37 research outputs found
A Social Influence Analysis of Perceived Organizational Support
This dissertation examined the effects of social influence on employees' perceptions of organizational support (POS). An important characteristic of POS is that it reflects an employee's subjective evaluation of the treatment he or she receives from the organization. Employees' interactions with their coworkers, then, may have an important influence on their POS. As a result, the development of POS may be a social process rather than solely an intrapsychic one. However, the majority of POS research has focused on how an individual employee's personal experiences with an organization affect his/her POS and largely ignored social factors. To address this gap in the literature, I argue that advice ties between employees will be related to similarity in POS because they serve as a source of social information. Friendship ties, on the other hand, will result in similarity in POS because they are utilized for social comparison. Finally, role model ties will result in similarity in POS because employees learn from the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of others they respect and admire. In addition, I explored the differential effects of strong and weak ties and muliplex versus simplex ties on similarity in POS. My expectation was that strong ties and multiplex ties would be more influential than weak ties and simplex ties. Finally, I explored the effects reciprocated and non-reciprocated ties with the expectation that reciprocated ties would be more highly associated with POS because they are characterized by information sharing. Social network methods were utilized to test hypotheses among 93 admissions department employees at a university in the eastern United States. Results indicated that when reciprocated ties were considered, employees tended to have POS that are similar to those of their strong role model ties, strong advice-role model ties, and strong friend-advice-role model ties. However, when reciprocity was not a requirement for strong ties between employees, only strong friend-advice-role model ties were related to similarity in POS. This pattern of results suggests that strong, multiplex ties in which two-way information sharing occured were more likely to lead to similarity in POS. Implications were drawn from these findings, and suggestions for future research were made
When distress hits home: The role of contextual factors and psychological distress in predicting employees' responses to abusive supervision
We developed a model of the relationships among aggressive norms, abusive supervision, psychological distress, family undermining, and supervisor-directed deviance. We tested the model in 2 studies using multisource data: a 3-wave investigation of 184 full-time employees (Study 1) and a 2-wave investigation of 188 restaurant workers (Study 2). Results revealed that (a) abusive supervision mediated the relationship between aggressive norms and psychological distress, (b) psychological distress mediated the effects of abusive supervision on spouse undermining, (c) abusive supervision had a direct positive relationship with supervisor-directed deviance, (d) the positive relationship between psychological distress and spouse undermining was stronger for men as opposed to women, and (e) employees engaged in relationship-oriented occupations reported greater levels of abusive supervision and psychological distress. Implications for theory and practice are discussed
Consequences of Workplace Bullying on Employee Identification and Satisfaction Among Australians and Singaporeans
This study responds to the call for cross-cultural investigations of workplace bullying by examining the relationship between workplace bullying and attitudes among employees from two countries. The authors argue that employees from societies that are less inclined to accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (low power distance countries, e.g., Australia) will respond to workplace bullying more negatively than will employees from cultures that accept that power differences exist as a result of structure (high power distance, e.g., Singapore). In all, 165 Singaporean and 152 Australian employees completed surveys designed to assess workplace bullying, workgroup identification, and job satisfaction. Results showed that workplace bullying was negatively related to both workgroup identification and job satisfaction among employees from both countries. Moreover, national culture influenced the relationship between bullying and job satisfaction and workgroup identification such that the negative relationships between bullying and these attitudinal outcomes were stronger for Australians than Singaporeans
A Social Exchange-Based Model of the Antecedents of Workplace Exclusion
We conducted 2 studies of coworker dyads to test a theoretical model exploring why and under what circumstances employees are the targets of workplace exclusion. Adopting a victim precipitation perspective, we integrate belongingness and social exchange
The Interactive Effects of Psychological Contract Breach and Organizational Politics on Perceived Organizational Support: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies
We explore the effects of the social context on the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and perceived organizational support (POS) in two studies. We build on the premise that psychological contract breach (i.e. the organization's failure to fulfil the obligations employees believe they are owed) signals to employees that they are not cared for and valued by the organization (i.e. reduces POS). In support, a longitudinal study of 310 employees shows that PCB at Time 1 explains significant variance in POS at Time 2 (beyond that explained by POS at Time 1). Building on this result, we advance the argument that employees' perceptions of organizational politics serve as a heuristic for the overall benevolent or malevolent character of the organization and its agents. Accordingly, we expect that when employees perceive PCB and high levels of organizational politics, they will be more likely to hold the organization responsible for PCB and thus report lower levels of POS in response to breach. This line of reasoning received support in a second study of 146 employees which showed that perceptions of organizational politics moderate the PCB-POS relationship. Our results suggest that the social context in which psychological contract breaches occur matters and that managers should consider the organization's perceived political landscape when anticipating how employees will respond to broken promises
Mentors, supervisors and role models: do they reduce the effects of psychological contract breach?
Psychological contract breach has become a significant problem for many organisations in today's business environment because it fosters a belief within employees that the organisation does not support them. Accordingly, we examine whether organisations can diminish the negative impact of psychological contract breach on perceived organisational support (POS) by providing employees with mentors, supportive supervisors and role models. In Study 1, we found that mentor relationships moderated the relationship between psychological contract breach and POS six months later. In Study 2, we showed that mentor relationships and supervisor support reduced the negative impact of contract breach on POS. Contrary to expectations, employees who maintained relationships with role models reported lower levels of POS in response to psychological contract breach than those employees who reported that they did not have role models in their organisations. Implications for research and practice are discussed
You, Me, and the Organization Makes Three: The Organizationâs (Adverse) Effect on Relationships among Coworkers
Organizational leaders seek to cultivate close relationships among employees to positively impact employeesâ workplace behaviors. However, to leadersâ detriment, they often do so without focusing on employeesâ relationships with the organization itself. Grounded in social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that employeesâ perceptions of their relationships with their organizations, in the forms of psychological contract breach (PCB) and perceived organizational support (POS), impact their behaviors (deviance and citizenship) toward their coworkers, even when employees have stronger relationships with their coworkers. Results from a sample of 266 employees across two time points suggest that employees who perceive a more positive relationship with their employers (i.e., lower PCB or higher POS) engage in more deviant behaviors toward their coworkers when they have stronger relationships with their coworkers. In contrast, employees engage in fewer deviant behaviors toward their coworkers when they perceive a more negative relationship with their employers (i.e., higher PCB or lower POS). We find no such effects for citizenship behaviors toward coworkers. We believe these results suggest that there may be different theoretical processes operating for interpersonal deviance and interpersonal citizenship toward coworkers