The Inhibitory Effect of Perceived Organizational Politics on Employee Voice Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Qin Liu,Hao Zhou,Xinyi Sheng

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727893

Abstract

Research on the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions of perceived organizational politics’ (POP) effect on employee voice is underdeveloped. Based on conservation of resources theory, we proposed a moderated mediation model in which organizational embeddedness acts as a mediator to explain why POP inhibits promotive and prohibitive voice. Additionally, we posited sense of impact as a boundary condition affecting this relationship. A time-lagged survey of 227 employed MBA students from a university in southwestern China revealed that organizational embeddedness mediates the relationship between POP and promotive and prohibitive voice, and sense of impact moderates the relationship between POP and promotive voice, such that the relationship is stronger when sense of impact is weaker. The moderating effect was not significant for prohibitive voice. These findings have implications for theory, practice, and further organizational research.

Highlights

Employee voice behavior—defined as voluntarily expressing work-related ideas or concerns (Chamberlin et al, 2017; Liang, 2021)—can promote organizational function effectively in a dynamic environment (Crant et al, 2011; Morrison, 2011, 2014)
The positive relationship between organizational embeddedness and prohibitive voice will be weaker for employees with a strong sense of impact. Synthesizing these insights, we propose the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 4: Sense of impact will moderate the positive relationship between organizational embeddedness and promotive voice (Hypothesis 4a)/prohibitive voice (Hypothesis 4b), such that this relationship is stronger for employees with a weak sense of impact
These findings implied that organizational embeddedness transmits the negative effect of perceived organizational politics’ (POP) on voice behavior, and revealed that sense of impact to some extent can offset the negative effect of POP on promotive voice behavior

Summary

Introduction

Employee voice behavior—defined as voluntarily expressing work-related ideas or concerns (Chamberlin et al, 2017; Liang, 2021)—can promote organizational function effectively in a dynamic environment (Crant et al, 2011; Morrison, 2011, 2014). POP refers to the perception of the degree of colleagues’ and supervisors’ self-interested behavior, which is pervasive in the workplace (Ferris et al, 1989). It has attracted increasing attention from scholars and practitioners in recent decades (Li et al, 2014; Ferris et al, 2019).

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