Much research has been conducted on the effect of popularity among children and adolescents, but the popularity of adults at work has received little attention. I investigated the effects of employees' popularity on their career satisfaction, and, in regard to this relationship, the
roles of employees' knowledge, skill, and abilities (KSA) as moderators, and of their core selfevaluations as a mediator. Participants were 219 supervisor–subordinate dyads employed by 32 enterprises in China. Multiple regression analysis of the data showed that the employees' popularity
was positively related to their career satisfaction. Their KSA level moderated this relationship, so that, among employees with less KSA, popularity had a stronger effect on their career satisfaction than among those with more KSA. Employees' core self-evaluations fully mediated the moderating
effect of KSA on the relationship between popularity and career satisfaction. The findings suggest that if employees can increase their popularity, this is an effective way to improve their career satisfaction, especially for those who are low in KSA. Improvement of employees' core self-evaluations
may also directly enhance their career satisfaction.
Effects of person-vocation fit and core self-evaluation on career commitment of medical university students: the mediator roles of anxiety and career satisfaction
