PSS influences

You are correct to point this out. Looking back, we moved too quickly into Social Exchange Theory, but we did not explicitly write the section that explains the mechanism of why Perceived Supervisor Support influences Employee Performance.

For your literature review, I would actually adjust the structure slightly:

2.4 Perceived Supervisor Support

2.4.1 Definition of Perceived Supervisor Support

(What PSS is)

2.4.2 The Influence of Perceived Supervisor Support on Employee Performance

(Why PSS matters and how it affects performance)

2.4.3 Social Exchange Theory as the Theoretical Foundation of Perceived Supervisor Support

(Why this relationship is theoretically expected)

This order may be easier for readers because you first establish the relationship, then explain the theory behind it.

Here is the section:

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2.4.2 The Influence of Perceived Supervisor Support on Employee Performance

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Key references for this section:

Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.698

Eisenberger, R., Stinglhamber, F., Vandenberghe, C., Sucharski, I. L., & Rhoades, L. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 565–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.565

Kottke, J. L., & Sharafinski, C. E. (1988). Measuring perceived supervisory and organizational support. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 48(4), 1075–1079. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164488484024

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A small note: I think this missing section is actually very important for your thesis because RO3 asks: "How does PSS affect employee performance?" This section becomes the literature foundation for answering that research question. Then the Social Exchange Theory section supports the explanation of why that relationship exists.

Your structure now becomes much stronger:

PSS definition → PSS influence on performance → theory explaining the relationship → PSS as mediator

That is a very defensible DBA literature review flow.

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