In pursuit of success: the differential moderating effects of political skill on relationships among career-related psychological needs and ingratiation

Ingratiation is one of the most commonly studied social influence tactics that is used by employees to advance their career goals. Research examining predictors of ingratiation has rather shown inconsistent findings. To address these inconsistencies, this study drew on social cognitive theory to investigate the role of political skill as a moderator in the associations between two career-related psychological needs (i.e., need for achievement and need for power) and ingratiation. We tested these associations using independent 150 matched employee–peer dyads from Thailand. Results revealed that self-reported political skill exerted differential moderating effects on the associations among the two career-related psychological needs and peer-rated ingratiation. Whereas the association between need for achievement and ingratiation was positive under high levels of political skill, the association between need for power and ingratiation was positive under low levels of political skill

Getting ahead through flattery: examining the moderating roles of organization-based self-esteem and political skill in the ingratiation–promotability relationship

Research examining the career-related outcomes of ingratiation has produced fairly inconsistent findings. To move the literature forward, we draw on cognitive consistency theory and social influence theory to examine how the moderating roles of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and political skill may affect ingratiation as a strategy to enhance an employee’s promotability. In Study 1 involving 92 independent matched subordinate–supervisor dyads from Thailand, we found support for the moderating effect of OBSE such that there was a positive relationship between supervisor-reported ingratiation and self-reported promotability among individuals with high as opposed to low OBSE. These results were replicated in Study 2 using 150 independent matched subordinate–peer–supervisor triads. Results revealed that the relationship between peer-reported ingratiation and supervisor-reported promotability became positive for those employees with high as opposed to low political skill