Interactive effects of emotional attachment and religion based work ethic on sustained employee performance in SMEs in the Middle East

The influence of emotional attachment on sustainable employees' performance in the workplace is a worthy area of study. Emotional attachment can significantly affect how individuals engage in their work roles. Specifically, a lack of attachment has been linked to lower levels or unsustainable job performance. Therefore, based on attachment theory, this study aims to investigate the direct effect of emotional attachment and its interaction with religion work ethics on sustaining employees' performance. Using an online convenience sampling approach to collect the data from 231 employees working in SMEs insight from the context of the Middle East. Using structural equation modeling to analyses. The empirical result confirmed that emotional attachment has a critical impact on sustaining employees’ performance. Furthermore, religion work ethic positively moderates the link between emotional attachment and sustainable employees’ performance. Insights were also provided into the dynamic relationship between emotional attachment and religious work ethics to sustain employees' performance, as well as the limitation and direction for future studies.