Gratitude Expression to Supervisors and Subjective Career Success of Civil Servants: Evidence from China

Abstract

Subjective career success of civil servants is a major focus of both scholars and public managers, but few studies have explored its antecedents from the perspective of the expression of a special positive emotion. To narrow the gap regarding the antecedents of civil servants’ subjective career success, we use the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to examine whether, how, and when civil servants’ gratitude expression to their supervisors is related to their subjective career success, as well as the mediating role of supervisors’ mentoring and the moderating role of traditionality. By using the survey data of 216 supervisor-subordinate dyads from the Chinese public sector, we found that gratitude expression by subordinates is positively related to their subjective career success, and this relationship is mediated by their supervisors’ mentoring. The relationship between gratitude expression to supervisors and supervisors’ mentoring is positively moderated by supervisor traditionality. Moreover, supervisor traditionality plays a positive moderating role in the association between gratitude expression to supervisors and subjective career success via supervisors’ mentoring. The above relationships are stronger when supervisors have a high level of traditionality. These findings contribute to the literature and generate managerial implications for civil servants’ career success management.

Keywords

civil servants gratitude expression subjective career success mentoring traditionality broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions

Introduction

Career success refers to positive career outcomes during an individual’s work experience, which is determined based on both objective and subjective criteria (Ng et al., 2005). Objective career success highlights observable career accomplishments such as salary and promotional history. Subjective career success reflects individual positive feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment in an employee’s work experience (Greenhaus et al., 1990; Ng et al., 2005; Rinfret, 2005). The career success of civil servants has attracted the attention of both public sector managers and scholars because it helps to improve the work motivation of civil servants and thus provides better public services (Bogg & Cooper, 1994; Lu & Guy, 2018). In recent years, subjective career success has received increasing attention for two reasons. First, with the continuous advancement of personnel management in the public sector (Haque, 2001; Lu & Guy, 2018; Okurame, 2012; Rasdi et al., 2009), objective indicators such as compensation are no longer the only criteria for civil servants to evaluate their career success and their subjective feelings of job success have become important. Second, due to the limitations of administrative and political factors in the public sector, such as limited promotion opportunities and interpersonal connections with supervisors (Li & Gore, 2018; Ma et al., 2015; Veit & Scholz, 2016), some objective criteria (e.g., promotion and salary) cannot be attributed entirely to individual efforts, but will be affected by many of the above external factors. Therefore, identifying methods to improve the subjective career success of civil servants has become a crucial issue.

The existing research examining the antecedents of employees’ subjective career success has mainly focused on demographic factors (e.g., gender, age, education level), personality factors (e.g., the Big Five Personality Traits; Lu & Guy, 2018; Ng et al., 2005; Veit & Scholz, 2016), and organizational factors (e.g., transformational leadership, promotion system; Ahmad & Saad, 2020). With the rapid rise of positive psychology, scholars have gradually realized that employees’ positive emotions may also be an important factor affecting their subjective career success (e.g., Blickle et al., 2011). The expression of positive emotions helps employees obtain social support and cultivate psychological resources (Nezlek et al., 2019; Williams & Bartlett, 2015), but few studies have explored the influence of a specific expression of positive emotions, such as gratitude expression, on employees’ subjective career success. Gratitude expression means that the beneficiary expresses gratitude to the benefactor (Lambert et al., 2010; Lambert & Fincham, 2011). Scholars have pointed out that gratitude as a typical positive emotion is among the most meaningful and connective experiences humans can have (Fredrickson, 2013; Yoshimura & Berzins, 2017). However, previous research on gratitude expression in social science has mainly focused on the beneficial aspects of individuals’ interpersonal relationships and subjective well-being (e.g., Mccullough et al., 2002). In recent years, scholars have called for more studies to extend the benefits of gratitude expression to the organizational context (Fehr et al., 2017). Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of employees’ gratitude expression to their supervisors on their subjective career success in Chinese public sector. Previous research has shown that supervisors have the power to dispense rewards, punishments, and various resources in their organizations, which plays a crucial part in the career success of subordinates (Ahmad & Saad, 2020). Especially in the Chinese public sector, the one-party political system and other institutional factors (e.g., personnel management system of civil servants; Lu & Guy, 2018) make the supervisor-subordinate interactions more nuanced, and the influence of supervisors on their subordinates’ careers needs more academic attention.

To fill the above gap regarding the impact of Chinese civil servants’ gratitude expression to their supervisors on their subjective career success, we use the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (BBTPE) as the overall theoretical framework to explore the mediating role of supervisors’ mentoring behavior as well as the moderating role of traditionality in the effect of gratitude expression to supervisors on subjective career success of civil servants. This framework provides a more accurate portrayal of how gratitude expression is related to employees’ subjective career success. Moreover, as one of the first studies examining gratitude expression in the context of public sector organizations, this research also helps to further an understanding of the role of positive emotion expression in the formation of subjective career success of civil servants.

In this article, we use recent survey data from China to test the above theoretical hypotheses, and the results largely corroborate them. In the remainder of this article, we first give a brief introduction to the Chinese context, followed by theoretical hypotheses. We then present the methods and empirical results. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and policy implications of the findings and conclude with limitations and suggestions for future research.

Gratitude Expression to Supervisors and Career Success of Civil Servants in China

There are two main reasons to examine the influences of gratitude expression to supervisors on the subjective career success of civil servants in the Chinese public organizational context. First, civil service management in China is embedded in the system of one-party rule where the Communist Party of China (CPC) takes the leading role (Burns & Wang, 2010) and in the social context characterized by guanxi or personal connections. This system can increase the ruling power of the one-party government regime, but it may also lead to potential negative effects (Bell, 2015). For instance, guanxi in the management of civil servants may bring bureaucratism and corruption (Liu & Dong, 2012). The new Civil Servant Law revised by the Chinese government in 2018 and formally implemented in June 2019 has attempted to increase the fairness, rationality, and effectiveness of the civil servant management system by implementing the position-and-rank parallel system and merit-based promotion (Lu & He, 2019). However, it is undeniable that some guanxi orientation and human factors still exist in the personnel management of civil servants in China (Li & Gore, 2018; Ma et al., 2015). As a result, the promotion and performance appraisal of civil servants depend largely on their relationships with supervisors, which has a great impact on the objective career success of civil servants. In this context, how to improve the subjective career success of civil servants is extremely important.

Second, expressing gratitude to supervisors is in line with Chinese Confucian culture. The core of Confucian culture is “humaneness (仁, Ren),” which means that people should love, help, and sympathize with each other. It reflects the highest moral principle and standard advocated by Confucian culture. Moreover, Confucian culture also holds that humaneness is the embodiment of an individual’s inner spirit, which needs to be embodied by the external form and standard through “ritual propriety (礼, Li).” Li refers to social hierarchy, moral norms, and ritual in Confucian culture. The concepts of “humaneness” and “ritual propriety” reflect the roles, positions, obligations, and responsibilities of interpersonal relationships (e.g., father and son, ruler and subjects, husband and wife, and friends) in the Chinese context (Yang et al., 1989). For example, in historical Chinese society, Confucian culture believes that parents are the greatest benefactors of individuals, so children should be grateful to their parents as adults. A wife should obey her husband in return for receiving the respect of her husband (Farh et al., 1997). In contemporary Chinese society, people also pay special attention to their own responsibilities in interpersonal relationships and tend to repay others and the whole society with gratitude under the influence of Confucian culture (Cheng et al., 2004). It can be seen that the role of gratitude expression of subordinates to supervisors in the Chinese context of the public sector fits well with the values of traditional Confucian culture.

This study suggests that in the Chinese public organizational context, when subordinates express gratitude to their supervisors, supervisors may provide further support for them, thus improving their positive career outcomes, such as subjective career success. However, the literature on gratitude expression and career success of civil servants was mostly developed in the context of Western culture. According to the cultural differences mentioned above, it is timely and important to examine the relationship and mechanism between gratitude expression and subjective career success in the Chinese public sector.

Theory and Hypotheses

The BBTPE

The BBTPE proposed by Fredrickson (2001, 2013) states that positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment, love, pride, gratitude, hope, amusement, inspiration, and awe, can broaden individuals’ momentary thought-action repertories, which in turn serve to build their enduring personal resources and bring long-term adaptive benefits to individuals. This theory includes two core hypotheses, namely, the broaden hypothesis and the build hypothesis. The broaden hypothesis refers to the fact that, compared with negative emotions and natural states, positive emotions can expand individuals’ momentary thought-action repertoire, which then brings immediate benefits (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002). Specifically, a large number of studies have shown that positive emotions can make individuals’ thinking unusual, flexible, rich, and creative. According to the build hypothesis, the expanded momentary thought-action repertoire can help individuals establish enduring personal resources, and thus bring long-term benefits for them, such as improving health and self-realization. The personal resources here include intellectual resources (e.g., problem-solving skills), physiological resources (e.g., physical strength), psychological resources (e.g., resilience, optimism), and social resources (e.g., establishing new social connections) (Fredrickson, 2013). BBTPE has become the pillar theory to explain how positive emotions bring positive effects to employees and organizations (Garland et al., 2010), and can be used in this study.

Gratitude Expression of Civil Servants and Subjective Career Success

Gratitude, as one of the typical positive emotions, is defined as “a positive emotional reaction to the receipt of a benefit that is perceived to have resulted from the good intentions of another” (Tsang, 2006, p. 139). In recent years, scholars have come to realize that gratitude, as a product of the mutual interaction between the benefactor and the beneficiary, should be considered not only as one person’s psychological state but also as a dyadic relationship between these two parties, which deserves examination. The concept that connects benefactor and beneficiary is gratitude expression. Gratitude expression to supervisors reflects subordinators’ efforts to express appreciation to their supervisors or give thanks by engaging in behavior expected to benefit their relationship (Gordon et al., 2011; Lambert et al., 2010). Prior empirical studies have shown that individuals with high levels of gratitude expression have many benefits, such as improved mental health, interpersonal support, and helping (Gordon et al., 2011; Grant & Gino, 2010; Nezlek et al., 2019). Organizations can even use gratitude expression as an intervention strategy to improve their employees’ well-being (Fehr et al., 2017).

Although very few studies have introduced gratitude expression into an organizational context (Fehr et al., 2017), we can infer that civil servants’ gratitude expression to their supervisors plays a positive role in their subjective career success. Compared with objective career success, referring to the verifiable and observable results of career development, subjective career success highlights the employees’ psychological feelings about their present job and career (Greenhaus et al., 1990; Ng et al., 2005). Scholars have noted that individuals who are good at expressing gratitude generally experience more positive emotions, such as satisfaction, energy, optimism, and hope, while they feel fewer negative emotions, including dissatisfaction, jealousy, and disappointment at work (Disabato et al., 2016; Mccullough et al., 2002). From this perspective, individuals who express more gratitude will take a more positive and optimistic view of their career success. Therefore, employees who express more gratitude to their supervisors may experience more subjective career success. Meanwhile, according to BBTPE, we can infer that those individuals who are diligent in expressing gratitude can experience more positive emotions and can obtain more resources, and thus gain more enduring benefits (Fredrickson, 2013), such as job satisfaction and career identification. In other words, the individual’s subjective career success will be improved. Similarly, numerous studies in social psychology and positive psychology have shown that individuals’ expression of gratitude has a significant positive relationship with their own physical health and well-being (Gordon et al., 2011; Lambert et al., 2010). Based on the above discussions, we put forward our first hypothesis below.

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Civil servants’ gratitude expression to supervisors will be positively related to their subjective career success.

The Mediating Role of Supervisors’ Mentoring

According to BBTPE, we further infer that subordinates may pass on the positive effect of gratitude expression on their subjective well-being by obtaining a special resource, namely, supervisors’ mentoring. Supervisors’ mentoring refers to support provided by supervisors for the career development of junior subordinates within organizations (Kram, 1985; Scandura & Ragins, 1993). Generally, supervisors’ mentoring can serve three types of mentoring functions: vocational support, psychosocial support, and role modeling. Vocational support helps subordinates’ career development by providing exposure and visibility, coaching, protection, and challenging assignments. Psychosocial support helps subordinates experience an increasing sense of competence, identity, and work role effectiveness. Supervisors also serve as role models of appropriate values, attitudes, and behaviors for their subordinates (Chen et al., 2017; Scandura & Ragins, 1993).

Fredrickson (2001, 2013) indicated that people who experience gratitude often develop the urge to reciprocate, which lays a foundation for a continuing cooperative relationship. A study conducted by Gordon et al. (2011) showed that when a benefactor is thanked by the recipient, the benefactor’s gratitude is also stimulated, which leads to more behaviors (e.g., helping) to consolidate the relationship. Based on the above discussions, we can infer that when the supervisor receives the subordinate’s gratitude expression, the supervisor’s gratitude will also be triggered, and then the supervisor will engage in friendly behaviors to further reinforce the good relationship with the subordinate. In other words, subordinates’ gratitude expression may increase the mentoring behaviors of their supervisors.

Based on BBTPE, we can infer that personal resources (e.g., supervisors’ mentoring) derived from subordinates’ positive emotion (e.g., gratitude expression) can further promote the long-term benefit of individuals, such as subjective career success. There are at least three reasons for this: first, vocational support from supervisors can increase subordinates’ job knowledge and skills, which are conducive to the improvement of competency and work performance (Chen et al., 2014), thereby promoting subordinates’ subjective perception of career success. Second, psychosocial support provided by supervisors can not only increase subordinates’ sense of dependence and self-efficacy but also reduce their feelings of work anxiety (Gill et al., 2018). In this case, subordinates’ subjective career success may be improved. Finally, supervisors as role models can help subordinates clarify their work direction and goals, reduce the possibility of failure in the future work, and thus contribute to subordinates’ satisfaction with their career development, that is, subjective career success (Scandura & Ragins, 1993). Consistent with this view, prior research has shown that supervisors’ mentoring is beneficial to the subjective career success of subordinates (Chen et al., 2017; Hu et al., 2011).

Taken together, we propose that when civil servants express a specific positive emotion, that is, gratitude to their supervisors, they can receive more mentoring from their supervisors. These mentoring functions can provide subordinates with various resources (e.g., intellectual, psychological, and social resources) that help civil servants experience more positive feeling of career success, that is, subjective career success. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 2 (H2): Supervisors’ mentoring mediates the relationship between gratitude expression to supervisors and the subjective career success of civil servants.

The Moderating Role of Supervisor’s Traditionality

Because the gratitude expression is the product of interpersonal interaction between a benefactor and beneficiary, the characteristics of a benefactor, namely the supervisor, may have an impact on the effect of the beneficiary’s (i.e., subordinate’s) gratitude expression. Here, we considered traditionality, which is a typical concept associated with a Chinese value orientation, as a moderating variable in the relationship between gratitude expression and supervisors’ mentoring (Farh et al., 1997).

Chinese traditionality, the indigenous cultural variable that is defined as

the typical pattern of more or less related motivational, evaluative, attitudinal and temperamental traits that is most frequently observed in people in traditional Chinese society and can still be found in people in contemporary Chinese societies such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. (Yang, 2003, p. 265)

Chinese traditionality is composed of five dimensions, including submission to authority, filial piety and ancestor worship, conservatism and endurance, fatalism and defensiveness, and male dominance (Yang et al., 1989). Farh and colleagues were the first to introduce traditionality into the study of organizational management (Farh et al., 1997, 2007). They considered that submission to authority is the core element of individual traditionality. Individuals with a high level of traditionality attach importance to abiding by social hierarchical orientation norms. They believe that it is the responsibility and obligation for subordinates to meet the expectations of their supervisors and that subordinates should give respect to their supervisors (Farh et al., 2007; Huo et al., 2014). Therefore, for supervisors with a higher level of traditionality, they care more about whether the subordinates respect them. Subordinates’ gratitude expression will be in line with the value standards of these high traditionality supervisors. In this case, the supervisors are willing to provide more mentoring support, that is to say, the positive effect of gratitude expression on supervisors’ mentoring will be strengthened. On the contrary, individuals with low traditionality are less likely to abide by traditional norms and regard the relationship between supervisors and subordinates as equal (Farh et al., 1997; Wu et al., 2019). They seldom consider that subordinates must abide by their role as “inferior” and must respect and maintain their status as “superior.” In this case, when supervisors with lower traditionality give favors to subordinates, it is not necessary for subordinates to acknowledge them, and the supervisors may not provide additional mentoring support because of subordinates’ gratitude expression. That is, for the lower traditionality supervisors, the relationship between gratitude expression and supervisors’ mentoring may not have a significant change. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

Hypothesis 3 (H3): Supervisors’ traditionality positively moderates the relationship between civil servants’ gratitude expression and their supervisors’ mentoring such that the relationship will be stronger when supervisors have a higher level of traditionality.

Combining H2 and H3, we further propose a potential moderated mediation model based on Hayes’ (2013) data analytic procedure. Specifically, the mediating effect of supervisors’ mentoring between gratitude expression to supervisors and subjective career success relies on the level of supervisors’ traditionality. When supervisors are higher in traditionality, the influence of gratitude expression on supervisors’ mentoring is relatively large, and the effect of gratitude expression on subjective career success is transmitted more through the supervisors’ mentoring. Thus, we propose the following:

Hypothesis 4 (H4): Supervisors’ traditionality positively moderates the mediating effect of civil servants’ gratitude expression and subjective career success through their supervisors’ mentoring, such that the mediating effect is stronger when supervisors have a higher level of traditionality.

Figure 1 illustrates the research framework of our study.

Figure 1.

Hypothesized model.

Method

Sample and Procedure

The data were collected with the help of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) alumni and students in the last 10 years from two high-level universities in central China. We randomly selected 300 MPA alumni and current students who were working in various public sector organizations. To collect matching data, we asked MPA alumni and students for their direct supervisors’ email addresses and sent questionnaires to their supervisors. The subordinates (i.e., an MPA alumnus or student) were asked to report their subjective career success and supervisor’s mentoring. The matched supervisors were requested to evaluate their own traditionality and subordinate’s expression of gratitude to them. In the cover letter, we emphasized that this survey was voluntary and would be used only for academic research, and assured them of the confidentiality of their responses.

In total, 276 subordinates (i.e., MPA alumni and students) and 223 supervisors returned completed surveys. Because the data of subordinate-supervisor dyads were needed in this study, 216 matched samples were finally used, with an effective response rate of 72.0%. The subordinates’ sample consisted of 54.6% male and 45.4% female, and the average age was 36.86 years old. Moreover, the positions of subordinate participants were widely distributed, including clerk (11.6%), section deputy chief (20.8%), section chief (51.9%), deputy director of division (11.1%), director of division (3.7%), and director of division above (0.9%). The sample consisted of 22.7% MPA students and 77.3% alumni. We found no significant differences in terms of gender, age, and identity between respondents and nonrespondents. Thus, nonresponse bias does not appear in our sample.

Measurement

Following the back-translation approach suggested by Brislin (1980), we translated all measures in this study from English to Chinese. All main variables were assessed using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Items of these measurement scales are listed in the Appendix.

Gratitude expression

A 3-item scale developed by Lambert et al. (2010) was used to measure gratitude expression. We asked supervisors to evaluate their subordinates’ gratitude expression. Sample items are “My subordinate expresses his or her gratitude for the things that I do for him or her” and “My subordinate lets me know that he or she values me.” Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .75.

Subjective career success

We used a 5-item scale developed by Greenhaus et al. (1990) to assess the subjective career success of civil servants. Sample items are “I am satisfied with the success I have achieved in my career” and “I am satisfied with the progress I have made towards meeting my goals for advancement.” Cronbach’s alpha for meaningful work was .80.

Supervisors’ mentoring

The public sector employee reported his or her supervisor’s mentoring on the 9-item Mentoring Functions Questionnaire (MFQ-9) developed by Castro and Scandura (2004), which has been proved to have good reliability and validity in both Western and Eastern nations (Hu et al., 2011). The MFQ-9 scale included three mentoring functions: vocational support (e.g., “My supervisor takes a personal interest in my career”), psychosocial support (e.g., “I consider my supervisor to be a friend”), and role modeling (e.g., “I try to model my behavior after my supervisor”). Each supervisor’s mentoring function is assessed by three items. The results of second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the view of supervisor’s mentoring as a single overall construct composed of three distinct subdimensions (χ² = 43.77, df = 24, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.06, comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.99, normed fit index [NFI] = 0.97, nonnormed fit index [NNFI] = 0.98). Therefore, the 9 items were averaged to create an overall measure of the supervisor’s mentoring. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .88.

Supervisors’ traditionality

The supervisor’s traditionality was assessed using the 5-item scale validated by Farh et al. (1997). We ask supervisors to report their own levels of traditionality. Sample items are as follows: “The chief government official is like the head of a household. The citizen should obey his decisions on all state matters” and “When people are in dispute, they should ask the most senior person to decide who is right.” Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .87.

Control variables

Following previous research (e.g., Lu & Guy, 2018), we controlled for employees’ (subordinates) demographic characteristics, including gender (0 = female, 1 = male), age, rank (0 = clerk, 1 = section deputy chief, 2 = section chief, 3 = deputy director of division, 4 = director of division, 5 = director of division above), and identity (0 = MPA student, 1 = MPA alumni).

Data Analyses

First, CFA was conducted to examine the discriminant validity of the variables by using Lisrel 9.3. Then, correlation analysis was conducted to test their direct relationships using SPSS 26.0. Finally, the module PROCESS developed by Hayes (2013) was used to test mediating and conditional indirect effects. Compared with other tools or programs (e.g., MODMED, SOBEL), PROCESS provides more convenient commands or dialog boxes and integrated results, especially when a research model includes both mediators and moderators (Hayes, 2013). By using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, PROCESS produces a bias-corrected 95% bootstrap confidence interval (CI) for the hypothesized effect. If zero is absent from the interval for the effect, it is accepted at the 95% confidence level. In the present research, the bootstrapping was based on 1,000 subsamples in the present research.

Results

CFA was used to examine the discriminant validity of the four main variables in this study (i.e., gratitude expression, supervisor’s traditionality, supervisor’s mentoring, and subjective career success). As Table 1 shows, the hypothesized four-factor model (χ² = 495.61, df = 203, RMSEA = .08, CFI = .91, NFI = .85, NNFI =.90) fits the data significantly better than other alternative models. These results mean that there is a good discriminant validity among the four key variables used in this study.

Table 1.

Measurement Model Comparison.

Models	χ²	df	Δχ²	RMSEA	CFI	NFI	NNFI
Four-factor model (baseline model): GE, ST, SM, and SCS	495.61	203		0.08	0.91	0.85	0.90
Three-factor model:GE and SCS were combined into one factor	656.52	206	160.91***	0.10	0.86	0.81	0.85
Three-factor model:GE and SM were combined into one factor	664.86	206	169.25***	0.10	0.86	0.81	0.84
Three-factor model:ST and SM were combined into one factor	2,032.51	206	1536.9***	0.20	0.66	0.63	0.62
Two-factor model:ST and SM were combined into one factor; GE and SCS were combined into one factor	2,198.79	208	1703.18***	0.21	0.62	0.58	0.58
Two-factor model:GE, SM, and SM were combined into one factor	1,367.20	208	871.59***	0.16	0.68	0.64	0.64
One-factor model:Four factors were combined into one factor	1,758.32	209	1262.71***	0.19	0.59	0.56	0.55

Note. GE = gratitude expression; ST = supervisors’ traditionality; SM = supervisors’ mentoring; SCS = subjective career success; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; CFI = comparative fit index; NFI = normed fit index; NNFI = nonnormed fit index.

***

p < .001.

Table 2 displays the descriptive statistics, correlation, and reliabilities for all variables used in this study. Gratitude expression to supervisors was positively related to the supervisor’s mentoring (r = .18, p < .01) and subjective career success (r = .21, p < .01). Moreover, supervisor’s mentoring was positively related to subjective career success (r = .19, p < .01).

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics, Correlation, and Reliabilities for All Variables.

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Gender	0.55	0.50	NA
2. Age	36.86	7.02	.08	NA
3. Rank	1.77	0.98	.07	.20**	NA
4. Identity	0.77	0.42	.06	−.05	−.01	NA
5. Gratitude expression	3.67	0.68	−.01	−.01	.16*	−.01	(.75)
6. Supervisors’ mentoring	3.78	0.66	−.01	.02	.20**	−.05	.18**	(.88)
7. Subjective career success	3.55	0.75	−.01	.03	.16*	.06	.21**	.19**	(.80)
8. Supervisors’ traditionality	3.60	0.72	−.01	−.04	−.01	.11	.05	−.01	−.10	(.87)

Note. Cronbach’s α is in italics on the diagonal (N = 216).

p < .05. **p < .01.

H1 posited that gratitude expression of civil servants will be positively related to their subjective career success. The results from SPSS PROCESS (Model 4¹) in Table 3 indicated that the direct effect of gratitude expression on subjective career success was significant (B = .18, SE = .07, p < .05, 95% CI = [.04, .32]). Thus, H1 was supported.

Table 3.

The Direct and Indirect Effect of Gratitude Expression on Subjective Career Success (Bootstrap Sampling Iterations = 1,000).

Variables	Supervisors’ mentoring			Subjective career success
Variables	B	SE	Boot 95% CI	B	SE	Boot 95% CI
Control variables
Gender	−.03	.09	[−.21, .14]	−.03	.10	[−.22, .17]
Age	−.001	.01	[−.01, .01]	.001	.01	[−.01, .01]
Rank	.12	.05	[.03, .21]	.08	.05	[−.03, .18]
Identity	−.07	.11	[−.29, .13]	.11	.12	[−.12, .34]
Independent variable
Gratitude expression	.14	.07	[.01, .27]	.18	.07	[.03, .32]
Mediator
Supervisors’ mentoring				.16	.08	[.01, .31]
R²	.06*			.09**
Direct effectGratitude expression → Subjective career success	B	SE	p value		Boot 95% CI
	.18	.07	.01		[.04, .32]
Indirect effectGratitude expression → Supervisors’ mentoring → Subjective career success	B	SE			Boot 95% CI
	.02	.02			[.001, .08]

Note. CI = confidence interval.

p < .05. ^**p < .01.

H2 posited that the relationship between gratitude expression of civil servants and their subjective career success will be mediated by the supervisor’s mentoring. The results in Table 3 indicated that the mediating role of the supervisor’s mentoring (B = .02, SE = .02, 95% CI = [.001, .08]) on the direct relationship between gratitude expression of civil servants and their subjective career success was significant because the 95% CIs excluded zero. Therefore, H2 was supported.

We hypothesized that supervisors’ traditionality moderated the relationship between gratitude expression of civil servants and their supervisors’ mentoring (H3). The results from SPSS PROCESS (Model 7²) in Table 4 showed that the effect from interaction (gratitude expression of civil servants × supervisors’ traditionality) on subjective career success was significant (B = .13, SE = .06, 95% CI = [.02, .24]) because the 95% CIs excluded zero. In line with Cohen and Cohen (1983), the significant interaction terms are plotted in Figure 2 by using ±1 SD on each variable. The simple slope results indicated the regression on supervisors’ mentoring for high supervisors’ traditionality was significant (t = 2.59, p < .01), whereas the low supervisors’ traditionality was not significant (t = 0.93, ns). These results support H3.

Table 4.

Conditional Indirect Effect Results (Bootstrap Sampling Iterations = 1,000).

Variables	Supervisors’ mentoring
Variables	B	SE	Boot 95% CI
Control variables
Gender	−.04	.13	[−.31, .22]
Age	−.002	.01	[−.02, .02]
Rank	.18	.07	[.04, .32]
Identity	−.10	.16	[−.42, .22]
Independent variable
Gratitude expression	.14	.07	[.01, .27]
Moderator
Supervisors’ traditionality	−.01	.07	[−.14, .13]
Interaction
Gratitude expression × Supervisors’ traditionality	.13	.06	[.02, .24]
R²	.09^**
Gratitude expression → Supervisors’ mentoring →Subjective career success
Moderator	Level*	B	SE	Boot 95%CI
Supervisors’ traditionality	High	.03	.02	[.001, .08]
	Low	.001	.01	[−.02, .03]
Index of moderated mediation
Mediator	Index	SE	Boot 95%CI
Supervisors’ mentoring	.01	.01	[.001, .05]

Note. CI = confidence interval.

Level values for the moderator, supervisors’ traditionality, are the mean and ±1 SD from mean. **p < 0.1

Figure 2.

Moderating effect of supervisors’ traditionality on the relationship between gratitude expression and supervisors’ mentoring.

H4 proposed that supervisors’ traditionality moderated the mediation effect of gratitude expression on subjective career success via supervisors’ mentoring. Moderated mediation would be established if either or both of the two patterns existed (Hayes, 2013): (a) the path between gratitude expression and mentoring was moderated by supervisors’ traditionality and/or (b) the path between mentoring and subjective career success was moderated. The above results of moderation analyses have confirmed that the first pattern existed (H3).

The bias-corrected percentile bootstrap results from Hayes’(2013) PROCESS macro (Model 7, bootstrap sampling iterations = 1,000) in Table 4 further supported that the indirect effect of gratitude expression of civil servants on subjective career success through supervisors’ mentoring was moderated by supervisors’ traditionality because the index of moderated mediation was significant (B = .01, SE = .01, 95% CI = [.001, .05]; Hayes, 2015). Specifically, the extent of gratitude expression to supervisors had a positive effect on subjective career success via supervisors’ mentoring for employees with high supervisors’ traditionality (B = .03, SE = .02, 95% CI = [.001, .08]), but not for employees with low supervisors’ traditionality (B = .001, SE = .01, 95% CI = [−.02, .03]). Thus, H4 was supported.

Discussion

Drawing upon the BBTPE, this study examined the roles of civil servants’ gratitude expression to supervisors on their subjective career success within Chinese public sector. In particular, our findings showed that the positive relationship between civil servants’ gratitude expressions to supervisors and subjective career success was mediated by their supervisors’ mentoring behaviors. Furthermore, the above mediating effect was stronger when the supervisors’ traditionality was higher. These findings offer several meaningful theoretical insights and managerial implications.

Theoretical Implications

This study contributes to career success and gratitude expression literature in the following ways. First, our research expands the antecedents of civil servants’ career success by examining the positive impact of gratitude expression to supervisors on their subjective career success. As mentioned above, a few studies have examined the influence of demographic variables and organizational factors on civil servants’ subjective career success (Ng et al., 2005); however, the role of specific positive emotion expression, such as gratitude expression, has been largely ignored. Researchers on positive psychology believe that gratitude is a positive emotional experience that people often feel in their lives and expressing gratitude is conducive to obtaining a good psychological state (Grant & Gino, 2010; Lambert et al., 2010; Nezlek et al., 2019). Hence, our study further enriches people’s understanding of the factors of subjective career success from a positive emotion expression perspective. Moreover, our results showed that gratitude expression enhances supervisors’ support in various respects, which is positively related to employees’ subjective career success. Therefore, the findings of this study also support the notion in prior career success literature that employees’ positive emotional state helps to increase their career success (Judge & Bono, 2001; Kafetsios & Zampetakis, 2008).

Second, our study adds to the scholarly understanding of the mechanism through which gratitude expression has a positive association with employees’ subjective career success by demonstrating the mediating effect of supervisors’ mentoring. Our findings demonstrated that positive emotions can be positively transmitted through a specific social resource, that is, supervisor mentoring. Therefore, this study enriches the application scope and specific mechanism of the BBTPE and provides a reference for future relevant research. Moreover, this study is also consistent with the prior research on mentoring which has demonstrated that supervisor mentoring as an important organizational resource can promote the positive career outcomes of subordinates through various support (Chen et al., 2017; Hu et al., 2011).

Third, this study also enriches our understanding of the boundary conditions of the impact of gratitude expression on subjective career success by examining the moderating effect of supervisors’ cultural values. Specifically, when supervisors are high in traditionality, the direct effect of gratitude expression on supervisors’ mentoring as well as the indirect effect of gratitude expression on subjective career success via supervisors’ mentoring will be amplified. This finding is consistent with the previous literature regarding employees’ traditionality, which indicated that individuals with a high level of traditionality tend to perceive more status gaps and feel more respect for authority (Farh et al.,1997, 2007). In addition, this study not only considered the gratitude expression of beneficiaries but also considered the individual characteristics of benefactors, which is conducive to a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of the effects of individual gratitude expression.

Fourth, this study takes the first step to introduce gratitude expression into organizational situations, especially in the Chinese public sector. As stated, previous research on gratitude expression has mainly focused on sociological and psychological sciences (Lambert et al., 2010; Lambert & Fincham, 2011). This study sheds light on the importance of gratitude expression within the workplace, which answers the call to investigate gratitude expression specifically in an organizational context (Fehr et al., 2017). Furthermore, this study also provides a richer sample for the field of gratitude expression and career success because prior research on these areas has mainly come from Western countries (Grant & Gino, 2010; Veit & Scholz, 2016). China’s unique political party system, civil servant administrative system, and social norms formed by Confucian culture may have a differential impact on the psychology, behavior, and interaction of employees in the Chinese public sector. Therefore, the conclusions of our study are also helpful to understand the current situation of gratitude expression and the career management of civil servants in China.

Managerial Implications

This study also offers several managerial implications for public managers. First, given the positive role of employees’ gratitude expression in subjective career success, on one hand, public managers need to educate employees about the importance of expressing gratitude through training programs (Fehr et al., 2017; Roberts et al., 2005). Kumar and Epley (2018) recently found that people are unwilling to express gratitude as they may undervalue the positive impact of expressing gratitude on gratitude recipients. Thus, situational simulation exercises and case trainings could be used to encourage employees to proactively express their gratitude. On the other hand, public organizations are advised to create a culture of gratitude to improve employees’ positive career self-evaluation. According to Schein’s (2010) research on the levels of organizational culture (Schein, 2010), public organizations can take the following measures to establish a gratitude culture: (a) define basic assumptions and beliefs about gratitude within organizations, (b) set specific strategies or goals linked with gratitude, and (c) provide visual organizational processes of gratitude (e.g., gratitude slogans, code of conduct).

Second, considering the positive effect of supervisory mentoring, we suggest that public sector organizations can also attempt to establish formal mentoring programs, which are widely used in enterprises and have been proven to effectively promote supervisor mentoring behaviors (Chen et al., 2017; Erdem & Aytemur, 2008). Meanwhile, this suggestion also responds to Bozeman and Feeney’s (2009) call to realize the important role of public management mentoring and to establish effective mentoring programs in the public sector.

Third, organizations should be aware that the level of supervisor traditionality will have a differentiated impact on the results of subordinates’ gratitude expression. For example, for supervisors with high traditionality, it is easier to amplify the positive effects of gratitude expression and then this may elicit more support and help to subordinates. It is necessary for public managers to establish matching relationships between civil servants who are good at expressing gratitude and supervisors with high traditionality. Considering the positive role of gratitude expression, it is worth noting that organizations and supervisors should also avoid subordinates’ use of gratitude expression as a tool for impression management to obtain more support and positive evaluation. Therefore, organizations and supervisors also need to identify the authenticity of subordinates’ expressions of gratitude.

Limitations and Future Research Directions

Several limitations of our research should be noted, and some additional directions for future research are suggested by our findings. First, the cross-sectional design of this study limited us in testing the causal relationships of our present findings. For instance, we could not infer whether employees with higher subjective career success and more supervisors’ mentoring behaviors were more likely to express gratitude. However, the logic of the above possibility is divorced from the BBTPE, which highlights that individuals’ emotion is an important antecedent of their resources and further adaptability (Fredrickson, 2001, 2013). Nevertheless, the causal relationship between the variables should be further explored by a longitudinal or experimental study.

Second, this study used a general scale to measure supervisors’ perceptions of subordinates’ gratitude expression. However, according to previous research, there are many forms of gratitude expression. For instance, in terms of methods of gratitude expression, gratitude can be expressed orally, in writing, and through home visiting; the content of gratitude expression can include material and nonmaterial gratitude; and the frequency of gratitude expression can range from never to always (Mccullough et al., 2002; Toepfer et al., 2012). Therefore, future research should examine whether there are significant differences in the effects of different forms of gratitude expression.

Third, considering administrative factors (e.g., limited opportunities for promotion) in the career development of civil servants (Baarspul & Wilderom, 2011), this study only focused on subjective career success but did not consider objective career success (Ng et al., 2005). In the future, the influence of civil servants’ gratitude expression on subjective and objective career success can be investigated simultaneously so as to conduct career research more comprehensively and accurately.

Fourth, scholars have pointed out that gratitude expression is a process of interpersonal interaction between benefactor and beneficiary (Lambert & Fincham, 2011). Therefore, when selecting mediating and moderating variables, this study mainly considered the perspective of benefactors (i.e., supervisors), who have been paid less attention in the existing literature. However, future research could consider the characteristics of both supervisors and subordinates, so as to provide a comprehensive understanding of the process between gratitude expression and subjective career success.

Finally, as the samples for the present research came from the Chinese public sector, we cannot be certain about the extent to which our findings are generalizable to other countries, especially in Western cultures. As seen, under the influence of Confucian culture, China is a society that emphasizes the return of favors and respect for authority (older or higher status individuals; Farh et al., 1997; Yang, 2003). Therefore, both the beneficiary (i.e., subordinate) and the benefactor (i.e., supervisor) may consider gratitude expression as an obligation and responsibility. In this case, the meaning and functions of gratitude expression may be different from those of Western countries. Therefore, it is necessary for future research to explore the connotation of gratitude expression and its impact on employees through cross-cultural research.

Footnotes

Appendix

Measurement scale:

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by grants from the Key Project of National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 20AZD019), Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72074091 and No. 71774164), Huazhong University of Science and Technology Humanities and Soical Sciences Double First-class Contruction Project Fund (HUST 2019), and self-determined research funds of CCNU from the colleges’ basic research and operation of MOE (No. 19TD009).

ORCID iD

Cheng Chen

Notes

Author Biographies

Cheng Chen is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration, College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. Her research focuses on behavioral public administration, especially motivation and career development of public employees, mentoring, and unethical behaviors. Her recent research has appeared in the Journal of Vocational Behaviour, International Journal of Human Resource Management, and Journal of Career Development.

Liang Ma is a professor at the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, China. His research interests include public organizational innovation and performance management. He has published widely in reputable journals, including International Review of Administrative Sciences, Public Management Review, and Public Administration.

Zhixia Chen is a professor in the Department of Public Administration, College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. She is the Director of Psychology and Human Resource Management Centre, College of Public Administration at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Her current research interests deal with behavioral public administration, in particular, questions related to leadership ostracism, performance, and social attitudes.

Peng Wen is a professor in the College of Economics and Business Administration at Central China Normal University in China. He received his PhD in the Department of Business Administration at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and was a visiting scholar at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His research interests include human resource management, leadership, unethical behavior, and career management.

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