Feeling trusted and job performance: Self-efficacy mediation moderated by work meaningfulness in Chinese SOEs

Although trust is widely recognized as a critical organizational resource, the mechanisms through which feeling trusted shapes employee performance remain poorly understood, with prior research yielding mixed theoretical explanations and inconsistent empirical findings. While some studies demonstrate positive effects of feeling trusted, emerging evidence suggests it may also generate pressure and burnout. These conflicting findings and cultural specificity in Chinese state-owned enterprises underscore the need for nuanced examination of mechanisms and boundary conditions. The present study investigates the effect of feeling trusted on both task performance and contextual performance (Hypotheses 1A and 1B), with self-efficacy as a mediator (Hypotheses 2A and 2B) and work meaningfulness as a moderator (Hypotheses 3A and 3B) through integrating social exchange theory and social cognitive theory into job demand-resource theory. We conducted two studies in Chinese state-owned enterprises power and machinery enterprises, respectively. Study 1 (N = 815) showed that feeling trusted positively predicted both task and contextual performance (β = .17 and .19), with self-efficacy partially mediating these effects (β = .05, 36.4%, 95% CI [.02, .11]; β = .06, 28.4%, 95% CI [.02, .09]). Study 2 (N = 737) further showed that work meaningfulness strengthened the effect of self-efficacy on task performance and the effect of feeling trusted on contextual performance (β = .07 and .05). Our theoretical integration provides a comprehensive explanation of how social resources translate into personal resources and subsequent performance. These findings suggest organizations should cultivate trust-based leadership while ensuring employees perceive their work as meaningful.