The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of role stressors on the structural relationships between occupational identity, perceived strategic human resource management, work engagement, and adaptive performance of university s...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of role stressors on the structural relationships between occupational identity, perceived strategic human resource management, work engagement, and adaptive performance of university staff. To achieve this purpose, this study adopted the job demands–resources model as its theoretical framework and examined the fit of a structural equation model, the direct relationships among variables, the mediating effect of work engagement, and the moderating effect of role stressors.
The population of this study consisted of permanent university staff employed at four-year universities. Questionnaires were distributed considering general sampling criteria, sample size requirements for structural equation modeling, non-response, careless responses, outliers, and response rates. The survey instrument included measures of adaptive performance, occupational identity, perceived strategic human resource management, work engagement, role stressors, and general background characteristics. All measurement tools were adapted from existing instruments whose reliability and validity had been verified in previous studies, with minor modifications and refinements to suit the university administrative context. Data were collected from October 20 to November 4, 2025, through a combination of online surveys and on-site visits by the researcher. Out of the 736 questionnaires collected, a total of 719 responses were used for analysis, excluding careless responses and outliers. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8, with the significance level set at .05.
The results of the study are as follows. First, the overall fit of the structural model between occupational identity, perceived strategic human resource management, work engagement, and adaptive performance was satisfactory. Second, occupational identity and perceived strategic human resource management both significantly and positively influenced adaptive performance and work engagement, while work engagement also served as a significant antecedent to adaptive performance. Third, work engagement demonstrated a statistically significant mediating effect on the relationships between occupational identity and adaptive performance, as well as between perceived strategic human resource management and adaptive performance. Fourth, the moderating effects of role stressors on the structural relationships between occupational identity, perceived strategic human resource management, work engagement, and adaptive performance were not statistically significant.
Based on these findings, the suggestions are as follows. Given that this study relied on cross-sectional data from staff at four-year university, it has limitations in fully reflecting longitudinal change processes and diverse university contexts. To address these limitations, future research should employ longitudinal designs, expand the range of university types, and incorporate qualitative and mixed-method approaches to more precisely verify the formation process of adaptive performance. Furthermore, research involving various personal and organizational resources is needed to identify how adaptive performance mechanisms operate differently across various contexts. From a practical perspective, this study emphasizes the importance of integrated management strategies for individual and job resources to strengthen the competencies of university administrative organizations. As occupational identity and perceived strategic human resource management are key resources for enhancing work engagement and adaptive performance, universities should establish an ideal talent profile that strengthens the expertise of administrative staff and systematically design career development and participatory decision-making structures. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the coaching capabilities of middle managers and foster an organizational culture that ensures psychological safety. Concurrently, job redesign to alleviate role stress and the establishment of an indicator system to assess human resource development maturity from an adaptive performance perspective should be implemented.