Politics as a Moderator of the Accountability—Job Satisfaction Relationship: Evidence Across Three Studies

Abstract

The current study examined the interactive relationship between felt accountability and organizational politics perceptions on job satisfaction in three samples, which included employees in a wide array of work settings. We hypothesized that job satisfaction would decline (increase) as felt accountability became more intense for those perceiving heightened (limited) levels of politics. After controlling for demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, and organizational tenure), affectivity (e.g., negative and positive), and nonlinear main effect terms (e.g., felt accountability2and politics perceptions2), results supported the study's hypothesized relationship. Namely, findings indicated that accountability predicted unfavorable levels of job satisfaction when coupled with heightened politics perceptions. Implications of results for theory and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are provided.