Role of psychosocial safety climate in job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion: mediating role of effort–reward imbalance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the role of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) on job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion among employees and to examine the mediating role of effort–reward imbalance (ERI) in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigated a mediation model with ERI explaining the relationship between PSC and the outcome variables using a sample of 441 employees of information technology (IT) organizations in India. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with LISREL (linear structural relations) 8.72 software.FindingsThe results suggest that PSC significantly influences the employees' experiences of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Also, ERI was demonstrated as a significant intervening construct with full mediation of the PSC–emotional exhaustion relationship and partial mediation of the PSC–job satisfaction relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides substantial results and arguments to encourage organizational-level commitment for psychosocial risk management through distributive fairness and reciprocity in the form of ERI to foster positive attitudes and prevent negative health and psychological outcomes. The cross-sectional nature of the study limits generalizability but contributes to the literature on work stress in a developing country's context.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates how employee outcomes like job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion often result from their perceptions of inequity and imbalance at the workplace. Further, the study builds a strong case for helping organizations contribute to the United Nations (UN) 2030 sustainability goals by empirically establishing the crucial role of top management's commitment and prioritization of employee psychosocial health and safety for designing primary stress-management initiatives for sustainable psychosocial risk prevention and management.