Amna Zeb and Eman Ali2025-10-022025-10-022024https://escholar.umt.edu.pk/handle/123456789/7766This study explores the impact of Customer Stewardship Sense (CSS) on service employee performance, focusing on the mediating role of psychological empowerment among frontline employees in the aviation industry. The research is grounded in Cognitive Evaluation Theory, which suggests that contexts supporting feelings of autonomy and competence enhance intrinsic motivation. The study hypothesizes that CSS, which involves employees deviating from formal rules to enhance customer satisfaction, promotes psychological empowerment, thereby improving job performance. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing convenience sampling to target frontline employees at airline check-in counters and ground handling services in Lahore. Data was collected through online surveys distributed via Google Forms and physical surveys, resulting in 153 valid responses. The survey included measures of CSS, psychological empowerment, and job performance, with reliability and validity confirmed through Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability tests. Descriptive analysis indicated a higher number of male respondents compared to female respondents, with data collected from both genders to ensure an unbiased sample. Participants were required to have at least one year of experience in their roles to provide informed responses. Data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS, which allowed for the simultaneous examination of multiple dependent relationships and was particularly suitable for this exploratory research. The results demonstrated that CSS has a positive impact on psychological empowerment, which in turn enhances job performance. The mediation analysis confirmed that psychological empowerment partially mediates the relationship between CSS and job performance. These findings highlight the constructive aspects of CSS, suggesting that rule deviating behavior, when managed effectively, can lead to improved employee performance and customer service outcomesenThesis