LAUSR

Abstract The effects of social resources are well established. Yet, we know little about why these effects occur. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we examined the possibility that work engagement would carry the effect of social resources on work performance. We further posited that Machiavellianism would interact with social resources to influence work engagement and through it, work performance. Supported by a mini meta-analysis, we found that across three samples, diverse in the operationalization of social resources and national context (i.e., the United States, France, and Malaysia), social resources positively associated with work performance. Results also indicated that work engagement carried the effect of social resources. We further found that the effects of social resources were less pronounced at high levels of Machiavellianism.