The Secret Ingredient to Thriving Under Pressure: Psychological Capital, Organizational Dehumanization and Workplace Attachment in Hospitality Industry

Waitstaff represent a critical yet vulnerable workforce, often subject to conditions that can foster a sense of being objectified or instrumentalized. Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this paper investigates the interplay between psychological capital (PsyCap), organizational dehumanization and workplace attachment. Using organizational dehumanization scale, psychological capital questionnaire and workplace attachment scale, a cross‑sectional survey of one hundred and sixty employees within the high-pressure context of the hospitality service industry yielded three principal findings which indicates that organizational dehumanization was a significant negative predictor of workplace attachment, psychological capital was a significant positive predictor of workplace attachment and psychological capital failed to moderate the relationship between organizational dehumanization and workplace attachment. The results suggest that while fostering PsyCap is beneficial, it cannot substitute for the fundamental need to address and mitigate dehumanizing practices within the workplace. The study concludes that creating a humanizing organizational environment is paramount for fostering employee attachment in the service sector.