The relationship of organizational politics and support to work behaviors,attitudes, and stress

The purpose of this paper is to report two studies that investigated the consequences of organizational politics and organizational support on two separate samples of employees. Study 1 surveys 69 full-time employees, while Study 2's sample includes 185 part-time workers. Four major findings were observed. First, the present studies replicated prior findings concerning the relationships of politics and support to such variables as withdrawal behaviors, turnover intentions, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In general, politics is related to negative work outcomes while support is related to positive ones. Consistent results were obtained within both the full- and part-time samples. Second, we elaborated upon previous work concerning the relationship of politics and support to job involvement. Third, we found in both samples that politics and support did predict above and beyond each other, suggesting that they should be viewed as separate constructs rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. Lastly, Study 2 extended the research on politics and support by analyzing their relationships to four work stress variables: job tension, somatic tension, general fatigue, and burnout. Each of these four variables was predicted by both politics and support. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress‐related aftermaths to workplace politics: the relationships among politics,job distress,and aggressive behavior in organizations

In light of the growing theoretical and practical interest on organizational politics, especially its probable impact on work outcomes, two stress‐related aftermaths of influence and politics in organizations were examined. On the basis of a model by Ferris, Russ, and Fandt ( 1989b ) the idea was pursued that workplace politics may have a long‐range impact on employees' job distress and aggressive behavior in and around organizations. Three samples (n1 = 155, n2 = 184, n3 = 201) were used to examine direct and indirect/mediating relationships among the research variables. Participants were Israeli employees from the private, public, and third sectors. Findings showed that: (1) job distress was an immediate response to organizational politics across the three types of organization, and (2) job distress proved a possible mediator between organizational politics and aggressive behavior as enacted by the employees themselves. Several theoretical and practical implications of the findings that may extend our knowledge on various stress‐related aftermaths of organizational politics are noted. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organizational politics and organizational support as predictors of work attitudes,job performance,and organizational citizenship behavior

This study investigated the relationship of organizational politics and organizational support to various work attitudes and behaviors among a field sample of 128 participants. Consistent with our hypothesis, politics and support were related to job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions, and supervisor ratings of organizational citizenship behaviors. However, only support was related to job performance. We also examined whether or not organizational politics and organizational support comprise two distinct constructs or one global factor. The evidence here was ambiguous. Fit indices obtained from confirmatory factor analysis suggested that it is more parsimonious to treat politics and support as opposite ends of the same construct, though the two‐factor model did show a slightly better fit. On the other hand, subsequent multiple regression analyses showed that support tended to account for additional criterion variance beyond the effect of politics, implying that there may be some practical utility to retaining politics and support as distinct constructs. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The moderating effects of political skill on the perceived politics–outcome relationships

Previous research has established that perceptions of organizational politics are associated with negative organizational outcomes. However, this may not hold true for all individuals. We offer subordinate and supervisor political skill, the ability to understand interactions at work and to use that understanding to effectively influence others, as possible moderators. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of both employees' self‐rated political skill and their managers' political skill on job satisfaction, job performance, and manager‐rated commitment. We examined these relationships in an organizational sample of 106 matched dyadic pairs and found mixed support for the joint moderating effect of self and manager political skill on the politics perceptions‐outcome relationships. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Valuing diversity: a group‐value approach to understanding the importance of organizational efforts to support diversity

Using Leventhal's rules as well as the group‐value model of procedural justice, we first examined how the negative effects of perceived racial discrimination on procedural justice judgments can be attenuated by perceived organizational efforts to support diversity. Secondly, we examine how these effects ultimately impact affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. We found that employees who believe some individuals in the workplace are discriminating against them on the basis of race tend to report lower levels of procedural justice from the organization. However, this negative relationship was attenuated when employees perceived that their organization was making efforts to support diversity. Results suggest that individuals' perceptions of organizational efforts to support diversity can help restore perceptions of procedural justice for employees who experience racial discrimination at work. Improving procedural justice also positively impacts affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior directed at the organization. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relational demography in supervisor–subordinate dyads: Impact on subordinate job satisfaction,burnout, and perceived procedural justice

Although research has shown that demographic dissimilarity within groups is negatively associated with organizational attachment-orientated variables, few studies have investigated its relations with other job-related variables. Focusing on relational demographics within the context of superior–subordinate dyads, associations between relational demographic characteristics and subordinate job attitudes and perceptions were examined using polynomial regression. Relational race was found to correlate with perceptions of procedural justice and job satisfaction, but not job burnout. The implications of these findings for future relational demographic research are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and validation of a questionnaire for measuring perceived political considerations in performance appraisal

A 25-item scoring instrument was developed to measure perceptions of the extent to which performance appraisals are affected by organizational politics. The survey was administered to 157 francophone managers. A factor analysis revealed that the perceptions of the extent to which political considerations affect the appraisal an employee receives can be sensibly interpreted in terms of a single general factor. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the instrument was high. Moderate support was found for the instrument's convergent and discriminant validity.     

Relationships among five forms of commitment: an empirical assessment

This paper examined whether Morrow's (1993) model of five universal forms of work commitment (affective organizational commitment, continuance organizational commitment, career commitment, job involvement and work ethic endorsement) has empirical support. The paper explored the discriminant validity among the five scales of these commitment forms. It also tested Morrow's model regarding the interrelationships among them in comparison with an alternative conceptualization proposed by Randall and Cote (1991). Two hundred and thirty‐eight nursing staff from two hospitals in western Canada were surveyed. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL VIII) and correlation analysis showed an acceptable discriminant validity among the five commitment foci. The results of path analysis (LISREL VIII) showed a poor fit with the data of Morrow's model and a better fit with the alternative model of Randall and Cote. Revised models based on the modification indices from both models were tested, and supported the Randall and Cote approach. The paper concludes with implications regarding the continuing assessment of Morrow's conceptualization to establish an acceptable definition and measurement of universal forms of work commitment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the core: Critical assessment of core self‐evaluations theory

In 1997, Judge, Locke, and Durham published the core self‐evaluations (CSE) theory proposing that a multidimensional CSE construct, composed of emotional stability, self‐esteem, locus of control, and generalized self‐efficacy, accounts for individual differences in job satisfaction as well as in other organizational behavior outcomes. In this article, I argue that, despite ample evidence in support of the predictive validity of the CSE construct, the adequacy of including emotional stability, self‐esteem, locus of control, and generalized self‐efficacy as indicators of the CSE construct may be questionable, and I review evidence that points to limited convergent and discriminant validity of the CSE construct. I conclude the article with a few recommendations for advancing CSE theory and research. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence toward an expanded model of organizational identification

Recent research on organizational identification has called for the consideration of an expanded model of identification, which would include a more thorough treatment of the ways an individual could derive his or her identity from the organization. This paper begins to answer that call by testing operationalizations of the four dimensions of the expanded model: identification, disidentification, ambivalent identification, and neutral identification. Survey results from 330 employed adults support the discriminability of the four dimensions. This exploratory study also begins to establish the criterion‐related validity of the model by examining organizational, job‐related, and individual difference variables associated with the four dimensions of the model, and suggests implications for the expanded model's strong potential for applications in organizational identification research. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work performance,affective commitment,and work motivation: the roles of pay administration and pay level

The purpose of this study was to investigate employee attitudes and behaviors among knowledge workers under different forms of pay administration and pay levels. To examine these issues, I collected data from two business units in a large Norwegian multinational company with pay plans combining individual and collective performance and behaviors as the foundations for individual bonuses; one with two collective components (profit and behavior of the unit and the organization) and one with an individual component in addition to the two collective components. After controlling for organizational tenure, education, gender, perceived unit support, perceptions of distributive and procedural justice, and type of pay plan, the key findings are that base pay level, but not bonus level, was positively related to both self‐reported work performance and affective unit commitment, and that these relationships were partly mediated by intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, moderation analyses revealed that the relationships between bonus level and the outcome variables were not affected by type of pay plan. Implications and directions for future research on pay in knowledge intensive organizations are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thriving at work: Toward its measurement,construct validation,and theoretical refinement

Thriving is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning. We developed and validated a measure of the construct of thriving at work. Additionally, we theoretically refined the construct by linking it to key outcomes, such as job performance, and by examining its contextual embeddedness. In Study 1, we conducted second‐order confirmatory factor analyses in two samples, demonstrating initial support for the two‐dimensional structure of thriving. We provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of thriving in relation to theoretically related constructs, such as positive and negative affects, learning and performance goal orientations, proactive personality, and core self‐evaluations. In Study 2, across two different samples, we further assessed construct validity by establishing a relationship between thriving and career development initiative, burnout, health, and individual job performance, explaining significant variance beyond traditional attitudinal predictors, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Finally, in Study 3, we focused on understanding the contextual embeddedness of thriving. We found differences in reports of thriving across two points in time, when substantial changes are occurring in peoples' work lives and across contexts (i.e., work and non‐work). Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multi‐level investigation of psychological contract breach and organizational identification through the lens of perceived organizational membership: Testing a moderated–mediated model

Drawing on the perceived organizational membership theoretical framework and the social identity view of dissonance theory, I examined in this study the dynamics of the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification. I included group‐level transformational and transactional leadership as well as procedural justice in the hypothesized model as key antecedents for organizational membership processes. I further explored the mediating role of psychological contract breach in the relationship between leadership, procedural justice climate, and organizational identification and proposed separateness–connectedness self‐schema as an important moderator of the above mediated relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling results from a sample of 864 employees from 162 work units in 10 Greek organizations indicated that employees' perception of psychological contract breach negatively affected their organizational identification. I also found psychological contract breach to mediate the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on organizational identification. Results further provided support for moderated mediation and showed that the indirect effects of transformational and transactional leadership on identification through psychological contract breach were stronger for employees with a low connectedness self‐schema. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synergy or substitution? The interactive effects of insiders' fairness and support and organizational socialization tactics on newcomer role clarity and social integration

Drawing on fairness heuristics theory (Lind, 2001) and cue consistency theory (Maheswaran & Chaiken, 1991; Slovic, 1966), we test a moderated mediation model that examines whether the institutionalization of organizational socialization tactics enhances or constrains the beneficial effects of supervisory and coworker‐referenced justice and support on newcomer role clarity and social integration. The findings of a three‐wave study of 219 French newcomers show that although institutionalized tactics strengthen the positive indirect effects of supervisory interpersonal and informational justice on role clarity, via perceived supervisor support, it also acts as a substitute that weakens the positive indirect effect of coworker‐referenced interpersonal justice on social integration, via perceived coworker support. Implications of the findings for socialization research and practice are discussed.     

Assessors and use of assessment centre dimensions: a fresh look at a troubling issue*

Previous studies on the construct validity of assessment centres have generally produced puzzling results. The premise of this study is that these prior studies were relatively one‐sided. Actually, most previous studies were field studies, which typically used the multitrait–multimethod approach to distinguish between two sources of variance (i.e., exercises and dimensions). Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the issue of assessment centre construct validity by addressing substantive and methodological concerns inherent in previous research. In this study, 85 industrial and organizational psychology students and 39 managers rated videotaped assessment centre candidates in three exercises on six dimensions. Results from generalizability analyses showed that assessors' ratings were relatively veridical. In addition, when assessors rated candidates whose performances varied across dimensions and whose performances were relatively consistent across exercises, they were reasonably able to differentiate among the various dimensions. They also rated such candidate profiles similarly on the various dimensions across exercises. When assessors rated a candidate profile without clear performance fluctuations across dimensions, distinctions about dimensions were more blurred. Results from student and managerial assessors were similar, although managers distinguished somewhat less between the various dimensions. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Explaining task performance and creativity from perceived organizational support theory: Which mechanisms are more important?

Perceived organizational support (POS) theory specifies three mechanisms—felt obligation, group identification, and outcome expectancy—to explain the effects of organizational support on employee work outcomes. These mechanisms have usually been examined in isolation so that it is not possible to assess their relative explanatory power. The present study aims to remedy this problem by examining the three mechanisms simultaneously using structural equation modeling. On the basis of a sample of 206 bank employees in China, we focus on two types of employee performance—task performance and creativity—as dependent variables. Drawing on self‐determination theory and characteristics of the research context, we propose that task performance is more strongly predicted by felt obligation than by the other two mechanisms, whereas identification and expectancy more strongly predict creativity than felt obligation. We conclude by discussing our contribution to POS and creativity research, and highlight some important implications of our findings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Justice constructs,negative affectivity,and employee deviance: a proposed model and empirical test

This study tests a model that uses organizational justice variables and the personality trait of negative affectivity to explain two forms of deviant employee behavior. Prior research suggests that deviance can be directed interpersonally or against organizations. We propose a model that links unfavorable perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice, as well as the dispositional trait of negative affectivity, to both types of deviant acts. To test the model, a survey was distributed to employees from a government agency and an international manufacturer of paper products. Responses to the survey were analysed using structural equation modeling to evaluate the fit of the theoretical model to the data. Results showed that the model fits the data well and that nearly all of the hypothesized relations among constructs were supported. Implications of the results for the prediction and control of deviant behavior are discussed and future research directions are offered. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Justice and job engagement: The role of senior management trust

We examined whether job engagement mediated the effects of organizational justice dimensions on work behaviors and attitudes. Considering distributive and procedural justice from a motivational perspective, we proposed that job engagement would mediate these two dimensions' relations with the work outcomes of task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and job satisfaction. We also expected this mediation effect would be magnified when senior management trust (SMT) was high. Our results showed that the simple mediation model was supported only for distributive justice. Alternatively, the indirect effect of procedural justice on work outcomes through job engagement was significant only when SMT was high. Implications of our findings and areas for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overqualification and counterproductive work behaviors: Examining a moderated mediation model

The current study examined the effect of employees' perceived overqualification on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Building on person–job fit theory and prior research on such organizational phenomena, we conceptualized overqualification as a type of poor person–job fit. Drawing on the dual‐process model, we further suggested that in processing their person–job misfit, overqualified employees might cognitively appraise themselves as less worthy organizational members and experientially feel angry toward the employment situation. We also suggested that to the extent that overqualified people are sensitive to justice, they may react more or less strongly to being overqualified. We tested our predictions using time‐lagged data from a sample of 224 workers and their supervisors employed in a large manufacturing company in China. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we found that organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and anger toward employment situation mediated the positive relationships between perceived overqualification and both self‐rated and supervisor‐rated CWBs. In addition, justice sensitivity moderated the relationship between perceived overqualification and the mediators (i.e., OBSE and anger) and the indirect relationship between perceived overqualification and CWB. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationships of distributive justice and compensation system fairness to employee attitudes in international joint ventures

Employee perceptions of the fairness of general corporate systems have thus far not received enough attention in the organizational justice literature. To fill this gap, we examined perceptions of the fairness of the compensation systems of international joint ventures in China. It is argued that perceptions of compensation system fairness are positively related to the three distributive justice dimensions, i.e., performance‐based distributive justice, comparative distributive justice relative to foreign expatriates, and comparative distributive justice relative to local colleagues. Perceptions of compensation system fairness are also hypothesized to mediate the relationships between the three distributive justice dimensions and organizational commitment and turnover intention. A survey of 161 Chinese employees in Sino‐foreign joint ventures found a positive relationship between perceptions of distributive justice and perceptions of compensation system fairness. In particular, compensation system fairness was more strongly associated with performance‐based distributive justice than with the other two distributive justice dimensions based on social comparison. The mediating role of compensation system fairness was strongly supported. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.