According to organizational support theory, the development of
POS is encouraged by employees’ tendency to assign the organization
humanlike characteristics (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Levinson
(1965) noted that actions taken by agents of the organization
are often viewed as indications of the organization’s intent rather
than attributed solely to the agents’ personal motives. This personification
of the organization, suggested Levinson, is abetted by
the organization’s legal, moral, and financial responsibility for the
actions of its agents; by organizational policies, norms, and culture
that provide continuity and prescribe role behaviors; and by the
power the organization’s agents exert over individual employees.
On the basis of the organization’s personification, employees view
their favorable or unfavorable treatment as an indication that the
organization favors or disfavors them