Job satisfaction and employee’s unionization decision: The mediating effect of perceived union instrumentality
Abstract: Given the current
lack of literature in the background of China labor force, this study aims to
investigate the relationships among job satisfaction, perceived union instrumentality,
and unionization from a reference-frame-based perspective and explore the
referred relationships in the context of Chinese labor market.
Design/methodology/approach: The study introduces perceived union
instrumentality as a mediator to the relationship between job satisfaction and
unionization. The applicability of western theories was tested in the Chinese
context by a questionnaire survey on 390 employees who were working in private
sectors of Jiangsu Province in China. Four hypothesis were proposed and tested
by data analysis to verify the model.
Findings and Originality/value: The study found that most aspects of job
satisfaction were negatively correlated with unionization and perceived union
instrumentality, while perceived union instrumentality had a positive
relationship with unionization. Perceived union instrumentality was also found
to have a mediating effect on the relationship between job satisfaction and
unionization.
Originality/value: The paper adapted and tested a number of western industrial
relation theories in the backdrop of China, contributing to the gap in
Chinese-context research by examining the relationships between job
satisfaction, unionization and union instrumentality of Chinese employees. It
pays a regular contribution to labor union studies both inside and outside
China.
Author: Hongmei Shan, Enhua
Hu, Lujie Zhi, Long Zhang, Maolong Zhang
Journal Code: jptindustrigg160030
