Called to Serve: A Moderated Mediation Model of Career Calling, Job Embeddedness, Ambition, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Among Hospitality Employees

A sense of calling is seen as crucial for finding meaning and purpose in one’s work. This research examines how hospitality employees’ career calling affects their helping behaviors toward colleagues and the organization and explores the boundary conditions under which this impact can be strengthened, drawing on career construction and personality-job fit theories. Utilizing one-year, multi-wave data from a matched sample of 199 hospitality workers and their supervisors, this study found that job embeddedness mediates the effects of career calling on two types of helping behaviors. Moreover, a moderated mediation analysis revealed that ambition further moderates these indirect effects, with stronger mediation effects for those with greater ambition. Theoretical and managerial implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.