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Perceived organizational support: a meta-analytic evaluation of organizational support theory.

Kurtessis, James N., Eisenberger, Robert, Ford, Michael T., Buffardi, Louis C., Stewart, Kathleen A., Adis, Cory S.·2017·Journal of Management
DOI 10.1177/0149206315575554
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Abstract

Organizational support theory (OST) proposes that employees form a generalized perception concerning the extent to which the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support, or POS). Based on hypotheses involving social exchange, attribution, and self-enhancement, we carried out a meta-analytic assessment of OST using results from 558 studies. OST was generally successful in its predictions concerning both the antecedents of POS (leadership, employee–organization context, human resource practices, and working conditions) and its consequences (employee’s orientation toward the organization and work, employee performance, and well-being). Notably, OST successfully predicted the relative magnitudes of different relationships, influences of process variables, and mediational effects. General implications of the findings for OST and research on POS are discussed.

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  • Perceived organizational support acts as a protective mechanism, decreasing the negative effects of stressors such as high workload on teacher psychological wellbeing.

    “Additionally, POS acts as a protective mechanism, decreasing the negative effects of stressors, such as high workload and challenging student behaviors, on teacher psychological wellbeing (Runhaar et al., 2013; Kurtessis et al., 2017).”

    From Exploring the impact of workload, organizational support, and work engagement on teachers' psychological wellbeing: a structural equation modeling approach (2024) · cites this paper as Kurtessis et al., 2017

    The Subjective Well-Being section describes POS as a resource for coping with work demands and reports negative associations with job stress and burnout. It does not establish that POS buffers the effects of high workload or challenging student behavior on teachers’ psychological well-being; its findings concern employees more generally. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Culture is enacted through daily manager and team interactions rather than transmitted through e-learning.

    “Culture is enacted through daily manager and team interactions rather than transmitted through e-learning”

    From Geopolitical competition, online radicalisation, and organisational culture as vectors of the evolving insider threat (2026) · cites this paper as [30]

    The “Treatment by Organization Members” section reports that supervisor, coworker, and team support are associated with employees’ perceptions of organizational support. That supports the role of interpersonal behavior in how employees experience an organization, but the paper does not establish that culture is enacted through daily interactions or compare those interactions with e-learning. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Managers who notice distress, make time for informal engagement, and demonstrate genuine welfare interest perform a security function regardless of conscious intent.

    “managers who notice distress, make time for informal engagement, and demonstrate genuine welfare interest perform a security function regardless of conscious intent [1, 30].”

    From Geopolitical competition, online radicalisation, and organisational culture as vectors of the evolving insider threat (2026) · cites this paper as [30]

    The ‘Relative Importance of Supervisor Support’ section (page unavailable) describes supervisor support as communicating care for employees’ well-being, and ‘Future Directions’ suggests perceived organizational support may provide comfort during stressful times. The paper does not establish that noticing distress or making time for informal engagement performs a security function regardless of conscious intent; its discussion of favorable treatment instead emphasizes perceived benevolent intent. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Prior evidence indicates that employees' perceptions of being valued directly impact their workplace orientation, performance, and well-being.

    “Indeed, the current results are consistent with prior evidence that employees’ perceptions of being valued directly impact their workplace orientation, performance, and well-being [75,76,77,78,79].”

    From Assessing the Relative Impact of Diverse Stressors among Public Safety Personnel (2020) · cites this paper as [77]

    The Outcomes of POS section (page unavailable) groups the findings into workplace orientation, subjective well-being, and behavioral outcomes. It reports associations with job satisfaction, stress, burnout, and in-role performance. But the paper describes these results as bivariate associations and considers possible mediators, so it does not establish that feeling valued directly causes all three outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Perceptions of organizational support lead to positive work experiences, such as affective commitment.

    “Signaling organizational support is not trivial, inasmuch as these perceptions lead to positive work experiences, such as affective commitment (e.g., Kurtessis et al., 2017).”

    From The Participation of People with Disabilities in the Workplace Across the Employment Cycle: Employer Concerns and Research Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as Kurtessis et al., 2017

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kurtessis, J. N., Eisenberger, R., Ford, M. T., Buffardi, L. C., Stewart, K. A., & Adis, C. S.
Affiliations
  • George Mason University (US)
  • University of Houston (US)
  • University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
  • United States Customs and Border Protection (US)
Corresponding author
Kurtessis, James N.
ORCID
Eisenberger, Robert
Venue
Journal of Management
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-03-12
Volume
43
Issue
6
Pages
1854-1884
ISSN
  • 0149-2063 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-1211
DOI
10.1177/0149206315575554
OpenAlex
W2031556598
Cited by
2,354
References
15
Citations by year
2026: 316 · 2025: 255 · 2024: 315 · 2023: 303 · 2022: 313 · 2021: 236 · 2020: 215 · 2019: 154 · 2018: 127 · 2017: 75 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 9
FWCI
179.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Journal of Management (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Employee Performance and Management
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Human Resource and Talent Management
Keywords
perceived organizational support, organizational support theory, social exchange theory, attribution theory, self-enhancement, leadership, human resource management practices, working conditions, employee performance, employee well-being, mediation

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