Lin-Yang Yue, Wei-De Huang
International Journal of Manpower, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.-
This paper aims to reveal the nonlinear moderating effect of age on the inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived development human resource practices (DHRPs) and work-related learning with affective commitment being the mediator.
Regression models combined with the bootstrap method and multigroup analysis, and two-wave survey data from 780 Chinese employees were used to test hypotheses.
The results revealed that perceived DHRPs related to affective commitment in an inverted U pattern and affective commitment further related to work-related learning positively, which resulted in an inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived DHRPs and work-related learning. Age moderated the nature of the relationships between perceived DHRPs and both the outcomes, such that they were related negatively among younger employees but inverted U-shaped among older employees.
This study reveals inverted U-shaped rather than linear relationships between perceived DHRPs and employee outcomes and shows that age moderates the nature instead of the strength of the relationships.