Motivating employees has become a major problem for managers, particularly in the contemporary context of stressful and changing workplaces (Choi, Kwon, & Kim, 2013; Everett, 2011). An increasing number of managers have incorporated humor and play into the workplace endeavoring to help employees experience fun at work, by encouraging them to participate in activities such as celebrations, birthday parties, or camping. Previous scholars have adopted conceptual and qualitative approaches (Everett, 2011; Plester & Hutchison, 2016) to determine the influence of workplace fun, and in quantitative studies researchers have reported workplace fun as an antecedent to employees’ behaviors and performance. Thus, workplace fun has been shown to be effective for motivating employees (Choi et al., 2013; Tews, Michel, Xu, & Drost, 2015), inspiring creativity (Fluegge-Woolf, 2014), reducing turnover (Tews, Michel, & Allen, 2014), and increasing satisfaction and productivity (Choi et al., 2013; Karl & Peluchette, 2006; Lamm & Meeks, 2009).

These scholars focused on exploring the effects of workplace fun but ignored how it works. Moreover, there has been no consensus on the conceptual structure of workplace fun. Several investigators testified that employees’ attitudes toward workplace fun could influence their experience of fun in an organizational context (Karl & Peluchette, 2006; Karl, Peluchette, Hall-Indiana, & Harland, 2005; Lamm & Meeks, 2009). However, these scholars did not take the context of workplace fun into consideration. The effects of workplace fun may vary by context even when employees view it positively. Thus, in this study, we aimed to contribute to the existing research by (a) clarifying the relationship between workplace fun and experienced fun by defining a new extension and conceptual measurement model of workplace fun; (b) investigating how person–organization (P–O) value congruence, which characterizes the state of congruence between an employee’s values and those of his or her organization (Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, & Sutton, 2011), influences the relationship between workplace fun and employees’ experienced fun to assess individuals’ perceived fun in the generalized workplace (Karl & Peluchette, 2006), and (c) exploring the moderating effects of workplace fun and P–O value congruence on employees’ job performance and the mediating role of experienced fun on such effects.

Literature Review and Hypotheses

Workplace Fun

Workplace fun is generally defined as a working environment that intentionally encourages and supports various enjoyable, playful, and pleasurable activities, such as humor, games, parties, awards, and playing competitions (Chan, 2010; Karl & Peluchette, 2006; Plester & Hutchison, 2016). However, little consensus exists in academic studies, and even less in managerial practices, on the boundaries of workplace fun. To distinguish workplace fun from individual pleasure and employee welfare, in this study, we have defined the boundary of workplace fun in three ways: (a) activities sponsored by an organization, regardless of where they take place and whether or not they are work-related; (b) fun activities initiated by employees in the workplace during or after work, and (c) fun activities among colleagues after work and outside the workplace, as a relaxing work environment can comprise both material benefits such as good food and intangible benefits such as collegial relationships.

Workplace Fun and Experienced Fun

One set of previous studies on workplace fun focused on the effect of experienced fun, which was first proposed in Karl and Peluchette’s (2006) study. Experienced fun is defined as employees’ affect when engaging in workplace fun activities. Karl and Peluchette (2006) demonstrated that experienced fun was positively related to job satisfaction and customer service quality and negatively related to turnover intention. Using a sample of Generation Y employees, Choi et al. (2013) found that experienced fun had a positive direct effect on employees’ task performance, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). However, these studies did not discuss the relationship between fun activities and experienced fun, and implicitly assumed that fun activities elicited positive affect, leading to the experience of joy, happiness, and other positive feelings. Examples of this assumption are the assertions that “these elements of fun are all intended to produce enjoyment among employees” (Tews et al., 2014, p. 6) and “as well as a pleasant mood while at work” (Karl & Peluchette, 2006, p. 3). These statements reflect the assumption of a latent link between workplace fun and experienced fun. The affective events theory (AET) developed by Weiss and Cropanzano (1996) also supports this relationship, suggesting that some characteristics of the work environment predispose it to the occurrence of related events, leading to affective reactions. As a result, workplace fun supports fun activities, further evoking employees’ positive affect. Tews et al. (2014) argued that fun activities might serve as recovery mechanisms, allowing employees to take momentary time off from work, recharge their batteries, and return to work more enthusiastically.

As shown above, the previous empirical studies on the relationships between workplace fun and work-related outcomes were based mainly on theoretical explanations of how employees’ positive feelings bring benefits. Although, according to the existing literature, workplace fun could potentially have a positive effect on experienced fun, surprising to us, no study has yet empirically testified this influence. Therefore, we proposed that experienced fun would serve as a motivational mechanism that links workplace fun to individual performance. We thus posited the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Workplace fun will be positively related to experienced fun.

The Moderating Effects of Person-Organization Value Congruence

Employees’ attitudes toward workplace fun vary greatly (Karl et al., 2005). Some employees enjoy working and releasing work stress through fun activities. Others reject these activities because they consider them to be pointless, especially those unrelated to work, thus leading to cynicism at work (Everett, 2011). As a result, it is not easy to create workplace activities that all employees consider fun, because factors including age, personality, tenure, and social experiences may affect employees’ perception of fun (Lamm & Meeks, 2009). Those factors contribute to the criteria that individuals use for evaluating events. Thus, it is reasonable to posit that individual values may influence how fun is experienced at work. Choi et al. (2013) partly supported this proposition, arguing that employees’ attitudes toward workplace fun positively affected their experienced fun. Conversely, organizational culture must be considered when discussing the boundaries and benefits of fun in the workplace (Plester & Hutchison, 2016). Some companies restrict workplace fun to only a few types of activities, whereas others employ it with much less restriction. Therefore, both individual and organizational factors should be considered when determining if activities can truly make employees experience fun.

In the organizational behavior research area, P–O value congruence is a widely accepted dimension of P–O fit and has been found to predict employees’ attitudes and behavior (Hoffman et al., 2011). From the perspective of person–environment interaction theory (Kristof-Brown & Guay, 2011), a person’s perception of the environment results from the interaction of individual and situational factors. Specifically, goals and behavior modes of employees with high P–O value congruence are consistent with those of their organizations (Hoffman et al., 2011). These employees tend to interpret workplace fun as do their organizations, which is conducive to low-level constraint and high-level experienced fun (Everett, 2011; Redman & Mathews, 2002). On the contrary, employees with low P–O value congruence do not perceive such activities as fun; instead, they are likely to be psychologically resistant, reject calls to engage in the activities, or even leave the organization (Karl et al., 2005; Redman & Mathews, 2002). Scholars have noted that people evaluate events before they generate affect (Weiss & Beal, 2005). In this process, people first care about whether or not the event is consistent with their goals and values. Only events strongly consistent or conflicting with their values arouse affect. Therefore, although a variety of fun activities exist and it is hard to evaluate them, it is likely that fun activities initiated by the organization or employees would be more likely to arouse employees’ positive affect if employees’ values were congruent with those of their organization. We thus formed the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2: Person-organization value congruence will moderate the relationship between workplace fun and experienced fun.

The Mediating Effects of Experienced Fun

We went a step further to illustrate the influence of workplace fun on job performance and the effect of experienced fun on the connection between them. In the present study, based on research into the effects of workplace fun, we consider employee job performance to comprise both their task performance and OCB (e.g., Choi et al., 2013; Lamm & Meeks, 2009). Task performance has been defined as a behavior that directly contributes to the organization’s performance, including the transformation of raw materials into goods and services or the organizing of supportive activities that make this process more efficient and effective (Williams & Anderson, 1991). As task performance only accounts for a part of individuals’ overall job performance in teams, the remainder, with OCBs as representative, is equally important in the workplace setting. OCB denotes employees’ discretionary behavior that serves to carry out organizational functioning but is not directly or explicitly rewarded by the organization (Farh, Zhong, & Organ, 2004).

According to AET theorists, “work environments are seen as having an indirect influence on affective experience by making certain events, real or imagined, more or less likely” (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996, p.12). Furthermore, the experience of affective events can be an important mechanism for directly eliciting affect-driven behavior (such as helping) in the workplace. Workplace fun could provide opportunities for employees to develop trust and friendship with coworkers (Karl & Peluchette, 2006), reinforcing their responsibilities to the organization and coworkers. Lamm and Meeks (2009) found that workplace fun had stronger positive effects on task performance and OCB across 701 generational samples. Similarly, Fluegge-Woolf (2014) provided evidence for a positive relationship among fun and task performance, OCB, and creative performance.

Furthermore, the core assumption of AET is that affective experience mediates the relation between work-related events and behavioral outcomes (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996). Recently, Bohns and Flynn (2012) suggested an extended theoretical model including event, organizational attributes, cognitive appraisal, emotional experience, and employee outcomes. However, only a few studies have tested the core proposition of AET as a mechanism (Weiss & Beal, 2005). The key reason for this is that few specific propositions have been identified about the kind of events that elicit affective states. Thus, in this study we proposed that workplace fun could arouse employees’ positive affect, such as humor and enjoyment, and that this type of affect would be more intense when employees believe their own values are strongly consistent with those of their organization. We argue that experienced fun may mediate the relationship between workplace fun and OCB. Moreover, a growing amount of evidence supports the idea that employees tend to perform better in positive feeling states (Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2014). As stated by Fredrickson (2001) in her broaden-and-build (BAB) theory, positive feeling states not only help people cope with economic stress, but also broaden their hearts and minds to become more productive, creative, and receptive. The benefits of positive feeling states may develop over time and help individuals build enduring psychological, intellectual, physical, and social resources. This BAB effect has been verified to be transferable to organizational psychology (Granic et al., 2014).

As previously noted, the existing literature has offered conflicting empirical evidence about the relationship between workplace fun and employee performance (Lamm & Meeks, 2009; Tews et al., 2014). Redman and Mathews (2002) suggested that workplace fun needs to be developed from the organization’s specific culture through rigorous investigation. Focusing on P–O value congruence, we proposed that workplace fun would promote employees’ performance by enhancing their positive feelings. Employees whose values match those of their organizations will develop personal goals and plans consistent with these values (Hoffman et al., 2011) and interpret fun activities as do their organizations (Everett, 2011). Furthermore, they will show better job performance. We may infer that the extent of consistency between employees’ values and those of their organizations might explain the unclear influence of workplace fun.

Therefore, considering the mediating effect of experienced fun on the relation between workplace fun and job performance, as well as the moderating effect of P–O value congruence on the relation between workplace fun and job performance, we proposed the following mediated moderation model:
Hypothesis 3: Experienced fun will mediate the interactive effects of workplace fun and P–O value congruence on employees’ (a) task performance and (b) OCB.

To obtain a more precise and comprehensive understanding of the contextual and individual factors underlying workplace fun events that drive employee behavior and performance, we present the following overall model (see Figure 1) of the proposed relationships among the primary variables in this study.

Method

Sample and Procedure

Given the need for insights into workplace fun in Chinese culture and the possible moderation effects of P–O value congruence at different levels, we required a large sample spanning multiple organizations. Thus, our sample was drawn from 14 organizations (four enterprises in mainland China, four in Taiwan, and six Taiwan-owned enterprises in mainland China). All selected enterprises were in high-technology industries with more than 100 employees. The data were collected from both full-time knowledge workers (who employ a combination of convergent, divergent, and creative thinking as part of their work; Reinhardt, Schmidt, Sloep, & Drachsler, 2011) and their supervisors to minimize the effects of common method bias (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). Two researchers independently distributed 45 survey forms to managers and 310 survey forms to their direct subordinates, matching each employee with his or her relevant supervisor. While employees answered items about workplace fun and P–O value congruence, their direct supervisors answered items about the employees’ OCB and task performance. Finally, after participants had completed the survey and sealed it in an envelope, researchers collected the envelopes. We obtained data from 256 employees and 45 supervisors, with response rates of 82.5% and 83.3%, respectively. In total, 223 matched survey forms were usable for the analyses. Of the employee respondents, 57.8% were male, 42.2% female; 4.4% were under 25 years, 18.4% were in the 25–34 age group, 26.5% were in the 35–44 age group, 29.6% were in the 45–54 age group, and 21.1% were in the 55 and above age group. The employees had been in their current workplace for 3–5 years (32.1 %), 6–10 years (27.8%), 11–20 years (36.3%), and 21 years and over (3.8%) Most participants (88.3%) held a bachelor’s degree or above; 9.9% had reached high school and 1.8% middle school and below.

Measures

Workplace fun. Few measurements of workplace fun so far developed have yet been widely adopted. As the perception of fun can be affected by culture (Plester & Hutchison, 2016), we measured it using a new scale that we developed in the Chinese organizational context. We developed this scale in three steps (Tang, Liu, & Liu, in press). In the first step, we constructed a two-dimensional model that categorized workplace fun into four types, following the process of grounded theory analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1997); in the second step, we created a primary scale with 28 items based on our interviews and the existing scales of Fun at Work Activities (Karl et al., 2005) and Fun at Work Scale (McDowell, 2005), and in the third step, we collected data from 16 enterprises in mainland China and Taiwan to verify survey validity and purify items. The final 19-item scale identified a four-factor construct: function, e.g., “interesting team building activities” and “easy workshops and training”; welfare, e.g., “organizing socializing social activities outside (go to cinema or outing)” and “organizing family visits or sending family gifts during festivals”; socialization, e.g., “socializing with coworkers online” and “sharing jokes and stories with coworkers”; and relaxation, e.g., “playing while working (music or network play)” and “enjoyable work environment”. For each item, employees assessed the frequency an activity occurred on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = never to 5 = all the time. All Cronbach alpha reliabilities were higher than .79.

Experienced fun. Employees rated their experienced fun according to five items (e.g., “This is a fun place to work”) developed by Karl and Peluchette (2006) on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The Cronbach’s alpha was .78 for the present sample.

Performance. Employees’ immediate supervisors rated the employees’ task performance with a seven-item scale developed by Williams and Anderson (1991). Supervisors rated items (e.g., “He/she adequately completes assigned duties”) on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha was .90. We assessed only organizational citizenship behavior – individuals (OCBI; work help) in which OCBs are directed to other individuals (Williams & Anderson, 1991), to be a consequence of workplace fun rather than all OCB, because OCBI has been demonstrated to connect strongly with job affect (Lee & Allen, 2002), and workplace fun primarily changes employees’ affect. Items were drawn from Farh et al.’s (2004) nine-item scale, which was developed in an Eastern cultural context and included four items measuring work help. Supervisors rated items (e.g., “Helps new employees adapt to their work environment”) on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The Cronbach’s alpha was .89.

P–O value congruence. Participants were asked to rate how they perceived and preferred the organizational value, and we obtained two scores; then, we calculated the absolute value as the P–O value congruence as the difference between the two scores. We used a scale comprising the four dimensions of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) developed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983): human relations, open systems, internal process, and rational goal. The original scale was refined by Chen (2009) to ensure that the wording was appropriate for the Chinese cultural context. The modified scale contains descriptions of four items associated with each of the four CVF culture domains. Employees rated their perception of organizational value on a scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree and how they preferred this value on a scale ranging from 1 = not valued at all to 5 = highly valued. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for each factor was higher than .78.

Apart from items of organizational value refined by Chen (2009), other items in the survey were originally in English and were forward- and back-translated into Chinese by academics fluent in both Chinese and English to ensure accuracy of translation (Brislin, Lonner, & Thorndike, 1973). Slight modifications were made to the items considered inappropriate for the Chinese culture.

Data Analysis

Before testing the hypotheses, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Amos version 18.0 to assess the structure of the study variables. We conducted a hierarchical multiple regression to test Hypotheses 1, 2, 3a, and 3b, following the four steps to form a mediated moderation model suggested by Muller, Judd, and Yzerbyt (2005). We statistically verified with the mediated moderation model if the results met all the following four requirements: (a) the relationship of workplace fun and P–O value congruence interaction with experienced fun was significant, (b) the relationships of workplace fun and P–O value congruence interaction effects with task performance and with OCBI were significant, (c) the relationship of experienced fun with task performance and OCBI was significant, and (d) the moderated intervention effects (the second requirement) would be at least partially mediated (or transmitted) by employees’ experienced fun (Muller et al., 2005).

Results

Preliminary Analyses

The CFA of the measurement model of workplace fun provided an adequate fit to the data, χ²/df = 1.75, comparative fit index (CFI) = .95, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = .94, root mean square error or approximation (RMSEA) = .058. Coefficient alphas for the four scales ranged from .83 to .89. Convergent validity was demonstrated as all indicators loaded on the proposed constructs significantly at p < .001, and the values of average variance extracted (AVE) were all above 0.5. Strong discriminant validity was also established as all the AVEs were higher than the squared interconstruct correlations between each pair of constructs.

We also evaluated the discriminant validity of workplace fun and experienced fun because previous researchers have not identified a consistent structure for workplace fun. CFA with workplace fun, experienced fun, P–O value congruence, OCBI, and task performance showed that the five-factor model fitted the data better than did the alternative models (i.e., those combining workplace fun and experienced fun items into a single factor), χ²/df = 1.39, CFI = .92, TLI = .91, RMSEA = .05. In addition, we considered the eight-factor model by splitting the P–O value congruence or workplace fun scale into four subfactors based on the difference orientations. The results showed that the hypothesized eight-factor model had no statistical advantage over the five-factor model. Thus, the five-factor hypothesized model was retained; moreover, it was more consistent with the theory and literature. Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, correlations, and reliability estimates for measures used in this study.

Tests of the Hypotheses

Table 2 shows our results. After regressing experienced fun on the demographic variables, we entered workplace fun in Model 1. Workplace fun was found to be positively related to experienced fun (β = 0.34, p < .001, ΔR² = .07), lending support to Hypothesis 1. Next, we entered the P–O value congruence and interaction of P–O value congruence and workplace fun into Model 3. Table 2 reveals that P–O value congruence (β = 0.33, p < .05, ΔR² = .02) moderated the link between workplace and experienced fun.

To examine the forms of the interactions, we computed the simple slopes of high (one standard deviation below the mean) and low (one standard deviation above the mean) P–O value congruence. We found that workplace fun had a stronger effect on experienced fun when employees experienced fun activities driven by high P–O value congruence (simple slope test: β = 0.37, p < .05) than when employees experienced fun activities driven by low P–O value congruence (simple slope test: β = 0.08, ns). The evidence supported Hypothesis 2, and it also met the first requirement of the mediation moderation model (Muller et al., 2005).

We then constructed a moderated hierarchical regression model following similar steps with task performance and OCBI as the dependent variables to test whether or not the latter three requirements of the mediated moderation model were met (Models 3–6, in Table 2). The results indicated that the second requirement was met, and this was supported by the evidence of a significant interaction effect of workplace fun and P–O value congruence on task performance and OCBI in Model 3 and Model 5. The third requirement was also met, and this was supported by the evidence of a significant effect of the quality of experienced fun on task performance (see Model 4) and OCBI (see Model 6). Finally, the fourth requirement was met, and this was supported by the evidence that the interaction of workplace fun and P–O value congruence on task performance was no longer significant (see Model 4), and the effect on OCBI also decreased (see Model 6) when experienced fun was included.

We also computed the simple slopes of high and low P–O value congruence. The results indicate that workplace fun has significantly stronger relationships with task performance and OCBI when employees take part in fun activities with high P–O value congruence (simple slope test: β = 0.51, p < .05; β = 1.02, p < .05, respectively) compared to those with low P–O value congruence (simple slope test: β = −0.02, ns; β = −0.13, ns, respectively). These results suggest that experienced fun completely mediated the interaction effects on task performance, and partially mediated the interaction effects on OCBI. Therefore, Hypotheses 3a and 3b were supported, and the mediated moderation model was fulfilled.

Discussion

In this study, based on AET, we proposed and tested a model of the effects of workplace fun (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996). The data analysis showed the interactive effects of workplace fun and P–O value congruence on individuals’ experienced fun at work. These findings suggest that workplace fun does not necessarily lead to experienced fun. Rather, it is affected by differences in values between employees and their organizations. Thus, our results have extended the literature by demonstrating a positive mediated moderation effect of P–O value congruence on workplace fun, increasing the understanding of how workplace fun improves individuals’ job performance driven by experienced fun.

Our results support previous findings that workplace fun positively relates to employees’ job performance (e.g., Choi et al., 2013; Lamm & Meeks, 2009). This study, conducted with knowledge employees in mainland China and Taiwan, contributes to the existing literature by verifying that the four categories of workplace fun activities fit the Chinese context well. Earlier researchers had called for further research on workplace fun in different cultural contexts (Chan, 2010). Moreover, this study extends the literature on workplace fun by investigating the relationship between fun activities and experienced fun; thus, we expanded upon previous studies that focused on the relations among workplace fun, experienced fun, and work-related outcomes. We also found that experienced fun mediates the relationship between workplace fun and employee job performance. Finally, by introducing the moderating mechanism of P–O value congruence with the aim of strengthening the positive effects of workplace fun, we responded to Lamm and Meeks (2009) and Tews et al.’s (2015) suggestions that the effects of employees’ attitudes and organizational contextual factors on workplace fun should not be overlooked. In conclusion, our research provides a systematic logic to explain how workplace fun might contribute to employees’ job performance.

Though many studies have proved workplace fun has positive effects on performance (Choi et al., 2013; Tews et al., 2015), some managers still view fun activities as a kind of welfare and do not take them seriously. Indeed, workplace fun is much more than just welfare; it takes various forms and requires more attention and practical skill from managers. We proved that fun activities could only positively affect task performance and OCB when employees genuinely experience fun. Moreover, our findings provide guidance for managers to offer and promote workplace fun activities systematically by proposing a classified model of fun activities. When planning such activities, managers should ensure that these activities are consistent with the values of most of their employees to ensure they experience fun while participating in them (Everett, 2011). They should also consider employees’ need to avoid negative effects. Welfare activities usually take up after-office time, and a lack of choices may thus trigger employee aversion (Karl et al., 2005). Second, managers should hold more functions that connect fun with work, such as interesting team activities and traveling while training. Third, relaxation activities should be encouraged to enable employees to experience fun from different sources of their own choice. Thus, it would be beneficial for employees to connect fun activities with work spontaneously, such as taking breaks at work at will according to their job position, decorating their offices, and arranging their work schedules. Finally, social activities can enhance emotional connections among employees, strengthen organizational cohesion, and positively influence the effects of other fun activities. Thus, managers could take various means (say resources or work setting) to encourage employees to interact with colleagues, either in virtual or real ways.

Additionally, managers should consider P–O value congruence an important factor in organizing and encouraging fun activities. In organizations with a weak culture or low P–O value congruence, employees may have more differing attitudes about workplace fun. As a result, a one-size-fits-all activity is unlikely to motivate all people, and may even decrease some employees’ satisfaction because they need to spend time and energy coping with nonwork-related activities they do not enjoy (Karl et al., 2005; Redman & Mathews, 2002). In small organizations, managers should prioritize fun activities that can promote a strong organizational culture and promote value congruence between the organization and its employees. In large organizations, organization-initiated fun activities are unlikely to make all employees effectively experience fun, because employees identify with various subcultures. In this circumstance, managers should encourage employees to initiate team-based social fun activities on their own.

Limitations and Future Research

Our study has several limitations. First, the data were collected mainly in Fujian province of mainland China and Taiwan. As the two cultures are similar, more studies should be conducted in different districts to confirm general conclusions in China, especially when identifying the typology and influences of value. Second, in this study we did not discuss the different effects of the four categories of fun activities, because we endeavored to explore the mechanism through which types of fun influence job performance and the role of P–O value congruence in that process. Future researchers could further explore the categories of fun activities that most benefit knowledge employees.

Bohns, V. K., & Flynn, F. J. (2012). Guilt by design: Structuring organizations to elicit guilt as an affective reaction to failure. Organization Science, 24, 1157–1173. https://doi.org/b54v

Brislin, R. W., Lonner, W. J., & Thorndike, R. T. (1973). Cross-cultural research methods. New York, NY: Wiley.

Chan, S. C. H. (2010). Does workplace fun matter? Developing a useable typology of workplace fun in a qualitative study. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29, 720–728. https://doi.org/d7j5km

Chen, W.-Q. (2009). The effects of organizational and personal social tactics to person-organization fit [In Chinese]. Management World, 24, 99–110. Retrieved from https://mall.cnki.net/onlineview/MagaView.aspx?fn=glsj200903*1*

Choi, Y. G., Kwon, J., & Kim, W. (2013). Effects of attitudes vs. experience of workplace fun on employee behaviors: Focused on Generation Y in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25, 410–427. https://doi.org/b6f5

Everett, A. (2011). Benefits and challenges of fun in the workplace. Library Leadership and Management, 25, 1–10.

Farh, J.-L., Zhong, C.-B., & Organ, D. W. (2004). Organizational citizenship behavior in the People’s Republic of China. Organization Science, 15, 241–253. https://doi.org/bz2hqh

Fluegge-Woolf, E. R. (2014). Play hard, work hard: Fun at work and job performance. Management Research Review, 37, 682–705. https://doi.org/b6f6

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and- build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226. https://doi.org/d2mt85 Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69, 66–78. https://doi.org/bvns

Hoffman, B. J., Bynum, B. H., Piccolo, R. F., & Sutton, A. W. (2011). Person-organization value congruence: How transformational leaders influence work group effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 54, 779–796. https://doi.org/dz4n9q

Karl, K. A., & Peluchette, J. V. (2006). Does workplace fun buffer the impact of emotional exhaustion on job dissatisfaction? A study of health care workers. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 7, 128–141.

Karl, K. A., Peluchette J., Hall-Indiana, L., & Harland, L. (2005). Attitudes toward workplace fun: A three sector comparison. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 12, 1–17. https://doi.org/drg9pt

Kristof-Brown, A., & Guay, R. P. (2011). Person–environment fit. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (Vol. 3, pp. 3–50). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Lamm, E., & Meeks, M. D. (2009). Workplace fun: The moderating effects of generational differences. Employee Relations, 31, 613–631. https://doi.org/btcrsj

Lee, K., & Allen, N. J. (2002). Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: The role of affect and cognitions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 131–142. https://doi.org/c8vtpx

McDowell, T. (2005), Fun at work: Scale development, confirmatory factor analysis, and links to organizational outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International, 65, 6697.

Muller, D., Judd, C. M., & Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2005). When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 852–863. https://doi.org/czt

Plester, B., & Hutchison, A. (2016). Fun times: The relationship between fun and workplace engagement. Employee Relations, 38, 332–350. https://doi.org/b6f8

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903. https://doi.org/czw

Quinn, R. E., & Rohrbaugh, J. (1983). A spatial model of effectiveness criteria: Towards a competing values approach to organizational analysis. Management Science, 29, 363–377. https://doi.org/br6jmb

Redman, T., & Mathews, B. P. (2002). Managing services: Should we be having fun? The Service Industries Journal, 22, 51–62. https://doi.org/b8npd2

Reinhardt, W., Schmidt, B., Sloep, P., & Drachsler, H. (2011). Knowledge worker roles and actions–Results of two empirical studies. Knowledge and Process Management. 18, 150–174. https://doi.org/fqntsn

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1997). Grounded theory in practice. London, UK: Sage.

Tews, M. J., Michel, J. W., & Allen, D. G. (2014). Fun and friends: The impact of workplace fun and constituent attachment on turnover in a hospitality context. Human Relations, 67, 923–946. https://doi.org/f6gj29

Tews, M. J., Michel, J., Xu, S., & Drost, A. J. (2015). Workplace fun matters … but what else? Employee Relations, 37, 248–267. https://doi.org/b6f9

Weiss, H. M., & Beal, D. J. (2005). Reflections on affective events theory. In N. M. Ashkanasy, W. J. Zerbe, & C. E. J. Härtel (Eds.), The effect of affect in organizational settings: Research on emotion in organizations (Vol. 1, pp. 1–21). San Diego, CA: Emerald.

Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior: An annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews (Vol. 18, pp. 1–74). Greenwich, CT: Elsevier Science/JAI Press. https://doi.org/bbhv

Williams, L. J., & Anderson, S. E. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in-role behaviors. Journal of Management, 17, 601–617. https://doi.org/gv5

The authors thank Dr Yong-Ping Xiao for data collection for this study.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71302175)

the Humanity and Social Science Youth Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (12YJC630185)

the National Social Science Foundation of China (14CGL018)

and the Social Science Foundation of Fujian (FJ2015C169).

Wen-Bin Liu, School of Business and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No.2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tach Zone, 611731, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China. Email: [email protected]