The impact of perceived organizational support on work meaningfulness, engagement, and perceived stress in France

This paper aims to show the strategic role of Perceived Organizational Support (POS) in developing positive work attitudes, thereby reducing stress in the workplace. We have conducted an empirical study to understand more about if and how work meaningfulness influence perceived stress and whether work engagement has a mediating effect between these two constructs. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and Social Exchange Theory (SET), we hypothesize that POS has both direct and indirect relationships with these variables: meaningfulness, work engagement, and perceived stress. We tested these hypotheses through path analyses on a sample of 1111 employees in France. The results support our hypotheses on a) the negative association between meaningfulness and perceived stress, b) the mediating role of engagement, and c) the direct and indirect effects of POS. The strongest moderating effect of POS is observed on the relationship between meaningfulness and engagement. Our findings have theoretical implications by showing, for example, that POS enhances positive outcomes more than it diminishes negative ones. The results also have practical implications for managers and organizations as they reinforce the interplay of intrinsic motivators (meaningfulness) as an individual process as well as extrinsic motivators (POS) in the realm of an organization's responsibility and interest in strengthening employee engagement and reducing stress at work.