Social Distancing Initiatives and Perceived Organizational Support: It’s the Intended Beneficiary That Counts

Abstract

Leveraging data on organizational social distancing initiatives (SDIs) this paper examines the link between SDI implementation and perceived organizational support (POS). The paper discusses and tests the intended beneficiary heuristic to help explain why and when employment practices may induce POS. We suggest that SDIs, involving various ways to separate employees to keep them safe, have the important secondary benefit of increasing employees’ perception that the organization cares about their well-being and values their contributions. Using the intended beneficiary heuristic we argue that such favorable treatment as SDIs relates positively to POS most when employees attribute their implementation to the organization’s concern for the welfare of employees. Results of two studies, a cross-sectional study with 121 employees in the United States and a longitudinal study with 103 employees in South Korea, indicate that SDIs were positively associated with employees’ POS, which in turn improved their job satisfaction (Studies 1 and 2), affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior (Study 2). The results also show that these relationships were stronger when employees perceived SDIs to be implemented to protect their welfare rather than as a means of protecting the organization.