Core Job Characteristics and Personal Work Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Critical Psychological States: Empirical Evidence from Northern Cyprus Hotel Sector

Abstract

Abstract Background and purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between core job characteristics (CJC) and personal work outcomes (OUT), as well as the roles of experienced meaningfulness of work (EMW) and experienced responsibility for outcomes of work (EROW) in mediating the CJC–OUT relationship. Specifically, this study attempts to examine the effectiveness of CJC in improving EMW and EROW and to shed light on the roles of EMW and EROW in enhancing the OUT of employees in the Northern Cyprus hotel sector. Methods: This study adopted a quantitative approach to collect and analyze the data from 420 tourism stakeholders in Northern Cyprus hotel sector. A partial least squares (PLS) technique using Smart-PLS was applied to test the direct relationships within the research model and determine any mediating effects. Results: The analysis revealed strong support for meaningfulness of work and experienced responsibility for outcomes of work acting as partial mediators in the relationship between core job characteristics and personal work outcomes. Moreover, core job characteristics was found to have a reasonable direct effect on personal work outcomes, experienced meaningfulness of work, and experienced responsibility for outcomes of work. Conclusion: The current study points to the importance of including experienced meaningfulness of work and experienced responsibility for outcomes of work as mediating variables to understand better the relationship between core job characteristics and Personal work outcomes. Several theoretical and practical implications are included before pinpointing the directions of potential future studies that makeup on the evidence-based argument regarding the results of this study. Lastly, top management in hotel sector would benefit from job redesign because the results demonstrated that the core job characteristics have a positive effect on their work outcomes.