From HR Practices to HR Performance: A Psychological Ownership Meta-Analysis Across Cultures

Abstract

This study utilizes psychological ownership theory as theoretical framework to examine high-performance work practices, and attitudinal and behavioral performance as associations of psychological ownership on the population level. Psychological ownership describes a mindset which allows individuals to experience ownership feelings for a target (e.g., organization) regardless of legal ownership rights. Further, psychological ownership theory is integrated with and extended by contingency theory to analyze the moderation effects of societal culture. These effects have been assumed for over 30 years but hardly backed by empirical evidence from cross-cultural samples. Thus, this study analyzes data from 351,919 individuals who participated in 139 published and unpublished studies, using rigorous and advanced meta-analytic techniques. The results show that compensation and benefits, job and work design, and communication practices foster psychological ownership, which in turn enhances constructive deviant behavior, task performance, and favorable attitude while weakening unfavorable attitude. Societal culture significantly strengthens these relationships.

Keywords

• psychological ownership theory
• contingency theory
• meta-analysis
• human resources
• cross-cultural sample