Nepotism at work: the role of affective commitment and work centrality in shaping service performance

Purpose Grounded in the social identities and commitments at work (SIACAW) model, this study aims to examine how perceived nepotism influences airport frontline employees’ (FLEs) customer-directed in-role and extra-role performance. It specifically explores the mediating role of organizational affective commitment and the moderating role of work centrality. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a cross-sectional design, survey data were collected from 220 check-in staff at major airports in Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Perceived nepotism was found to negatively affect both in-role and extra-role performance through reduced affective commitment. However, high work centrality buffered this effect, enabling employees to maintain affective commitment despite perceptions of nepotism. Originality/value While previous studies have examined nepotism in organizational settings, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to demonstrate how perceived nepotism undermines service performance through the mediating role of affective commitment. By incorporating work centrality as a boundary condition, it also extends the understanding of how individual differences shape responses to organizational favoritism in high-pressure service contexts like aviation.