Let the powerful people do tricky things: How leaders’ or subordinates’ political behavior copes with high job demands

Abstract

While prior research has shown that political behavior can aid in obtaining resources to manage high job demands, limited attention has been given to determining the appropriate actors of such behaviors. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, we suggest that leaders are more able to embrace the associated risks of engaging in political behavior and can access resources more efficiently than subordinates. Consequently, leaders’ utilization of political behavior can better assist subordinates in coping with resource loss and subsequently reduce workplace deviance. A scenario-based experiment and a three-wave time-lagged field survey are conducted with the results broadly supporting our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.