High-performance work systems and key employee attitudes: the roles of psychological capital and an interactional justice climate

While there is evidence that high performance work systems (HPWS) are related to positive employee attitudes, the underlying mechanism is not yet thoroughly understood. Similarly, though the benefits of employees’ psychological capital (PsyCap) in the workplace are well documented, little is known about the extent to which PsyCap stems from the context in which people work. Adopting a multi-level approach and using the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework and the conservation of resources (COR) theory as theoretical backdrop, we develop and test a moderated mediation model to explain how organization-level HPWS relate to individual employee work attitudes (job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment) that reflect well-being through the mediating mechanism of employees’ PsyCap. Analysis of multi-source data from 569 employees in 44 firms showed that HPWS were positively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment, and that these relationships were partially mediated by PsyCap. Furthermore, moderated path analysis revealed that an interactional justice climate strengthened the direct effect of HPWS on PsyCap and work attitudes as well as the indirect effects of HPWS on work attitudes. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.