Benefits or costs? The influence of gig employees' social comparison on organizational commitment via benign and malicious envy

Previous research has suggested that employing labor from outside the organization can potentially mitigate the social comparison costs associated with internal incentive structures. However, with the development of the gig economy, gig employees and formal employees are interacting more frequently, leading to the emergence of social comparison costs among gig employees. To understand this new phenomenon, we draw on social comparison theory, investigating how gig employees engage in both upward and downward social comparison with formal employees and inducing both beneficial and harmful emotions and subsequently affecting organizational commitment. Using three-wave survey data collected from 525 gig employees in a leading Chinese internet company, we find that gig employee's upward (downward) comparison with formal employees can positively (negatively) affect gig employee's organizational commitment through benign (malicious) envy. Additionally, the competitive psychological climate positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between gig employee's upward (downward) comparison and benign (malicious) envy. The results broaden our understanding of social comparison in gig background, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the emotional responses generated by social comparisons by linking social comparison literature and envy literature.