Psychological Capital and Thriving at Work Among Non-Managerial Employees in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Within Malaysia’s Service Sector: The Mediating Role of Stewardship and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Wong, Yoong Jau (2026) Psychological Capital and Thriving at Work Among Non-Managerial Employees in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Within Malaysia’s Service Sector: The Mediating Role of Stewardship and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

Text 13 Wong Yoong Jau.pdf Restricted to Registered users only Download (2MB)

Abstract

In volatile business environments, sustaining employee thriving has become a critical concern for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Malaysia’s service sector, where formal organisational support is often limited. While existing research has largely examined thriving at work through organisational and contextual factors, less attention has been given to how employees’ internal psychological resources are translated into sustained workplace functioning. Addressing this gap, this study examines how Psychological Capital (PsyCap), comprising hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, influences thriving at work through stewardship, while assessing the moderating role of moral identity. Grounded in Positive Organisational Behaviour (POB) Theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, the study positions PsyCap as a psychological resource, stewardship as a behavioural transmission mechanism, and moral identity as an ethical self-regulatory condition. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, survey data were collected from 330 non-managerial employees in Malaysian service-sector MSMEs and analysed using SPSS and the PROCESS Macro. The findings show that all four PsyCap dimensions significantly predict stewardship, which subsequently enhances thriving at work. Stewardship partially mediates the PsyCap–thriving relationships, while moral identity strengthens the stewardship–thriving link. The study contributes by demonstrating that employee thriving is shaped by psychological resources, stewardship behaviour, and moral self-regulation, offering practical implications for workforce sustainability in MSMEs.