Zhang Jingyuan, Yan Fengjuan, Meng Lin
School of Business Administration, Shandong Women's University, Jinan, China.
School of Public Administration, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Sep 1;16:1653112. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1653112. eCollection 2025.
As the sustained popularity of civil service careers persists, a significant number of young people from rural backgrounds have entered the civil service. However, due to differences in social status and background, rural-origin civil servants are prone to engaging in upward social comparison. This results in ego depletion and subsequently induces work withdrawal behavior, adversely affecting team harmony and sustainable development. This study empirically examines the mechanism by which upward social comparison influences work withdrawal behavior among rural-origin civil servants. The concepts of ego depletion and social mobility belief are introduced, with ego depletion further categorized into three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Analysis of questionnaire data collected from 1,137 rural-origin civil servants in Jinan, Shandong Province, yielded the following findings: Upward social comparison significantly predicted work withdrawal behavior. Cognitive and emotional ego depletion positively mediated the relationship between upward social comparison and work withdrawal behavior. Furthermore, the mediating effect of emotional ego depletion was stronger than that of cognitive ego depletion. Social mobility belief negatively moderated the pathways through which upward social comparison influences cognitive ego depletion, behavioral ego depletion, and work withdrawal behavior. This research offers a new perspective for understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying work withdrawal behavior among rural-origin civil servants and provides a theoretical basis for targeted interventions.
随着公务员职业持续受到广泛欢迎，大量来自农村背景的年轻人进入了公务员队伍。然而，由于社会地位和背景的差异，农村出身的公务员容易进行向上的社会比较。这导致自我损耗，进而引发工作退缩行为，对团队和谐与可持续发展产生不利影响。本研究实证检验了向上社会比较影响农村出身公务员工作退缩行为的机制。引入了自我损耗和社会流动信念的概念，其中自我损耗进一步分为认知、情感和行为三个维度。对从山东省济南市1137名农村出身公务员收集的问卷数据进行分析，得出以下结果：向上社会比较显著预测了工作退缩行为。认知和情感自我损耗在向上社会比较与工作退缩行为之间起到了正向中介作用。此外，情感自我损耗的中介作用强于认知自我损耗。社会流动信念对向上社会比较影响认知自我损耗、行为自我损耗和工作退缩行为的路径起到了负向调节作用。本研究为理解农村出身公务员工作退缩行为背后的心理机制提供了新视角，并为针对性干预提供了理论依据。
