Compassion and Job Performance: Dual-Paths through Positive Work-Related Identity, Collective Self Esteem, and Positive Psychological Capital

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the unexplored mechanisms through which employee job performance is affected by compassion experienced at work. While the relationship between compassion and job performance is relatively well established in the literature, our knowledge of the actual mechanisms underlying this relationship is still in a nascent state. In this study, we propose two paths through which increased job performance results from workplace compassion. Our empirical results, obtained through 360 full-time employees including 182 males and 178 females working in South Korea, provide support for the serial double mediation effects of positive work-related identity and collective self-esteem in the positive relationship between compassion experienced at work and job performance. In addition, the positive relationship between workplace compassion and job performance is mediated by positive psychological capital.