Intrinsic work values and proactive behavior among early-career employees: boundary conditions of perceived employment relations climate and internal locus of control.

INTRODUCTION: Early-career employees are expected to learn their roles and to contribute proactively to organizational improvement. Although proactive behavior research has emphasized personality, leadership, job design, and socialization, less is known about how intrinsic work values are translated into proactive behavior among employees at the beginning of their careers. This study develops a value-based account of early-career proactivity and examines two boundary conditions: perceived employment relations climate and internal locus of control. METHODS: Data were collected through the Wenjuanxing online questionnaire platform. Of 605 returned questionnaires, 541 valid responses from Chinese employees with no more than 24 months of work experience were retained. The survey measured intrinsic work values, proactive behavior, perceived employment relations climate, internal locus of control, and demographics. Reliability analyses, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analyses, robust hierarchical regressions, moderation tests, simple-slope analyses, variance-inflation diagnostics, and Johnson-Neyman probing were conducted. RESULTS: Intrinsic work values were positively associated with proactive behavior in the main-effect model. Perceived employment relations climate attenuated this association, such that intrinsic work values were more strongly related to proactive behavior when perceived employment relations climate was lower. Internal locus of control strengthened the association, such that intrinsic work values were more strongly related to proactive behavior among employees with higher internal locus of control. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that intrinsic work values are a motivational basis for early-career proactivity, but their behavioral expression depends on situational cues and perceived agency. The study contributes to value-behavior and proactive motivation research while highlighting the need for longitudinal and multi-source designs.