15628: Latent Profile Analysis of HR Attributions: An Application to Wellness Programs

This study investigates the attributions employees make about their wellness program offerings and implications for their psychological strain, job burnout, and job satisfaction. Recognizing that employees can hold a myriad of HR attributions, an employee-centered approach is used, representing a novel application to HR attributions. Through Latent Profile Analysis using an online sample of 525 Australian employees, four wellness program attribution profiles were identified: favorable; unfavorable; ambivalent; and indifferent. Differential effects were found across the profiles, such that employees with a favorable profile experienced better well-being outcomes compared to those with unfavorable or indifferent profiles. Employees with an unfavorable profile experienced poorer well-being outcomes compared to those with favorable or ambivalent profiles. Employees with an ambivalent profile experienced lower psychological strain and higher job satisfaction. The indifferent profile revealed an interesting pattern of results, such that these employees tended to be worse off in relation to psychological strain and job burnout, but, compared to the unfavorable profile, still maintained higher levels of job satisfaction. Of theoretical and practical importance, results show that the attribution profiles influenced employee well-being outcomes regardless of whether employees attended the wellness program or not. In sum, this research provides advancements to the HR attributions field through the four theoretically meaningful profiles and their associations with well-being outcomes.

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