Effects of Career Aspirations of New Generation Employees on Proactive Socialization Behavior

• Published in: SAGE open 2024-07, Vol.14 (3)
• Main Authors: Pan, Guoqiang, Cai, Yang, Yang, Qiandong, Shi, Wendian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2158-2440; 2158-2440
• DOI: 10.1177/21582440241285126

Organizational socialization of the new generation of employees has become a hot topic affecting the sustainable development of organizations. From the perspective of a proactive motivation model, the mechanism of career aspirations on new generation employees’ proactive socialization behaviors was explored. Three hundred three responses were gathered from an online survey. The results show that career aspirations were positively associated with proactive socialization behavior. Sense of hope played a mediating role in the relationship between career aspirations and proactive socialization behavior. Perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between career aspirations and a sense of hope. As employees’ perception of organizational support increases, the positive effect of career aspirations on a sense of hope is weakened. Our findings help to understand why new generation employees exhibit proactive socialization behavior and provide management insights for organizations to motivate new generation employees to take proactive socialization behaviors. Plain language summary Effects of career aspirations of new generation employees on proactive socialization behavior The mechanism linking employees’ career aspirations and their proactive socialization behavior remains unclear. Drawing on the proactive motivation model, our study aimed to explore the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions of the career aspirations of Chinese new generation employees influencing proactive socialization behavior. The results revealed that a sense of hope played a mediating role in this relationship, and its mediating effect was moderated by employee’s perceived organizational support. Our findings help to understand why new generation employees exhibit proactive socialization behavior and provide management insights for organizations to motivate new generation employees to take proactive socialization behaviors.