]. Usually, people with a proactive personality are able to create positive change in the workplace environment irrespective of the hurdles and constraints faced by them [62]. Proactive personality research shows that proactive behavior influences meaningful changes in the workplace setting [10, 44]. Researchers contend that proactive individuals are most probably ready for employment-related changes, given their predisposition to identify and respond to the job opportunities and make such changes that match with their interests at job [44, 68]. In support of this reason, experiments have shown that proactive individuals can effect vocational adaptability through situations and samples [38, 44, 53, 68, 69]. However, there is vague understanding of the underlying mechanisms concerning how these effects arise. Examining these mechanisms probably offers counselors and psychologists with substitutes for intervention in the future [44]. For example, from these types of mechanisms, these experts probably gain comparatively advanced understandings concerning whether and how proactive employees feel psychologically empowered. Psychological empowerment represents an employee’s active and lively orientation to their respective role assigned at workplace, whereby empowered employees see their work environment as somewhat which can be shaped by their actions [66], which arouses their creative behavior [41, 79], whereby it serves as a mediator that transmits the impact of proactive individuals to job satisfaction. Thus, this study aims at exploring how contextual characteristics such as POS can be associated with job satisfaction in general. Secondly, psychological empowerment is considered as an important mediating mechanism between perceived organizational support and job satisfaction. Furthermore, proactive personality moderates the relationship between perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment. Research in organizational behavior draws our attention on a narrow range of job-related attitudes, and POS is one of them. In establishing the proposed associations in the model, the current research represented an attempt to contribute toward literature in number of different manners. The theoretical underpinning of POS is organizational support theory [29, 48], which is also based upon social exchange relationship and attribution methods [15, 73]. Organizational support scholars argued that employees tend to monitor their situations and make attributions for generous behaviors of organizations [26]. It is given that individuals tend to personify their respective organizations and consider positive and negative treatments which they receive from organizational Page 3 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 heads as their perception of being favored or disfavored by organizations as well [65]. Research in the field organizations contended that there is a reciprocal relationship between individuals and organizations. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the organizational support given to the individuals besides focusing on just employee side of this relationship [20]. The tenets, attitudes and aspirations of each employee vary; therefore, motivational elements may be different too. POS can improve individuals’ trust and beliefs that the organization identifies their performance and reward them accordingly [61, 72]. As a consequence, individuals will reciprocate [9] the organizational support received by them in several ways and possibly will experience more satisfaction with their job. Therefore, the underlying purpose of the current study is to study the influence of perceived organizational support on job satisfaction. Secondly, it examines whether psychological empowerment is well incorporated in POS and job satisfaction linkage. Psychological empowerment enables employees to participate in decision making and help in sorting out organizational problems by providing them independence and control [34]. For many years, scholars have examined behavioral consequences of psychological empowerment. Psychological empowerment fosters high-quality relationship by motivating an individual’s behavior. Thirdly, this study corroborates the impact of proactive personality and proposes that it weakens the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment. Proactive personality demonstrates the willingness and the tendency of an employee to go above and beyond their job requirements to exhibit extra-role performance [75]. Henceforth, this research is important to explore and gain insights on the relationship between POS and job satisfaction via the mediating role of psychological empowerment in Asian context. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, the influence of proactive personality as a moderator has not been examined on the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment (Fig.1). Literature review Perceived organizational support andjob satisfaction Armstrong-Stassen [7] explained that individuals’ behavior is influenced by their opinion about fundamental processes that constitute their organization and POS is among them. Few scholars have revealed a strong linkage between POS and job satisfaction [23, 30, 33]. In a longitudinal study conducted by Armstrong-Stassen [7], it was observed that managers who enjoy high levels of POS reported elevated levels of job satisfaction as compared to managers who supposed to enjoy lower organizational support. The potential description of this outcome is that POS can enrich individuals’ trust and beliefs that their employer identifies and recompense their struggles to accomplish superior performance [61]. Research suggests that POS starts a social exchange process where individuals feel liable to support the organization in accomplishing its goals which leads to greater rewards. When an employee associates positively with their job and organization, this strengthens the association between them and within the realms of social exchange theory [14]. As a result, individuals reciprocate organizational support through numerous ways and are more satisfied with their jobs. It is given that employees with POS sense an intrinsic compulsion to be socioemotionally devoted to the work and the organization as well. Thus, they are highly loyal and satisfied with their job and organization [36]. On the basis of the above discussion, it is proposed that: Hypothesis 1 POS is positively related to job satisfaction. Mediating role ofpsychological empowerment Those individuals who perceive organizational support toward a working situation are likely to experience psychological empowerment [32]. Psychological empowerment is a bundle of circumstances that allows individuals or groups to think that they have a grip over their work [39]. An empirical support has been found about the direct association between POS and job satisfaction [76]. It has been discussed that when individuals experience empowerment, they recognize that their job is important and they can make decisions by their own. They see that their work effects the organizational effectiveness, which in turn advances job performance [18] and satisfaction. It is suggested that prudent organizations give power to its workforce by making them involve in decision making, which makes them believe that their work is meaningful [49]. A recent study has shown that employees’ H1 H3 H2 POS Job Satisfaction Psychological Empowerment Proactive Personality Fig. 1 Theoretical model Page 4 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 psychological empowerment is a source of competitive edge for organizations [56]. It is demonstrated that the employees who receive organizational support show more satisfaction toward their job and have lower turnover rate [49]. A recent study demonstrated that psychological empowerment works as an essential force that intervenes in the association between POS and job satisfaction [8]. Many researches on social exchange [2] and the norms of reciprocity [37] emphasize that employees feel obligated and are ready to assist their coworkers as well as their employers. Similarly, empowered individuals consider themselves as a significant part of the organization, are competent in accomplishing their goals, experience a sense of hold on their job and are involved in activities that affect the organization in a positive way [6]. In the same vein, previous research suggests that when individuals perceive high levels of psychological empowerment, it is highly probable that they feel motivated and dedicated toward their job responsibilities [56]. Furthermore, psychological empowerment works as the key motivator of the individuals’ job satisfaction and previous findings have exhibited the positive association between job satisfaction and psychological empowerment [46]. In sum, it is believed that the individuals, who perceive that their organizations recognize their contributions, will feel a greater sense of psychological empowerment, which in return is linked to high job satisfaction [32, 49]. Thus, it is hypothesized as: Hypothesis 2 Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between POS and job satisfaction. Moderating role ofproactive personality Specifically, the organizational support theory posits that individuals define their work contributions found on the degree to which they think that their organization is conscious about their welfare. When individuals observe that they are appreciated and employer backed them up, in return they tend to involve in desired actions such as they actively learn, exhibit supportive behavior, show commitment toward their organization and providing beneficial solutions. Individual characteristics such as personalities have an important role in affecting how individuals POS as well as how they act. The proactive, imaginative and tough character of adjustable individuals permits them to obtain these capabilities on their own and take organizational support [25]. By encouraging organizations to be more socially concerned about positive job–family links, workplace circumstances play a proactive role in outlining the vital job and societal consequences [47]. Psychologically empowered workers proactively carry out their work responsibilities [66]. A research revealed that highly proactive individuals are engage more in constructive behaviors such as learning, fabricating a promising work situation, recognizing avenues to grow [70]. In particular, proactive individuals are skillful at developing and maintaining positive give-and-take dealings in the working environment [52]. Therefore, it has been anticipated that proactive individuals with a powerful fundamental force may react to organizational support more favorably than inactive individuals [75]. Psychological empowerment enhances an individual’s self-efficacy and the capability to influence one’s job environment, promotes proactive behaviors and creative behavior and lets one to perform freely [19]. Organizational support theory advocates that employees’ work effort is based upon how much their employing organization is conscious about them and their comfort [61]. The employees consider that they are valued and favored at work and then most probably involved in organization’s desired behaviors, including helping others, learning keenly, stay with the organization for longer tenure and offering useful suggestions [61]. Previous research shows that individual differences like proactivity can play as a major force behind affecting how individuals perceive organizational support and behave [4, 75]. Help and opinion from interaction with colleagues can deliver precious support to individuals when learning organizational prospects, team rules, grasping work information and adapting social norms of the organization [13]. It is given that highly proactive individuals are unrestricted by situational hindrances and are competent enough to bring changes to enhance their position in organizations [11]. Employees with proactive, resourceful and strong nature acquire and use support from their organization [25]. By modifying office environment to be more socially supported by having strong ties, employment perceptions play a proactive role that determines social outcomes [47]. Moreover, proactive employees also get involved in extra-role organizational behaviors such as designing a constructive working environment and recognizing new avenues [52]. It further helps management in developing such work circumstances where employees consider themselves empowered enough to proactively involve in sustainability behaviors [49]. By integrating the above arguments, it is argued that proactive individuals do not need organization support as they can choose, build and manipulate work conditions in their favor rather than taking organization help. Consequently, proactive personality fades the association between POS and psychological empowerment, as the less organizational support, Page 5 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 the more proactive employees will be and the more they will be psychologically empowered. Subsequently, it is proposed that Hypothesis 3 Proactive personality moderates the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment, such that this relationship is stronger when proactive personality is low rather than high. Research methods Sample andprocedure Data were collected from practitioners belonging to various job functions (e.g., administration, corporate services, engineering, construction works, information and communication technology, education, public relation and media) from both services and manufacturing organizations located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. For sample selection, purposive sampling was utilized in order to get responses from the information-rich cases by proper utilization of available means [31]. Moreover, in order to minimize the effect of common method bias, data were collected from participants in two waves (one-month gap between both the time waves) [58] through self-administered questionnaires prepared in English language as English is considered as the medium of communication across these organizations. The participants were asked to fill out the questionnaire for perceived organizational support and proactive personality at Time 1 (T1). One month later, data were collected at Time 2 (T2), where participants were asked to fill up the questionnaire for psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. The data were collected from the target respondents in a natural setting without any interference from the researcher. By keeping in mind the possibilities of missing data and nonrespondents, our team approached 1200 full-time employees from manufacturing and services organizations. In response, we received back 1186 questionnaires, from which 936 were completed and valid; besides that, those with incomplete and missing data were removed from the analysis. In the sample of 936 respondents, the majority were from services industries (821, 87.7%) and the remaining respondents belong to manufacturing industries (103, 11.0%); 651 participants were male, while 285 were females (30.4%). The average age of the respondents was 29.68years (SD = 7.24) with average education level of 15.67years (SD = 1.51). The average length of time spent with current organization was 5.06years. In addition, the majority of the respondents were singles (501, 53.5%). Measures For measuring the study variables, well recognized and most extensively used scales were adopted from the previous studies. Perceived organizational support Perceived organizational support was measured using eight-item scale developed by Eisenberger et al. [28]. Employees were requested to assess the degree of their perceived organizational support by using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. One of sample items is “My organization strongly considers my goals and values,” and its internal consistency was 0.88. Job satisfaction We measured overall job satisfaction by a single-item scale developed by Scarpello and Campbell [64] that assessed participant’s satisfaction with their current job on seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much. The item for overall satisfaction is “Do you mostly enjoy your work in this organization.” Psychological empowerment To measure psychological empowerment of employees, 12-item scale was used by Spreitzer [66]. The sample item is “The work I do is very important to me,” and it is measured on a fivepoint Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The internal consistency for this scale was 0.85. Proactive personality Proactive personality was measured using 5-item scale developed by Janssen etal. [43]. Employees were asked for their proactive personality using a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = very strongly disagree to 5 = very strongly agree. The sample item is “wherever I have been, I have been a powerful force for constructive change,” and its internal consistency was 0.76. Control variables We controlled for several potentially relevant variables including thriving at work (joint connection of learning and vitality), age (1 = less than 20 till 6 = 60 and above), gender (1 = male, 2 = female), marital status (1 = single, 2 = married, 3 = widow, 4 = divorced), education level (1 = graduate, 2 = postgraduate, 3 = doctorate) and tenure (1 = 0–5 till 5 = 21 and above). Previous research indicated that particularly age, marital status and years of experience significantly correlate with job satisfaction [45, 54]. It is purported that gender differences should be given due consideration in the attitude–performance equation in the domain of organizational studies, as Crossman and Abou-Zaki [24] also suggested that job satisfaction level among males is generally more than females. The educational level is also critical as the employees with different educational levels exhibit diverse attitudes and satisfaction level at work [3]. Employee tenure is controlled due its impact on job satisfaction and POS. Owens etal. [57] noted that works at their beginning of job or career with particular Page 6 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 organization are more excited and energetic about their work. Data analysis Frequency analysis was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the sample, descriptive statistics were used for control and study variables, reliabilities of scales were computed and correlation matrix was computed as well. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of the measurement model, while regression analysis was used to test the moderated mediation hypotheses and validity of the model. Results Table1 presents the mean, SDs, correlation values and Cronbach’s alphas. Correlation coefficients are in the anticipated directions and provide preliminary support for our study hypotheses. For the control variables, it is examined that the relationship between gender and marital status is negatively significant (r = − 0.16, p < 0.01); age and gender (r = − 0.21, p < 0.01); and tenure and gender (r = 0.15, p < 0.01), and the relationship between tenure and marital status is positively significant (r = 0.43, p < 0.01); that between age and marital status (r = 0.59, p < 0.01) is positively correlated. POS has a positive and significant relationship with psychological empowerment (r = 0.46, p < 0.01); proactive personality is negatively significant with gender (r = − 0.07, p < 0.05); proactive personality is positively significant with POS (r = 0.23, p < 0.01); proactive personality and psychological empowerment (r = 0.26, p < 0.01). Furthermore, job satisfaction is positively significant with other study variables, job satisfaction with POS (r = 0.34, p < 0.01); job satisfaction with psychological empowerment (r = 0.38, p < 0.01); and job satisfaction with proactive personality (r = 0.20, p < 0.01). Confirmatory factor analysis Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted in order to determine instrument validity by using Fornell and Larcker [35] validity assessment criterion. At first, we examined full three-factor measurement model in which the items were permitted to associate substantially with their respective factors. Then, following up by other combination of our items related to our three study variables in AMOS 24 was examined. Results of our hypothesized full measurement model (perceived organizational support, proactive personality and psychological empowerment) represented a reasonably good fit, which can be seen in Table2, as Chi-square = 1798.21, TLI = 0.98, IFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05. All of these indices fall into the acceptable limits. The full measurement model was also compared with other different factor models in order to find out the best fit model for our data. Further, results showed that the full measurement model is the best fit model for our dataset and that other models did not provide an acceptable model fit at p < 0.05. The findings suggest that perceived organizational support, proactive personality and psychological empowerment are distinctive constructs. Construct reliability andvalidity The composite reliabilities (CR) of all of our study constructs lie within the range of 0.77 to 0.89, and AVE values are greater than 0.53; hence, the convergent validity is found to be satisfied. Besides, the criteria of discriminant validity set out by Fornell and Larcker [35] are also fulfilled, as AVE values of every construct of the study are found to be greater than their corresponding squared correlation. Test formoderated mediation In order to compute moderated mediation tests, hypothesized theoretical model was evaluated, in which the Table 1 Mean, SDs andcorrelations *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. Gender – – – 2. Marital status – – 0.16** – 3. Age 29.68 7.23 0.21** 0.59** 4. Qualification 15.67 1.50 0.06* 0.08* 0.12* 5. Tenure 5.06 5.17 0.15** 0.43** 0.74* − 0.05 6. POS 3.69 0.67 − 0.02 − 0.03 0.01 − 0.06 − 0.05 (0.88) 7. Psychological Empowerment 3.96 0.56 − 0.06 − 0.05 0.01 − 0.02 − 0.03 0.46** (0.85) 8. Proactive Personality 4.41 0.72 0.07* − 0.03 − 0.01 − 0.00 − 0.00 0.23** 0.26** (0.76) 9. Job Satisfaction 5.24 1.30 0.04 − 0.03 0.02 − 0.02 − 0.01 0.34** 0.38** 0.20** Page 7 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 influence of POS on job satisfaction was seen via psychological empowerment that was conditional on proactive personality. Here, moderated mediation technique was used and was run in one step by using SPSS Process Macro Model 7 [60] with 95% confidence interval based on 5000 bootstrap samples. Further, the coefficients of the model were estimated, whereby proactive personality interacts with perceived organizational support to influence psychological empowerment of employees, which in return impacts job satisfaction. It is given that results of moderated mediation analysis are presented in Table3. Firstly, the results support our assumptions for the hypothesized moderated mediation model. Secondly, when psychological empowerment is taken as outcome variable, Table3 depicts the R2 value which tells us that Table 2 Fit statistics frommeasurement model comparison All models are compared with full measurement model, i.e., five-factor model which includes (perceived organizational support, proactive personality, psychological empowerment, and thriving at work is divided into learning and vitality), where job satisfaction is excluded as it is a global measure. A. Three-factor model, where perceived organizational support and proactive personality are taken as a combined factor and psychological empowerment as a separate factor. B. Two-factor model, where psychological empowerment and perceived organizational support are combined into one factor and proactive personality as a separate factor. C. One-factor model, where psychological empowerment and proactive personality are combined into one factor and perceived organizational support as a separate factor. D. Onefactor model in which all four constructs are combined into one factor χ2 Chi-square, df degrees of freedom, TLI Tucker–Lewis index, IFI incremental fit index, CFI comparative fit index, AGFI adjusted goodness-of-fit index, RMSEA rootmean-square error of approximation, SRMR standardized root-mean-square residual n = 936; **p < 0.05 Models χ2df χ2/df TLI IFI AGFI CFI SRMR RMSEA AIC Δχ2Δ df Full measurement model 1798.21 529 3.49 0.98 0.99 0.98 0.99 0.05 0.05 2000.21 Model A 1281.09 509 2.52 0.93 0.94 0.91 0.94 0.04 0.04 1523.09 517.21 28 Model B 4255.26 557 7.64 0.68 0.70 0.72 0.71 0.06 0.08 4401.26 2974.17 20 Model C 4385.14 557 7.87 0.67 0.69 0.72 0.69 0.06 0.08 4531.14 129.88 0 Model D 6168.18 560 11.05 0.52 0.55 0.62 0.55 0.08 0.10 6327.18 629.54 1 Table 3 Regression results formoderated mediation—psychological empowerment asmediator N = 936; β = unstandardized regression coefficient; SE = standard error; LL = lower limit; CI = confidence interval; UL = upper limit Outcome variable = psychological empowerment B SE P LLCI ULCI Constant 0.32 0.57 0.57 − 0.79 1.43 X (perceived organizational support) 0.80 0.14 0.00 0.52 1.09 PP (proactive personality) 0.53 0.13 0.00 0.28 0.77 X × PP(Inter_1) − 0.10 0.03 0.00 − 0.16 − 0.04 R20.25** Outcome variable = job satisfaction Constant 1.20 0.29 0.00 0.63 1.77 X (perceived organizational support) 0.41 0.06 0.00 0.29 0.54 M (psychological empowerment) 0.63 0.08 0.00 0.48 0.78 R20.18** Direct effect of perceived organizational support on job satisfaction (X on Y) 0.41 0.06 0.00 0.29 0.54 Conditional indirect effect of job satisfaction on POS (POS–PE–job satisfaction) Proactive personality − 1 SD (3.80) 0.27 0.07 0.15 0.41 M (4.40) 0.23 0.05 0.14 0.33 + 1 SD (5.00) 0.19 0.04 0.13 0.27 Index of moderated mediation Index Proactive personality − 0.07 0.04 − 0.16 − 0.04 Page 8 of 12 Maanetal. Futur Bus J (2020) 6:21 psychological empowerment explains 25% of the variance in proactive personality in individuals and moderation is shown up by a significant interaction effect (β = − 0.10) that explains the relationship is negative and significant and also that as psychological empowerment increases, proactive personality decreases in the individuals. Given that p value p < 0.01, i.e., p = 0.00, shows that psychological empowerment is a highly significant predictor of proactive personality, then the boundaries of the zone of significance are between − 0.16 and − 0.04, which defines that psychological empowerment is significant to proactive personality. The model further illustrates the positive direct effect of job satisfaction on POS as β = 0.41, SE = 0.06, p < 0.01. The conditional indirect effect of job satisfaction on POS through psychological empowerment was probed at three different values of proactive personality: one SD below the mean (i.e., 3.80), on the average (4.40) and one SD above the mean (5.00). The indirect effect was significantly different from zero among low (β = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.41); average (β = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.14 to 0.33); and high (β = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.27) for proactive personality individuals. In addition, the index of moderated mediation reveals that the conditional indirect effect of psychological empowerment in the analysis of job satisfaction regressed on POS × PP is significant asindirect effect was −0.07 and 95% bootstrappingCI of this relationship did not include zero (LLCI = − 0.16 to ULCI = − 0.04). Moreover, results demonstrated that the positive impact of POS on job satisfaction through psychological empowerment increases as proactive personality decreases in the employees. These findings are in the anticipated direction (Fig.2). Conditional indirect effect of X on Y can be estimated through the following regression equation: where X is the perceived organizational support (POS), Y is the job satisfaction, W is the proactive personality and M is the psychological empowerment. This moderated mediation graph shows the indirect effects of POS on job satisfaction through psychological empowerment at higher (1 SD higher) and lower (1 SD lower) levels of proactive personality. These findings provided support for our Hypothesis 3 (Fig.3). M = (0.80 − 0.10 W)0.63 While Direct effect of X on Y =0.41 - 0. 1 0 * 0.53 ** 0.63 ** 0.80** 0. 41** POS JS Psychological EmpoPsychological PP POS×PP Fig. 2 Moderated mediation model Fig. 3 Conditional indirect effects of perceived organizational support on job satisfaction via psychological empowerment at high and low levels of proactive personality