# The Influence of Work Environment on Employee’s Psychological Relationship: A Case Study of Japanese Literature

Authors: Ziyu Xin
Journal: Occupational Therapy International
 (2022)

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## Abstract

The new generation of employees grows up in the environment of rapid economic development, fierce competition, diversified values, and multiple channels of cultural communication, and their unique growth environment creates characteristics such as their unstable psychological state, poor adjustment ability, and significant self-awareness. The special psychological condition of the new generation employees will affect their own development and that of the organization. How to effectively manage the psychological capital of new generation employees has become an urgent problem for modern human resource management. Based on the social exchange theory and resource conservation theory, this study explores the relationship between the psychological capital of new generation employees and their job performance and propensity to leave and proposes research hypotheses and research models. Based on the survey data of 330 new generation employees, SPSS software was used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The psychological capital, job performance, and turnover tendency of new generation employees differed to different degrees in terms of age, education, years of work experience, and position level. The psychological capital of the new generation employees had a significant negative effect on the propensity to leave. Psychological capital had a significant positive effect on the relational performance dimension of job performance, and among the four dimensions of psychological capital, resilience and optimism had a significant positive effect on relational performance, while self-efficacy and hope had no significant effect on relational performance. The psychological capital of new generation employees mainly contributes to task performance through hope, resilience, and optimism and to relational performance through resilience and optimism.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

The new generation of employees are basically only children, with little economic pressure and limited life experience. In the workplace, compared to traditional employees, the salary is no longer the focus of the new generation of employees; they are more concerned about the embodiment of personal value, as well as the recognition of the company’s contribution to their own situation [1]. These characteristics also lead to the new generation of employees in the workplace being prone to excessive attention to self, emotional fluctuations, poor self-regulation ability, and other problems [2]. Although new generation employees have many disadvantages in the workplace, they have a strong sense of independence, are receptive to new things, have a high desire for learning and innovation, focus on the realization of personal goals, and have more plasticity in their psychological capital compared to traditional employees [3]. Research proves that the psychological capital (positive emotional expression, good mental state) of employees can develop their potential from the source, influence their work attitude and performance, and make them serve the company better [4]. Therefore, we must find out how to take appropriate measures to effectively manage and motivate the new generation employees according to their characteristics in order to improve their mental health and enhance their psychological capital, so as to achieve the improvement of the new generation employees’ work performance and the reduction of the turnover rate and then promote the improvement of the new generation employees’ overall quality and the development of the enterprise [5–8].With the advent of the knowledge-based economy, the competition among enterprises today is ultimately the competition of talents, and human resource management has become one of the important management functions of enterprises [9]. Western countries are also advocating the idea of “people-oriented” management. Companies are slowly beginning to pay attention to the attitudes, behaviors, and values of their employees and to improve the ability of managers to predict, control, and guide employee behavior in order to achieve organizational performance goals [10]. In order to survive and improve their profitability, companies are beginning to pay attention to the responsibilities and duties they should do for their employees and make sure that they are truly felt by them, because only when employees work hard and achieve their performance can the company can achieve organizational performance [11]. In an organization, on the one hand, the organization expects the employees to work hard and diligently to complete their work performance; on the other hand, the employees expect the organization to do their responsibilities, and the sum of the unspoken and implicit expectations between the organization and the employees is called the psychological contract [12]. The scholars also describe this psychological contract as an “unwritten contract,” which is distinguished from a paper contract/labor contract [13]. Now, the relationship between enterprises and employees is a mutual choice; if the enterprise’s human resource policy, management system, and employee expectations are too different, it will cause employee dissatisfaction, resulting in a high turnover rate, and it will be difficult for enterprises to retain high-quality talent, affecting the performance of the organization [14]. Therefore, in order to strengthen their competitive advantage, companies must pay attention to the effective management of the psychological contract. The psychological contract plays a role in the relationship between the organization and the employee as a psychological bond. A large number of scholars have concluded through empirical studies that the psychological contract can have a direct or indirect impact on employee performance [15]. If an employee feels the responsibility of the organization to him and feels the flexibility of the work, job autonomy and decision-making power, work environment, and salary, etc., and his expectations are consistent, then he will work hard, be enthusiastic to serve the organization, improve his organizational citizenship behavior as well as job performance, and contribute to the realization of organizational goals [16–18]. Conversely, if the organization does not fulfill its responsibilities as well as its commitments well, then the employee’s motivation will be greatly reduced, and there will be no initiative and passion in work, which will affect the employee’s personal performance, which will then have a certain impact on the organization’s performance [19]. Therefore, an in-depth study of the relationship between psychological contract and employee performance is of great relevance to both the improvement of corporate management and the career development of employees themselves [20]. To sum up, a psychological contract is crucial to the long-term development of enterprises, and it is necessary to study it.As times change, the spirit of traditional thought is constantly supplemented with new meanings and increasingly diverse forms of expression [21]. All literary forms, such as waka, monogatari, essays, diaries, and dramas, expound a literary spirit that continues from generation to generation. This Japanese self-awareness is not only due to the influence of the spirit of modern Western literature but also determined by the inherent spirit of traditional Japanese literature. The study of the evolution of the traditional literary spirit in Japanese literature has considerable significance for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese literature and culture and for the continuation of the national spirit. Ever since China entered modern society, the self-awareness of its citizens has been increasing. The Chinese self-consciousness has similarities and differences with the Japanese style of private consciousness, and this paper hopes to provide some thoughts on the development of self-consciousness in China through the study of Japanese private consciousness. Based on the previous research results, this study takes the social exchange theory and resource conservation theory as the objects and explores the role of new generation employees’ psychological capital on job performance, the role of new generation employees’ psychological capital on the tendency to leave, the role of new generation employees’ job performance on the tendency to leave, and the mediating role of new generation employees’ job performance on the relationship between psychological capital and the tendency to leave. Based on the results of the empirical study, we propose recommendations for this study from the perspective of management and development of psychological capital of new generation employees.Enterprises should better improve the work performance of the new generation of employees, reduce the turnover rate and human resource loss. Among them, hope, resilience, and optimism have a significant negative effect on the propensity to leave, and self-efficacy has no significant effect on the propensity to leave. The psychological capital of the new generation employees has a significant positive effect on job performance. Among them, psychological capital had a significant positive effect on task performance; hope, resilience, and optimism had a significant positive effect on task performance; and self-efficacy had no significant effect on task performance.


## 2. Methods

### 2.1. Participants

Psychological capital is a positive psychological state exhibited by individuals, and in human resource management, psychological capital can be seen as a reflection of employees’ positive psychological state. Combined with social exchange theory and resource conservation theory, when new generation employees perceive the loss of their psychological resources, their psychological emotions will be affected, and these effects will be reflected in their work status and work engagement, which in turn will affect their work behavior and separation choice. Based on the literature and the actual situation of this study, the following research hypothesis is made. The “ancient literature” in this thesis is selected from the segment of Japanese literature in Chinese academia, namely, the Upper and Middle Ages of Japanese literature, but it is different from the “ancient literature” in Chinese academia, specifically from the end of the Asuka period. Specifically, it starts from the end of the Hitori period literature, passes through the Nara period literature and the Heian period literature, and reaches the beginning of the Kamakura period literature.Although myths and legends, folk songs, and historical facts existed in Japanese literature prior to the birth of Shiroku literature, it is difficult to verify and analyze the literature of the oral tradition, which was handed down by word of mouth, without a text. Therefore, in this thesis, we will select and analyze the literature that was written in the Nara and Heian eras to prove the formation of “private” consciousness, starting from the first historical literature, “The Chronicle of Ancient Matters.” The study concludes that the new generation of employees is growing up in a market environment full of opportunities and challenges, and there is no shortage of job opportunities. In the absence of job-seeking pressure, new generation employees respect their own psychological feelings, and their attitude toward work and work experience will largely determine their job choice. Therefore, the psychological capital of new generation employees will have a great influence on their tendency to leave their jobs. If new generation employees have a high level of psychological capital, they can better deal with the dilemmas they face at work and thus will not easily have the idea of leaving their jobs. In this study, psychological capital is subdivided into four dimensions: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism. The propensity to leave is unidimensional. New generation employees’ confidence in accomplishing work goals, hope in accomplishing goals, resilience in facing difficulties, and optimistic expectations for the future all reduce the tendency of new generation employees to leave their jobs.Based on the above inferences, the relationship model between three variables, namely, psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave, can be established for new generation employees, as shown in Figure1. Psychological capital is further subdivided into four subdimensions: hope, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy; job performance is divided into two dimensions: task performance and relationship performance; and propensity to leave is a single dimension. The theoretical model contains the following relationships among the variables: first, the effect of psychological capital on the propensity to leave of the new generation of employees; second, the effect of the psychological capital of new generation employees on job performance; third, the effect of the job performance of new generation employees on the propensity to leave; and fourth, the mediating role of the job performance of new generation employees in the relationship between psychological capital and propensity to leave. Psychological capital had a significant positive effect on relational performance, resilience and optimism had a significant positive effect on relational performance, and self-efficacy and hope had no significant effect on relational performance. The results of the survey on the reasons for the inclusion of these three works in the textbooks show that most of the students believe that the main reason for the inclusion of these works is the theme of the works and the masterpieces.Figure 1
Research model of working environment.


### 2.2. Design

#### 2.2.1. Demographic Information Scale

This study draws on the existing scales of similar studies and combines them with research needs to design a scale of demographic information that includes five aspects of the new generation of employees: gender, age, education, years of experience, and position level. The obtained survey data are mainly used to understand the distribution characteristics of the surveyed sample (new generation employees) and to prepare for the subsequent variance analysis.


#### 2.2.2. Psychological Capital Scale

The psychological capital scale in this study was based on the psychological capital questionnaire in Japanese literature, which was later translated by Chinese scholar Chao-Ping Li. The psychological capital scale contains 4 dimensions of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy, with 6 questions for each subdimension, totaling 24 questions. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher psychological capital. A total of 350 questionnaires were collected, and the overall questionnaire return rate was 96.2%. After excluding the questionnaires with missing or invalid information, a total of 330 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid rate of 90.7%.


#### 2.2.3. Job Performance Scales

After sorting and comprehensive comparison, the performance pay scale of this study was determined mainly by referring to the performance evaluation scale, which evaluates the performance level of employees in two dimensions: task performance and relationship performance. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher levels of performance.


#### 2.2.4. Propensity to Leave Scale

This study established the propensity to leave as a unidimensional variable, mainly referring to the 4-item scale developed by Kelloway et al. in 1999, which was also referred to in the study of the relationship between work interference with family and employee job performance and propensity to leave. The Intention to Leave Scale consists of 4 items. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating a higher propensity to leave.Before a large-scale formal survey, a presurvey is needed. In this study, before the formal survey, we first surveyed some of the new generation employees of the local Kang Division and the Group, and sent out a total of 65 preliminary questionnaires, all of which were collected. SPSS was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire, and according to the results of data analysis, the questionnaire items and expressions were adjusted appropriately. We also communicated with some of the respondents to further improve the questionnaire and determine the final official questionnaire according to the feedback.


### 2.3. Measures

The data source of this study sample consists of two parts. One part is the field survey, which was conducted on some of the new generation employees of five entities. The researcher, with the cooperation of the human resource management departments of the enterprises, distributed and collected questionnaires from some of the employees born after 1985 in these five enterprises. A total of 154 questionnaires were distributed, and 140 questionnaires were actually collected, with a return rate of 90.9% in paper form. The other part was distributed in the form of an online questionnaire, and the researcher surveyed the new generation of employees in the companies. These subjects came from different cities, different types of enterprises, different job nature, etc. A total of 210 questionnaires were collected through the web-based questionnaire. In order to ensure the authenticity of the data as much as possible, the questionnaire was distributed with the repeated emphasis that the survey results would be used for academic research only, and the respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire within a specified period of time.


#### 2.3.1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis

SPSS software was used to conduct a general descriptive analysis of the collected data and a descriptive analysis of psychological capital and its four subdimensions of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism; job performance and its two subdimensions of task performance and relationship performance; and propensity to leave, to gain a preliminary understanding of the basic information of the collected data.


#### 2.3.2. Reliability and Validity Analysis

The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity using SPSS software. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is commonly used in the current field of management and psychology research to evaluate the internal consistency of scales. The structural validity of the scale was tested using factor analysis. Before conducting factor analysis, KMO and sphere tests are performed, and the level of their test values determines the suitability for factor analysis.


#### 2.3.3. Analysis of Variance

In this study, the independent samplet-test was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of gender, and one-way ANOVA was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of demographic variables such as age, years of experience, and education.


#### 2.3.4. Correlation Analysis

There are two types of relationships between variables, correlation and uncorrelated, and the magnitude and significance level of the correlation coefficient are used to determine the correlation between variables.


#### 2.3.5. Regression Analysis

Correlation analysis cannot distinguish the causal relationship between variables, while regression analysis can clearly show the mutual influence relationship between variables. This study uses regression analysis to examine the influence paths among three variables: psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among new generation employees.


## 2.1. Participants

Psychological capital is a positive psychological state exhibited by individuals, and in human resource management, psychological capital can be seen as a reflection of employees’ positive psychological state. Combined with social exchange theory and resource conservation theory, when new generation employees perceive the loss of their psychological resources, their psychological emotions will be affected, and these effects will be reflected in their work status and work engagement, which in turn will affect their work behavior and separation choice. Based on the literature and the actual situation of this study, the following research hypothesis is made. The “ancient literature” in this thesis is selected from the segment of Japanese literature in Chinese academia, namely, the Upper and Middle Ages of Japanese literature, but it is different from the “ancient literature” in Chinese academia, specifically from the end of the Asuka period. Specifically, it starts from the end of the Hitori period literature, passes through the Nara period literature and the Heian period literature, and reaches the beginning of the Kamakura period literature.Although myths and legends, folk songs, and historical facts existed in Japanese literature prior to the birth of Shiroku literature, it is difficult to verify and analyze the literature of the oral tradition, which was handed down by word of mouth, without a text. Therefore, in this thesis, we will select and analyze the literature that was written in the Nara and Heian eras to prove the formation of “private” consciousness, starting from the first historical literature, “The Chronicle of Ancient Matters.” The study concludes that the new generation of employees is growing up in a market environment full of opportunities and challenges, and there is no shortage of job opportunities. In the absence of job-seeking pressure, new generation employees respect their own psychological feelings, and their attitude toward work and work experience will largely determine their job choice. Therefore, the psychological capital of new generation employees will have a great influence on their tendency to leave their jobs. If new generation employees have a high level of psychological capital, they can better deal with the dilemmas they face at work and thus will not easily have the idea of leaving their jobs. In this study, psychological capital is subdivided into four dimensions: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism. The propensity to leave is unidimensional. New generation employees’ confidence in accomplishing work goals, hope in accomplishing goals, resilience in facing difficulties, and optimistic expectations for the future all reduce the tendency of new generation employees to leave their jobs.Based on the above inferences, the relationship model between three variables, namely, psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave, can be established for new generation employees, as shown in Figure1. Psychological capital is further subdivided into four subdimensions: hope, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy; job performance is divided into two dimensions: task performance and relationship performance; and propensity to leave is a single dimension. The theoretical model contains the following relationships among the variables: first, the effect of psychological capital on the propensity to leave of the new generation of employees; second, the effect of the psychological capital of new generation employees on job performance; third, the effect of the job performance of new generation employees on the propensity to leave; and fourth, the mediating role of the job performance of new generation employees in the relationship between psychological capital and propensity to leave. Psychological capital had a significant positive effect on relational performance, resilience and optimism had a significant positive effect on relational performance, and self-efficacy and hope had no significant effect on relational performance. The results of the survey on the reasons for the inclusion of these three works in the textbooks show that most of the students believe that the main reason for the inclusion of these works is the theme of the works and the masterpieces.Figure 1
Research model of working environment.


## 2.2. Design

### 2.2.1. Demographic Information Scale

This study draws on the existing scales of similar studies and combines them with research needs to design a scale of demographic information that includes five aspects of the new generation of employees: gender, age, education, years of experience, and position level. The obtained survey data are mainly used to understand the distribution characteristics of the surveyed sample (new generation employees) and to prepare for the subsequent variance analysis.


### 2.2.2. Psychological Capital Scale

The psychological capital scale in this study was based on the psychological capital questionnaire in Japanese literature, which was later translated by Chinese scholar Chao-Ping Li. The psychological capital scale contains 4 dimensions of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy, with 6 questions for each subdimension, totaling 24 questions. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher psychological capital. A total of 350 questionnaires were collected, and the overall questionnaire return rate was 96.2%. After excluding the questionnaires with missing or invalid information, a total of 330 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid rate of 90.7%.


### 2.2.3. Job Performance Scales

After sorting and comprehensive comparison, the performance pay scale of this study was determined mainly by referring to the performance evaluation scale, which evaluates the performance level of employees in two dimensions: task performance and relationship performance. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher levels of performance.


### 2.2.4. Propensity to Leave Scale

This study established the propensity to leave as a unidimensional variable, mainly referring to the 4-item scale developed by Kelloway et al. in 1999, which was also referred to in the study of the relationship between work interference with family and employee job performance and propensity to leave. The Intention to Leave Scale consists of 4 items. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating a higher propensity to leave.Before a large-scale formal survey, a presurvey is needed. In this study, before the formal survey, we first surveyed some of the new generation employees of the local Kang Division and the Group, and sent out a total of 65 preliminary questionnaires, all of which were collected. SPSS was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire, and according to the results of data analysis, the questionnaire items and expressions were adjusted appropriately. We also communicated with some of the respondents to further improve the questionnaire and determine the final official questionnaire according to the feedback.


## 2.2.1. Demographic Information Scale

This study draws on the existing scales of similar studies and combines them with research needs to design a scale of demographic information that includes five aspects of the new generation of employees: gender, age, education, years of experience, and position level. The obtained survey data are mainly used to understand the distribution characteristics of the surveyed sample (new generation employees) and to prepare for the subsequent variance analysis.


## 2.2.2. Psychological Capital Scale

The psychological capital scale in this study was based on the psychological capital questionnaire in Japanese literature, which was later translated by Chinese scholar Chao-Ping Li. The psychological capital scale contains 4 dimensions of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy, with 6 questions for each subdimension, totaling 24 questions. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher psychological capital. A total of 350 questionnaires were collected, and the overall questionnaire return rate was 96.2%. After excluding the questionnaires with missing or invalid information, a total of 330 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid rate of 90.7%.


## 2.2.3. Job Performance Scales

After sorting and comprehensive comparison, the performance pay scale of this study was determined mainly by referring to the performance evaluation scale, which evaluates the performance level of employees in two dimensions: task performance and relationship performance. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher levels of performance.


## 2.2.4. Propensity to Leave Scale

This study established the propensity to leave as a unidimensional variable, mainly referring to the 4-item scale developed by Kelloway et al. in 1999, which was also referred to in the study of the relationship between work interference with family and employee job performance and propensity to leave. The Intention to Leave Scale consists of 4 items. The scale is scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating a higher propensity to leave.Before a large-scale formal survey, a presurvey is needed. In this study, before the formal survey, we first surveyed some of the new generation employees of the local Kang Division and the Group, and sent out a total of 65 preliminary questionnaires, all of which were collected. SPSS was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire, and according to the results of data analysis, the questionnaire items and expressions were adjusted appropriately. We also communicated with some of the respondents to further improve the questionnaire and determine the final official questionnaire according to the feedback.


## 2.3. Measures

The data source of this study sample consists of two parts. One part is the field survey, which was conducted on some of the new generation employees of five entities. The researcher, with the cooperation of the human resource management departments of the enterprises, distributed and collected questionnaires from some of the employees born after 1985 in these five enterprises. A total of 154 questionnaires were distributed, and 140 questionnaires were actually collected, with a return rate of 90.9% in paper form. The other part was distributed in the form of an online questionnaire, and the researcher surveyed the new generation of employees in the companies. These subjects came from different cities, different types of enterprises, different job nature, etc. A total of 210 questionnaires were collected through the web-based questionnaire. In order to ensure the authenticity of the data as much as possible, the questionnaire was distributed with the repeated emphasis that the survey results would be used for academic research only, and the respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire within a specified period of time.


### 2.3.1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis

SPSS software was used to conduct a general descriptive analysis of the collected data and a descriptive analysis of psychological capital and its four subdimensions of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism; job performance and its two subdimensions of task performance and relationship performance; and propensity to leave, to gain a preliminary understanding of the basic information of the collected data.


### 2.3.2. Reliability and Validity Analysis

The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity using SPSS software. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is commonly used in the current field of management and psychology research to evaluate the internal consistency of scales. The structural validity of the scale was tested using factor analysis. Before conducting factor analysis, KMO and sphere tests are performed, and the level of their test values determines the suitability for factor analysis.


### 2.3.3. Analysis of Variance

In this study, the independent samplet-test was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of gender, and one-way ANOVA was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of demographic variables such as age, years of experience, and education.


### 2.3.4. Correlation Analysis

There are two types of relationships between variables, correlation and uncorrelated, and the magnitude and significance level of the correlation coefficient are used to determine the correlation between variables.


### 2.3.5. Regression Analysis

Correlation analysis cannot distinguish the causal relationship between variables, while regression analysis can clearly show the mutual influence relationship between variables. This study uses regression analysis to examine the influence paths among three variables: psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among new generation employees.


## 2.3.1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis

SPSS software was used to conduct a general descriptive analysis of the collected data and a descriptive analysis of psychological capital and its four subdimensions of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism; job performance and its two subdimensions of task performance and relationship performance; and propensity to leave, to gain a preliminary understanding of the basic information of the collected data.


## 2.3.2. Reliability and Validity Analysis

The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity using SPSS software. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is commonly used in the current field of management and psychology research to evaluate the internal consistency of scales. The structural validity of the scale was tested using factor analysis. Before conducting factor analysis, KMO and sphere tests are performed, and the level of their test values determines the suitability for factor analysis.


## 2.3.3. Analysis of Variance

In this study, the independent samplet-test was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of gender, and one-way ANOVA was used to test whether there were significant differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees in terms of demographic variables such as age, years of experience, and education.


## 2.3.4. Correlation Analysis

There are two types of relationships between variables, correlation and uncorrelated, and the magnitude and significance level of the correlation coefficient are used to determine the correlation between variables.


## 2.3.5. Regression Analysis

Correlation analysis cannot distinguish the causal relationship between variables, while regression analysis can clearly show the mutual influence relationship between variables. This study uses regression analysis to examine the influence paths among three variables: psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among new generation employees.


## 3. Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between Psychological Capital, Job Performance, and Propensity to Leave in Japanese Works

### 3.1. Analysis of the Demographic Characteristics of the Study Population

The preliminary analysis of the collected data includes the analysis of the demographic characteristics of the new generation employees; the descriptive statistical analysis of the current situation of the new generation employees’ psychological capital, job performance, and tendency to leave; the reliability and validity analysis of the psychological capital scale; the job performance scale and the tendency to leave scale; and the demographic statistical variance analysis and the correlation analysis of the new generation employees’ psychological capital, job performance, and tendency to leave. A total of 330 valid questionnaires were collected in this study, and the sample characteristics needed for this study were obtained through collation, and the specific descriptive statistical analysis is shown in Table1.Table 1
Descriptive statistics of the basic conditions of the survey respondents.
Research contentResearch categoryResearch frequencyPercentageGenderMale150100%Female180Academic qualificationsCollege6920.9Undergraduate17452.7Graduate students8726.4Age<255917.925-408826.7>4018355.4PositionGeneral staff10100%Grassroots staff220Midlevel staff20Senior staff100Executives0SD: standard deviation.The gender, education, and position level of the surveyed new generation employees are reasonably distributed and representative. (1) From the perspective of the gender of the new generation employees, the proportion of female employees in the survey is slightly higher than that of male employees. From the age structure of the new generation employees, 59 employees were born from 1985 to 1990, accounting for 17.9% of the sample; 88 employees were born from 1991 to 1995, accounting for 26.7% of the sample; and 183 employees were born after 1995, accounting for 55.4% of the sample, indicating that “post-95” employees account for the majority of the new generation employees surveyed. The majority of the surveyed new generation employees are “post-95” employees. (3) In terms of the educational level of the new generation employees, 69 employees have college or less than college level, accounting for 20.9% of the sample; 174 employees have a bachelor’s degree, accounting for 52.7% of the sample; 80 employees have a master’s degree or above, accounting for 26.4% of the sample; and 79.1% of the new generation employees have a bachelor’s degree or above, which is the main part of the sample. It can be seen that most of the new generation employees have received undergraduate education or above, and their education level is generally higher. This study uses correlation analysis to initially determine the correlation pattern between variables, to investigate whether there is a dependent relationship between psychological capital and its dimensions, job performance and its dimensions, and the propensity to leave and whether there is a correlation between job performance and its dimensions and the propensity to leave, and to initially verify the correlation relationship between variables.In terms of the working years of the new generation employees, 183 employees (55.5%) have worked in the current enterprise for 2 years or less, 94 employees (28.5%) have worked for 2-5 years, and 53 employees (16.1%) have worked in the current enterprise for more than 5 years, which shows that most of the new generation employees in the survey have worked for less than 2 years. On the one hand, this may be due to the fact that the new generation employees have just come out of school and entered the workplace, and on the other hand, it may be due to the fact that the new generation employees are frequently “job hopping.” (5) From the position level of the new generation employees, there are 197 ordinary employees, accounting for 59.7% of the sample; 99 grassroots managers, accounting for 30.0% of the sample; and 34 middle and senior managers, accounting for 10.3% of the sample, which shows that although most of the new generation employees surveyed are ordinary employees without management positions; there are some employees who have already taken up management positions, even taking up middle and senior management positions. Table2 shows the results of the descriptive statistics of the four dimensions of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism of the new generation employees’ psychological capital and psychological capital.Table 2
Descriptive statistical analysis of psychological capital and its dimensions.
Descriptive featuresQuantityAverage valueStandard deviationRecommended accuracy (SD)Mental capital1813.690.582.69Motivation index1963.250.36Hope693.250.26Firmness953.690.29Optimism1353.260.592.51Freedom1593.210.67Working environment963.490.67SD: standard deviation.The mean value of the psychological capital of new generation employees is 3.0893, which is slightly above the middle value, and there is still much room for improvement. The mean value of self-efficacy is the highest, and the mean value of perseverance is the lowest among the four dimensions of psychological capital of the new generation employees. Table3 shows the results of descriptive statistical analysis of task performance and relationship performance dimensions of the job performance of new generation employees. The mean value of the job performance of new generation employees is 3.122, and the standard deviation is 0.666. Among the two dimensions of job performance, task performance (3.227) has a slightly higher mean value than relationship performance (3.017).Table 3
Descriptive statistical analysis of job performance and its dimensions.
Variable nameVariable valuesJob performanceMental capitalMotivation indexHope indexFirmnessOptimismFreedomTask performanceCredibilityBoundary valuesReliabilityPerformance score——Relationship performanceMental capitalMotivation indexHope indexFirmnessOptimismFreedom


### 3.2. Validity Analysis

In this study, the validity of the scale was examined using factor analysis. According to psychological measurement criteria, a scale has good structural validity if the cumulative variance contribution of the factor is at least 50%. Before conducting factor analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s spherical test are conducted to determine the suitability of the scale for factor analysis. The value of KMO is between 0 and 1, and a higher KMO value indicates higher validity of the scale. A KMO value of 0.9 or higher indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.8-0.9 indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.7-0.8 indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.6-0.7 indicates poor suitability for factor analysis, and a KMO value of 0.5-0.6 indicates poor suitability for factor analysis. If the KMO value is less than 0.5, it is not suitable for factor analysis at all, and the question items of the scale need to be modified. The results in Figure2 show that the KMO value of the psychological capital scale determined in this study was 0.748, with an approximate chi-square value of 2409.296 and a significance level of less than 0.001, indicating that it is suitable for factor analysis. Factor extraction was further applied to the questionnaire using principal component analysis, and the eigenvalues were set to be greater than 1. Generally speaking, it is difficult to promote employees with less than 2 years of working experience in the enterprise, and the descriptive statistics of working experience and position level can reflect the reasonableness of the collected data to a certain extent.Figure 2
Overall variance explanation table for psychological capital.The 24 items of the psychological capital scale designed in this study belonged to 4 common factors, the cumulative variance explained by the 4 common factors reached 62.861%, and the extracted 4 explanatory factors contained most of the original measures. Therefore, the psychological capital scale determined in this study can be considered to have good structural validity. In this study, independent samplet-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted on the collected data to explore the differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave the job of new generation employees on demographic variables. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze whether the variables were significantly different on gender. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze whether the variables were significantly different in terms of age, education, years of work experience, and position level. For those with significant differences, LSD multiple comparison analysis was conducted to draw more detailed and specific findings.


### 3.3. Individualized Difference Analysis

The gender of this survey was divided into two categories: male and female. Based on the division of gender, the total sample was divided into two independent samples. The independent samplet-test was used to examine the gender differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees, as shown in Figure 3. There was no significant difference in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave between male and female new generation employees. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the variability in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave in terms of age among the new generation employees.Figure 3
Variance analysis of gender-specific variables.In terms of psychological capital, there is a highly significant difference between employees younger than 25 years old and those born in the other two age groups. The psychological capital of the new generation employees will gradually improve with age. The new generation of employees who first entered the workplace still has shallow social experience and is still very inexperienced in the workplace. As they grow older, the new generation of employees will have richer life experiences and social experiences, and their inner world will be stronger, their self-control will be enhanced, and they will be more able to maintain a positive psychological state. In terms of job performance, there are significant differences among employees in all three age groups. As the age increases, the job performance of the new generation employees gradually improves. As the new generation of employees grow older, they will gradually gain more work experience and have clearer work goals, which will lead to higher work performance. In terms of the propensity to leave, there is a significant difference between the new generation of employees aged 25-40 and the other two age groups, and there is no significant difference between employees older than 40, as shown in Figure4. With the growth of age, the new generation employees will gradually pursue stability and the idea of leaving will be reduced, and the new generation employees in this study have a significantly lower tendency to leave than the new generation employees in the other two age groups. Therefore, there is a significant negative correlation between psychological capital and turnover tendency of new generation employees, and the four dimensions of psychological capital: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, have a significant negative correlation with turnover tendency.Figure 4
Multiple comparison analysis of different age variables.New generation employees with high resilience do not give up lightly when facing difficulties at work; they can fully utilize their own resources, coordinate their surrounding relationships, work hard to solve difficulties, and adjust and improve their plans in time; and accordingly, their task performance as well as relationship performance will improve. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s degree of confidence in his or her own behavioral ability to accomplish a specific task. The special growth environment of new generation employees makes them often overconfident or inferior, and they do not have an accurate psychological perception of self. Therefore, the self-efficacy of new generation employees has no significant role in enhancing task performance related to the completion quality and completion efficiency of work tasks nor does it have a significant role in enhancing relationship performance related to team cooperation and organizational harmony construction, which hopefully is the positive psychological state that employees still maintain to achieve their goals in the face of difficulties. New generation employees maintain hope in the face of challenges at work, which will motivate them to keep challenging and complete their work tasks. However, the high level of hope among the new generation employees does not have a significant enhancement on relationship performance. The correlation coefficient between tenacity and relationship performance was 0.565 with a significance level ofp<0.01, indicating that tenacity is significantly and positively related to relationship performance. The correlation coefficient between optimism and relationship performance was 0.691, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that optimism is significantly and positively related to relationship performance.


## 3.1. Analysis of the Demographic Characteristics of the Study Population

The preliminary analysis of the collected data includes the analysis of the demographic characteristics of the new generation employees; the descriptive statistical analysis of the current situation of the new generation employees’ psychological capital, job performance, and tendency to leave; the reliability and validity analysis of the psychological capital scale; the job performance scale and the tendency to leave scale; and the demographic statistical variance analysis and the correlation analysis of the new generation employees’ psychological capital, job performance, and tendency to leave. A total of 330 valid questionnaires were collected in this study, and the sample characteristics needed for this study were obtained through collation, and the specific descriptive statistical analysis is shown in Table1.Table 1
Descriptive statistics of the basic conditions of the survey respondents.
Research contentResearch categoryResearch frequencyPercentageGenderMale150100%Female180Academic qualificationsCollege6920.9Undergraduate17452.7Graduate students8726.4Age<255917.925-408826.7>4018355.4PositionGeneral staff10100%Grassroots staff220Midlevel staff20Senior staff100Executives0SD: standard deviation.The gender, education, and position level of the surveyed new generation employees are reasonably distributed and representative. (1) From the perspective of the gender of the new generation employees, the proportion of female employees in the survey is slightly higher than that of male employees. From the age structure of the new generation employees, 59 employees were born from 1985 to 1990, accounting for 17.9% of the sample; 88 employees were born from 1991 to 1995, accounting for 26.7% of the sample; and 183 employees were born after 1995, accounting for 55.4% of the sample, indicating that “post-95” employees account for the majority of the new generation employees surveyed. The majority of the surveyed new generation employees are “post-95” employees. (3) In terms of the educational level of the new generation employees, 69 employees have college or less than college level, accounting for 20.9% of the sample; 174 employees have a bachelor’s degree, accounting for 52.7% of the sample; 80 employees have a master’s degree or above, accounting for 26.4% of the sample; and 79.1% of the new generation employees have a bachelor’s degree or above, which is the main part of the sample. It can be seen that most of the new generation employees have received undergraduate education or above, and their education level is generally higher. This study uses correlation analysis to initially determine the correlation pattern between variables, to investigate whether there is a dependent relationship between psychological capital and its dimensions, job performance and its dimensions, and the propensity to leave and whether there is a correlation between job performance and its dimensions and the propensity to leave, and to initially verify the correlation relationship between variables.In terms of the working years of the new generation employees, 183 employees (55.5%) have worked in the current enterprise for 2 years or less, 94 employees (28.5%) have worked for 2-5 years, and 53 employees (16.1%) have worked in the current enterprise for more than 5 years, which shows that most of the new generation employees in the survey have worked for less than 2 years. On the one hand, this may be due to the fact that the new generation employees have just come out of school and entered the workplace, and on the other hand, it may be due to the fact that the new generation employees are frequently “job hopping.” (5) From the position level of the new generation employees, there are 197 ordinary employees, accounting for 59.7% of the sample; 99 grassroots managers, accounting for 30.0% of the sample; and 34 middle and senior managers, accounting for 10.3% of the sample, which shows that although most of the new generation employees surveyed are ordinary employees without management positions; there are some employees who have already taken up management positions, even taking up middle and senior management positions. Table2 shows the results of the descriptive statistics of the four dimensions of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism of the new generation employees’ psychological capital and psychological capital.Table 2
Descriptive statistical analysis of psychological capital and its dimensions.
Descriptive featuresQuantityAverage valueStandard deviationRecommended accuracy (SD)Mental capital1813.690.582.69Motivation index1963.250.36Hope693.250.26Firmness953.690.29Optimism1353.260.592.51Freedom1593.210.67Working environment963.490.67SD: standard deviation.The mean value of the psychological capital of new generation employees is 3.0893, which is slightly above the middle value, and there is still much room for improvement. The mean value of self-efficacy is the highest, and the mean value of perseverance is the lowest among the four dimensions of psychological capital of the new generation employees. Table3 shows the results of descriptive statistical analysis of task performance and relationship performance dimensions of the job performance of new generation employees. The mean value of the job performance of new generation employees is 3.122, and the standard deviation is 0.666. Among the two dimensions of job performance, task performance (3.227) has a slightly higher mean value than relationship performance (3.017).Table 3
Descriptive statistical analysis of job performance and its dimensions.
Variable nameVariable valuesJob performanceMental capitalMotivation indexHope indexFirmnessOptimismFreedomTask performanceCredibilityBoundary valuesReliabilityPerformance score——Relationship performanceMental capitalMotivation indexHope indexFirmnessOptimismFreedom


## 3.2. Validity Analysis

In this study, the validity of the scale was examined using factor analysis. According to psychological measurement criteria, a scale has good structural validity if the cumulative variance contribution of the factor is at least 50%. Before conducting factor analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s spherical test are conducted to determine the suitability of the scale for factor analysis. The value of KMO is between 0 and 1, and a higher KMO value indicates higher validity of the scale. A KMO value of 0.9 or higher indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.8-0.9 indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.7-0.8 indicates good suitability for factor analysis, a KMO value of 0.6-0.7 indicates poor suitability for factor analysis, and a KMO value of 0.5-0.6 indicates poor suitability for factor analysis. If the KMO value is less than 0.5, it is not suitable for factor analysis at all, and the question items of the scale need to be modified. The results in Figure2 show that the KMO value of the psychological capital scale determined in this study was 0.748, with an approximate chi-square value of 2409.296 and a significance level of less than 0.001, indicating that it is suitable for factor analysis. Factor extraction was further applied to the questionnaire using principal component analysis, and the eigenvalues were set to be greater than 1. Generally speaking, it is difficult to promote employees with less than 2 years of working experience in the enterprise, and the descriptive statistics of working experience and position level can reflect the reasonableness of the collected data to a certain extent.Figure 2
Overall variance explanation table for psychological capital.The 24 items of the psychological capital scale designed in this study belonged to 4 common factors, the cumulative variance explained by the 4 common factors reached 62.861%, and the extracted 4 explanatory factors contained most of the original measures. Therefore, the psychological capital scale determined in this study can be considered to have good structural validity. In this study, independent samplet-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted on the collected data to explore the differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave the job of new generation employees on demographic variables. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze whether the variables were significantly different on gender. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze whether the variables were significantly different in terms of age, education, years of work experience, and position level. For those with significant differences, LSD multiple comparison analysis was conducted to draw more detailed and specific findings.


## 3.3. Individualized Difference Analysis

The gender of this survey was divided into two categories: male and female. Based on the division of gender, the total sample was divided into two independent samples. The independent samplet-test was used to examine the gender differences in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave among the new generation of employees, as shown in Figure 3. There was no significant difference in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave between male and female new generation employees. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the variability in psychological capital, job performance, and propensity to leave in terms of age among the new generation employees.Figure 3
Variance analysis of gender-specific variables.In terms of psychological capital, there is a highly significant difference between employees younger than 25 years old and those born in the other two age groups. The psychological capital of the new generation employees will gradually improve with age. The new generation of employees who first entered the workplace still has shallow social experience and is still very inexperienced in the workplace. As they grow older, the new generation of employees will have richer life experiences and social experiences, and their inner world will be stronger, their self-control will be enhanced, and they will be more able to maintain a positive psychological state. In terms of job performance, there are significant differences among employees in all three age groups. As the age increases, the job performance of the new generation employees gradually improves. As the new generation of employees grow older, they will gradually gain more work experience and have clearer work goals, which will lead to higher work performance. In terms of the propensity to leave, there is a significant difference between the new generation of employees aged 25-40 and the other two age groups, and there is no significant difference between employees older than 40, as shown in Figure4. With the growth of age, the new generation employees will gradually pursue stability and the idea of leaving will be reduced, and the new generation employees in this study have a significantly lower tendency to leave than the new generation employees in the other two age groups. Therefore, there is a significant negative correlation between psychological capital and turnover tendency of new generation employees, and the four dimensions of psychological capital: self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, have a significant negative correlation with turnover tendency.Figure 4
Multiple comparison analysis of different age variables.New generation employees with high resilience do not give up lightly when facing difficulties at work; they can fully utilize their own resources, coordinate their surrounding relationships, work hard to solve difficulties, and adjust and improve their plans in time; and accordingly, their task performance as well as relationship performance will improve. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s degree of confidence in his or her own behavioral ability to accomplish a specific task. The special growth environment of new generation employees makes them often overconfident or inferior, and they do not have an accurate psychological perception of self. Therefore, the self-efficacy of new generation employees has no significant role in enhancing task performance related to the completion quality and completion efficiency of work tasks nor does it have a significant role in enhancing relationship performance related to team cooperation and organizational harmony construction, which hopefully is the positive psychological state that employees still maintain to achieve their goals in the face of difficulties. New generation employees maintain hope in the face of challenges at work, which will motivate them to keep challenging and complete their work tasks. However, the high level of hope among the new generation employees does not have a significant enhancement on relationship performance. The correlation coefficient between tenacity and relationship performance was 0.565 with a significance level ofp<0.01, indicating that tenacity is significantly and positively related to relationship performance. The correlation coefficient between optimism and relationship performance was 0.691, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that optimism is significantly and positively related to relationship performance.


## 4. Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis can initially determine the strength and direction of the dependence between variables. Generally, the correlation between variables is determined by the Pearson correlation coefficient. If the correlation coefficient of two variables is greater than 0, there is a positive correlation between the two variables, and when the correlation coefficient of two variables is less than 0, there is a negative correlation between the two variables. The higher the absolute value of the coefficientr, the higher the degree of correlation. In this study, Pearson correlation analysis will be used to initially determine the correlation between the variables. As shown in Figure 5, the correlation coefficient between psychological capital and propensity to leave is -0.377, with a significance p<0.01, indicating that psychological capital and propensity to leave are significantly and negatively correlated. The correlation coefficient between self-efficacy and propensity to leave is -0.103, with a significance level of p<0.1, indicating that self-efficacy and propensity to leave are significantly and negatively correlated. The correlation coefficient between hope and propensity to leave was -0.179, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that hope and propensity to leave were significantly and negatively correlated. The correlation coefficient between resilience and propensity to leave was -0.396, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that resilience and propensity to leave were significantly and negatively correlated. The correlation coefficient between optimism and propensity to leave was -0.347, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that optimism and propensity to leave were significantly and negatively correlated. Psychological capital had a significant positive effect on the relational performance dimension of job performance, and among the four dimensions of psychological capital, resilience and optimism had a significant positive effect on relational performance, while self-efficacy and hope had no significant effect on relational performance.Figure 5
Correlation analysis of psychological capital and propensity to leave.The correlation coefficient between psychological capital and task performance was 0.521 with a significance level ofp<0.01, indicating that psychological capital was significantly and positively related to task performance. The correlation coefficient between self-efficacy and task performance was 0.107 with a significance level p<0.1, indicating that self-efficacy was significantly and positively related to task performance. The correlation coefficient between hope and task performance was 0.236 with a significance level p<0.01, indicating that hope is significantly and positively related to task performance. The correlation coefficient between resilience and task performance was 0.506, with a significance level p<0.01, indicating that resilience is significantly and positively related to task performance. The correlation coefficient between self-efficacy and relational performance was 0.068 with a significance level p>0.1, indicating that self-efficacy was not significantly correlated with relational performance. The correlation coefficient between hope and relational performance was 0.154 with a significance level p<0.01, indicating that hope is significantly and positively correlated with relational performance.Therefore, the psychological capital of new generation employees is significantly and positively correlated with job performance. Psychological capital is significantly and positively correlated with the task performance of job performance, and all four dimensions of psychological capital are significantly correlated with task performance, with differences in significance levels and lower significance levels for self-efficacy (p<0.1). Psychological capital was significantly and positively correlated with the relational performance of job performance; hope, resilience, and optimism of psychological capital were significantly and positively correlated with relational performance of job performance; and self-efficacy was not significantly correlated with job performance.


## 5. Conclusion

This study takes the new generation employees of the enterprise as the object, and through the combing of previous research results, and theoretical derivation, the relationship model between psychological capital, job performance, and turnover tendency of new generation employees is gradually constructed. And through a series of data analysis methods, such as ANOVA, correlation analysis, and regression analysis, the hypotheses proposed in this study were verified, and the main research findings are as follows. The empirical results show that the psychological capital of new generation employees has a significant negative influence on the propensity to leave, among which hope, resilience, and optimism have a significant negative influence on the propensity to leave among the four dimensions of psychological capital, and self-efficacy has no significant influence on the propensity to leave. If the new generation employees can actively use all resources to solve difficulties at work and maintain an optimistic and positive psychological state, they will focus more on problem solving and self-improvement and will not consider the problem of leaving. When they encounter bottlenecks in their work, they may be overconfident and even overestimate their own ability, so the problem solving will not be particularly smooth, and when the problem cannot be solved, they may choose to continue to try or think they are capable of finding a better job. Therefore, the self-efficacy dimension of psychological capital does not have a significant effect on the propensity to leave the job. The empirical results show that new generation employees’ psychological capital has a significant positive effect on job performance. Among the four dimensions of psychological capital, hope, resilience, and optimism have a significant positive effect on task performance, and self-efficacy has no significant effect on task performance. The psychological capital of new generation employees mainly contributes to task performance through hope, resilience, and optimism and to relational performance through resilience and optimism. The correlation coefficient between optimism and task performance was 0.494, with a significance level ofp<0.01, indicating that optimism is significantly and positively related to task performance. The correlation coefficient between psychological capital and relational performance was 0.658, with a significance level of p<0.01, indicating that psychological capital is significantly and positively related to relational performance.



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*Source: 5387795-2022-05-24.xml*