Understanding the Correlates of Fear among Public Employees Working in Extreme Conditions: Evidence from Chinese Frontline Customs Officers

AbstractDiscrete emotions such as fear are understudied in public administration, especially in extreme working conditions such as emergency response or crisis management where job demands often surpass employees’ resources to cope. In order to understand the psychological correlates of this fear, this study builds on the job demands-resources model to examine the possible antecedents and outcomes of fear among a sample of Chinese customs officers working on the frontline of COVID-19 prevention. Analysis of survey data collected from this extreme condition indicates that self-efficacy, resilience, and perceived organizational support attenuated fear while public service motivation did not. There was an antagonistic interaction between self-efficacy and resilience in affecting customs officers’ fear. In addition, fear increased turnover intention but did not relate to work engagement nor job satisfaction. These findings provide theoretical insights over understanding the fear of public employees working in extreme conditions and offer public managers practical implications over building a strong and resilient workforce during crisis.Keywords: Fearself-efficacyresiliencepublic service motivationperceived organizational supportwork engagementjob satisfactionturnover intention Additional informationFundingThis study was supported by the Beijing Social Science Fundation (2020010283); and Renmin University of China: the special developing and guiding fund for building world-class universities (disciplines).Notes on contributorsYuanjie BaoYuanjie Bao is an assistant professor in the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. He is interested in motivation, stress, and leadership.Ying LiuYing Liu is a professor in the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. She is interested in leadership, team, training and development.Zixu ZhangZixu Zhang is a PhD student in Eller College of Management, University of Arizona. She is interested in positive psychology and psychological capital.