Organizational dehumanization and gig workers' outcomes: a moderated mediation model of psychological distress and family recognition of work.

INTRODUCTION

Platform work is increasingly organized through algorithmic rules and standardized performance systems that may leave workers feeling treated as replaceable instruments rather than as full persons. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study examined whether psychological distress mediates the associations between organizational dehumanization and gig workers' flourishing and commitment to service quality, and whether family recognition of work moderates this process.

METHODS

Data were collected from married food-delivery and ride-hailing platform workers in China across three waves separated by 1-week intervals. The analytic sample comprised 281 participants.

RESULTS

Organizational dehumanization was positively associated with psychological distress, which in turn was negatively associated with both flourishing and commitment to service quality. Family recognition of work weakened the association between organizational dehumanization and psychological distress and attenuated the indirect associations between organizational dehumanization and both outcomes through psychological distress.

DISCUSSION: Family recognition of work may serve as a supplementary cross-domain resource for gig workers, while reducing dehumanizing conditions in platform work remains the primary intervention target.