Organizational Conspiracy Beliefs: Implications for Leadership Styles and Employee Outcomes

Purpose

Belief in conspiracy theories about societal events is widespread among citizens. The extent to which conspiracy beliefs about managers and supervisors matter in the micro-level setting of organizations has not yet been examined, however. We investigated if leadership styles predict conspiracy beliefs among employees in the context of organizations. Furthermore, we examined if such organizational conspiracy beliefs have implications for organizational commitment and turnover intentions.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We conducted a survey among a random sample of the US working population (N = 193).

Findings

Despotic, laissez-faire, and participative leadership styles predicted organizational conspiracy beliefs, and the relations of despotic and laissez-faire leadership with conspiracy beliefs were mediated by feelings of job insecurity. Furthermore, organizational conspiracy beliefs predicted, via decreased organizational commitment, increased turnover intentions.

Implications

Organizational conspiracy beliefs matter for how employees perceive their leaders, how they feel about their organization, and whether or not they plan to quit their jobs. A practical implication, therefore, is that it would be a mistake for managers to dismiss organizational conspiracy beliefs as innocent rumors that are harmless to the organization.

Originality/Value

Three novel conclusions emerge from this study. First, organizational conspiracy beliefs occur frequently among employees. Second, participative leadership predicts decreased organizational conspiracy beliefs; despotic and laissez-faire leadership predict increased organizational conspiracy beliefs due to the contribution of these destructive leadership styles to an insecure work environment. Third, organizational conspiracy beliefs harm organizations by influencing employee commitment and, indirectly, turnover intentions.

     

Back to Basics with Mixed-Effects Models: Nine Take-Away Points

Purpose

Multilevel mixed effects models are widely used in organizational behavior and organizational psychology to test and advance theory. At times, however, the complexity of the models leads researchers to draw erroneous inferences or otherwise use the models in less than optimal ways. We present nine take-away points intended to enhance the theoretical precision and utility of the models.

Approach

We demonstrate our points using two types of simulated data: one in which group membership is irrelevant, and the other in which relationships exist only because of group membership. We then demonstrate that the effects we observe in simulated data replicate in organizational data.

Findings

Little that we address will be new to methodology experts; nonetheless, we draw together a variety of points that we believe will help advance both theory and analytic rigor in multilevel analyses.

Implications

We make two points that run somewhat counter to conventional norms. First, we argue that mixed-effects models are appropriate even when ICC(1) values associated with the outcome data are small and non-significant. Second, we show that high ICC(2) values are not a prerequisite for detecting emergent multilevel relationships.

Originality/Value

The article is designed to be a resource for researchers who are learning about and applying mixed-effects (i.e., multilevel) models.

     

Editorial: Evidence on Questionable Research Practices: The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly

Purpose

Questionable research or reporting practices (QRPs) contribute to a growing concern regarding the credibility of research in the organizational sciences and related fields. Such practices include design, analytic, or reporting practices that may introduce biased evidence, which can have harmful implications for evidence-based practice, theory development, and perceptions of the rigor of science.

Design/Methodology/Approach

To assess the extent to which QRPs are actually a concern, we conducted a systematic review to consider the evidence on QRPs. Using a triangulation approach (e.g., by reviewing data from observations, sensitivity analyses, and surveys), we identified the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Findings

Of the 64 studies that fit our criteria, 6 appeared to find little to no evidence of engagement in QRPs and the other 58 found more severe evidence (91 %).

Implications

Drawing upon the findings, we provide recommendations for future research related to publication practices and academic training.

Originality/value

We report findings from studies that suggest that QRPs are not a problem, that QRPs are used at a suboptimal rate, and that QRPs present a threat to the viability of organizational science research.

     

How Far Can Support Go? Supported Supervisors’ Performance and Subordinate Dedication

Purpose

The present study builds on prior research involving organizational support theory and the trickle-down effects of supervisors’ perceived organizational support (POS). We examine benefits of supervisor POS for the supervisors themselves (enhanced affective commitment and in-role performance), and a behavioral mechanism through which supervisors’ POS may lead to subordinate dedication, a multifaceted conceptualization of performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Using three sources of data (from 139 human resource professionals, their 47 supervisors, and the 22 bosses of their supervisors) we assessed the hypothesized relationships using multilevel path modeling.

Findings

Supervisors’ POS related positively to supervisors’ affective commitment to their organization, resulting in better supervisor in-role performance two months later. Also, having better performing supervisors resulted in more dedication by employees in the form of extra-role performance, as rated by their supervisor 2 months later, and extra hours worked.

Implications

It appears providing organizational support to supervisors may result in beneficial outcomes for the supervisors and the organization in terms of supervisors’ enhanced emotional attachment to the company, and better performance in their job, with consequences for subordinate dedication in terms of extra hours worked and extra-role performance.

Originality/Value

These findings contribute to organizational support theory by showing initial evidence that supervisor in-role performance can serve as an explanatory mechanism through which supervisors’ POS trickles down to aid subordinates.

     

The Effect of Adaptive Organizational Culture on Long-Term Survival

Purpose

Organizational culture is a critical resource for organizations to adapt to dynamic environments and to survive in the long term. Unfortunately, a lack of clarity exists in the conceptualization of adaptive cultures and little empirical research investigates its impact on survival. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to identify, define, and develop a measure of adaptive organizational culture and (2)  to demonstrate the effect of adaptive culture on organizational survival.

Design/Methodology/Approach

An adaptive culture rating scale was developed based on a review of the existing literature. Ninety-five organizations founded prior to 1940 were rated on nine characteristics of adaptive culture. Ratings were used to predict likelihood to survive using a Cox regression with proportional hazards survival analysis.

Findings

Exploratory factor analysis revealed two broad factors of adaptive culture, values toward change and action-orientation. Findings indicate organizations with adaptive cultures were more likely to survive.

Implications

The present effort provided evidence that culture can serve as an adaptive mechanism with effects spanning decades. Leaders should focus on establishing adaptive cultural norms and values in order to increase chances of surviving.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first historiometric studies to develop and utilize a measure of adaptive culture. Further, this study looked at the impact of adaptive culture on long-term organizational outcomes using survival analysis, a statistical technique not often employed in the organizational literature.

     

The Usefulness of Tenacity in Spurring Problem-Focused Voice: The Moderating Roles of Workplace Adversity

Purpose

Drawing from conservation of resources theory and affective events theory, this article examines the hitherto unexplored relationship between employees’ tenacity levels and problem-focused voice behavior, as well as how this relationship may be augmented when employees encounter adversity in relationships with peers or in the organizational climate in general.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The study draws on quantitative data collected through a survey administered to employees and their supervisors in a large manufacturing organization.

Findings

Tenacity increases the likelihood of speaking up about problem areas, and this relationship is strongest when peer relationships are characterized by low levels of goal congruence and trust (relational adversity) or when the organization does not support change (organizational adversity). The augmenting effect of organizational adversity on the usefulness of tenacity is particularly salient when it combines with high relational adversity, which underscores the critical role of tenacity for spurring problem-focused voice behavior when employees negatively appraise different facets of their work environment simultaneously.

Implications

The results inform organizations that the allocation of personal energy to reporting organizational problems is perceived as particularly useful by employees when they encounter significant adversity in their work environments.

Originality/Value

This study extends research on voice behavior by providing a better understanding of the likelihood that employees speak up about problem areas, according to their levels of tenacity, and explicating when this influence of tenacity tends to be more prominent.

     

The Moderating Role of Intergroup Contact in Race Composition,Perceived Similarity,and Applicant Attraction Relationships

Purpose

This study investigated the moderating effect of intergroup contact on the relationship between the race composition of organizational representatives, perceived similarity, and minority applicant attraction.

Design/Methodology/Approach

344 minority Malaysian-Chinese university students read a job advertisement that varied the racial composition of organizational representatives (100 % Malay or 50 % Malay–50 % Chinese or 100 % Chinese). Of these participants, 161 were Malaysian-Chinese in Malaysia (high intergroup contact location) and 183 were Malaysian-Chinese in Australia (low intergroup contact location). After reading the advertisement, participants responded to a series of scale items (e.g., perceived surface-level similarity, perceived deep-level similarity, and applicant attraction).

Findings

Results showed that the effect of race composition on attraction was stronger for minority participants in Australia than for minority participants in Malaysia. Perceived deep-level similarity mediated this moderated relationship.

Implications

The study findings suggest that organizations should include minority representatives in their recruitment advertising to attract minority applicants, particularly to attract minorities in locations with few opportunities for intergroup contact.

Originality/Value

By testing the mediating effects of perceived surface-level and deep-level similarity, this study contributes to our understanding of the mechanism linking the interaction between race composition and location with applicant attraction.

     

The Performance Appraisal Milieu: A Multilevel Analysis of Context Effects in Performance Ratings

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to take an inductive approach in examining the extent to which organizational contexts represent significant sources of variance in supervisor performance ratings, and to explore various factors that may explain contextual rating variability.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Using archival field performance rating data from a large state law enforcement organization, we used a multilevel modeling approach to partition the variance in ratings due to ratees, raters, as well as rating contexts.

Findings

Results suggest that much of what may often be interpreted as idiosyncratic rater variance, may actually reflect systematic rating variability across contexts. In addition, performance-related and non-performance factors including contextual rating tendencies accounted for significant rating variability.

Implications

Supervisor ratings represent the most common approach for measuring job performance, and understanding the nature and sources of rating variability is important for research and practice. Given the many uses of performance rating data, our findings suggest that continuing to identify contextual sources of variability is particularly important for addressing criterion problems, and improving ratings as a form of performance measurement.

Originality/Value

Numerous performance appraisal models suggest the importance of context; however, previous research had not partitioned the variance in supervisor ratings due to omnibus context effects in organizational settings. The use of a multilevel modeling approach allowed the examination of contextual influences, while controlling for ratee and rater characteristics.

     

Leader Arrogance and Subordinate Outcomes: the Role of Feedback Processes

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between leader arrogance on subordinate outcomes of feedback seeking, morale, and burnout through its relationships with subordinate feedback environment perceptions. Additionally, perceived organizational support and subordinate feedback orientation are examined as moderators that influence the degree to which leader arrogance exerts its effects on these outcomes.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Survey data were obtained from 302 participants on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website and analyzed using Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS in SPSS.

Findings

Subordinates with more arrogant supervisors reported less favorable feedback environment perceptions, and subsequently, lower levels of feedback seeking, morale, and higher levels of burnout. Perceived organizational support and feedback orientation were identified as significant moderators in these relationships. Subordinates were less vulnerable to the negative outcomes of leader arrogance when they experienced higher levels of perceived organizational support. Finally, subordinates with favorable feedback orientations exhibited lower levels of feedback seeking in the face of the unfavorable feedback environments associated with arrogant leaders.

Implications

Given these findings, leader arrogance should be of great concern to organizations, as subordinates exposed to arrogant leaders are likely to experience adverse outcomes. Supplementing perceptions of organizational support may help alleviate some of these effects. Additionally, subordinates with favorable feedback orientations may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of leader arrogance on outcomes of feedback seeking and morale.

Originality/Value

This study is the first to demonstrate the interpersonal implications of leader arrogance for subordinates, as well as explore mediators that play a role in these relationships.

     

Good Soldier or Good Actor? Supervisor Accuracy in Distinguishing Between Selfless and Self-Serving OCB Motives

Purpose

In line with findings that organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) may be driven by selfless and self-serving motives, we sought to determine supervisor effectiveness in distinguishing good soldiers from good actors.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Employing a sample of 197 supervisor-subordinate dyads, we collected self- and supervisor-reports of employees’ citizenship motives. Dominance analysis was used to determine supervisory accuracy in identifying and distinguishing among subordinates’ motives.

Findings

We found that the relationships between self- and supervisor-reports of corresponding motives were strongest, supporting our hypotheses that supervisors are able to accurately identify their subordinates’ OCB motives and that they are not fooled by good actors.

Implications

Our results address concerns raised in previous research that inaccuracy in supervisor attributions of motives might lead to unfair reward or punishment of their subordinates. In demonstrating their accuracy in identifying their subordinates’ motives, an important implication of our work is that supervisors’ preferences for selfless motives may relate to actual differences in their employees’ contribution to the organization.

Originality/Value

Our study contributes to existing research to more conclusively address the question of supervisors’ bias in their preference for selfless motives. Our results also underscore the importance of accounting for employee motives in research exploring the outcomes of OCBs.

     

Personality Homogeneity in Organizations and Occupations: Considering Similarity Sources

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate organizational and occupational homogeneity, compare homogeneity at different levels of composition, and uncover a mechanism for homogeneity.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained from an archival data base of current employees (N = 23,933) in 40 organizations, 19 major job groupings, 42 minor job groupings, and 115 detailed job titles.

Findings

Support for homogeneity within organizations and occupations was found, regardless of the granularity with which occupation were defined. Homogeneity estimates were smaller than prior estimates in the literature based on smaller, less diverse samples. Occupational homogeneity was significantly greater than homogeneity at the organizational level for neuroticism and extraversion. As a potential mechanism, we demonstrated that occupational interest could predict personality at the occupational level.

Implications

Investigating homogeneity effects with a large, representative sample and simultaneously considering occupation and organization helps to advance our theoretical understanding of the Attraction–Selection–Attrition process. This study provides evidence of relative homogeneity effects and mechanisms. Such knowledge could help inform the selection, training, and socialization tactics employed by practitioners.

Originality/Value

Little is currently known about how within-occupation homogeneity in personality relates to within-organization homogeneity, or the influence of vocational interests on such homogeneity. We provide a methodological update to decompose and compare organizational and occupational influence on personality homogeneity. We also assess homogeneity at three levels of occupational granularity, and delineate a mechanism for personality to become homogeneous at the occupation level.

     

The Associations between Ethical Organizational Culture,Burnout, and Engagement: A Multilevel Study

Purpose

Ethical culture is a specific form of organizational culture (including values and systems that can promote ethical behavior), and as such a socially constructed phenomenon. However, no previous studies have investigated the degree to which employees’ perceptions of their organization’s ethical culture are shared within work units (departments), which was the first aim of this study. In addition, we studied the associations between ethical culture and occupational well-being (i.e., burnout and work engagement) at both the individual and work-unit levels.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The questionnaire data were gathered from 2,146 respondents with various occupations in 245 different work units in one public sector organization. Ethical organizational culture was measured with the corporate ethical virtues scale, including eight sub-dimensions.

Findings

Multilevel structural equation modeling showed that 12–27 % of the total variance regarding the dimensions of ethical culture was explained by departmental homogeneity (shared experiences). At both the within and between levels, higher perceptions of ethical culture associated with lower burnout and higher work engagement.

Implications

The results suggest that organizations should support ethical practices at the work-unit level, to enhance work engagement, and should also pay special attention to work units with a low ethical culture because these work environments can expose employees to burnout.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to find evidence of an association between shared experiences of ethical culture and collective feelings of both burnout and work engagement.

     

A Socioecological Approach to Relational Demography: How Relative Representation and Respectful Coworkers Affect Job Attitudes

Purpose

This paper advances a socioecological perspective toward understanding the relationship between demography and job attitudes by considering the joint effects of individual ethnicity and ethnic group relative representation—the degree to which an individual’s own demographic group is represented similarly in their organization and the community in which the organization is located.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Hierarchical polynomial regression analyses of census and survey data from 57,000 employees of 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that ethnic group relative representation is related to ethnic minority employees’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Findings

An asymmetric pattern emerged wherein the effect of under-representation on turnover intentions was stronger than the effect of over-representation. Moreover, the effects of relative representation varied with respectful treatment by coworkers; relative representation had little effect on attitudes of employees who reported low levels of coworker respect but generally enhanced attitudes when respect was high.

Originality/Value

This work points to the meaningful role that socioecological factors can play in what are typically considered to be intraorganizational phenomena, thereby highlighting the need for organizational research to assess relevant aspects of the communities in which organizations are embedded.

     

Differences in the Valuing of Power Among Team Members: a Contingency Approach Toward Examining the Effects of Power Values Diversity and Relationship Conflict

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conditional effects of power values diversity and relationship conflict.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We utilized a time-lagged survey design and multilevel modeling to investigate 60 teams working on a project task over the course of 4 months.

Findings

When participative safety climate was high, the presence of high power values diversity was particularly helpful for reducing relationship conflict. In turn, decreased relationship conflict tended to increase team performance. Additionally, when workload sharing was low, high relationship conflict was especially harmful to team performance.

Implications

Results support the consideration of team participative safety climate to better understand the conditions under which power values diversity is likely to lessen relationship conflict and subsequently increase team performance. Findings also highlight the importance of avoiding low workload sharing, in the presence of prominent relationship conflict, to increase team performance.

Originality/Value

By examining relationship conflict as a mediator and participative safety climate as a moderator of power values diversity’s effects, we make a novel contribution to extant literature by helping to elucidate both how and under what conditions differences in power values, among team members, can influence team performance. Relatedly, we answer the call for more research that adopts a contingency approach toward examining the effects of values diversity and relationship conflict. In doing so, we help to identify the conditions under which power values diversity and relationship conflict are likely to differentially influence important team outcomes.

     

How Abusive Supervision Affects Workplace Deviance: A Moderated-Mediation Examination of Aggressiveness and Work-Related Negative Affect

Purpose

This research examines the linking mechanisms and conditional processes underlying the abusive supervision and workplace deviance relationship. Based primarily on Affective Events Theory, it was hypothesized that work-related negative affect would mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and workplace deviance, and that this indirect effect would be moderated by employee-based and organization-based aggressiveness.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Two independent studies were conducted, including diverse working samples and multi-wave data, to test these relationships through mediation and moderated-mediation bootstrapping procedures.

Findings

Both studies suggest that work-related negative affect mediates the abusive supervision and workplace deviance relationship. Mixed findings were found for the moderating effect of employee-based and organization-based aggressiveness. In Study 1 higher levels of employee-based aggressive beliefs and attitudes increased the magnitude of the indirect effect; however, in Study 2 when taking into account organization-based aggressive norms only the facet of social discounting bias increased this relationship. In Study 2 higher levels of organization-based aggressive norms also increased the magnitude of the indirect effect for supervisor-directed deviance.

Implications

Theoretical and practical implications of these findings suggest a movement toward an emotion-centered process-based theory of workplace deviance.

Originality/Value

A central question in organizational behavior research revolves around what drives employees to engage in various workplace behaviors. Replicating research that suggests abusive supervision is an important factor in this question, this research helps illuminate the processes underlying this perception-to-behavior link, as well as the boundary conditions of these processes.

     

Situational Perspective Taking as an Intervention for Improving Attitudes Toward Organizations that Invest in Diversity Management Programs

Purpose

In order for diversity management programs to serve as competitive resources, organizations must attract employees who will fit in and support an organization’s diversity management programs. Two experiments examined situational perspective taking, in which one imagines being the target of workplace discrimination, as an intervention to increase positive attitudes toward organizations that invest in diversity management programs. Participant gender and ethnic identity were examined as moderators.

Design/Methodology/Approach

In two experiments, managers (study 1) and active job seekers (study 2) were instructed to imagine and write down how they would feel if they were the targets of workplace discrimination and read recruitment materials of an organization and its investment in diversity management programs.

Findings

Both studies showed that engaging in a situational perspective taking about being the target of workplace discrimination led to more P-O fit and organizational attraction toward an organization that has diversity management programs. The effect of situational perspective taking had a greater impact on White men than on women and ethnic minority participants.

Implications

These results suggest that the design of organizational recruitment activities should highlight their support of diversity management programs and emphasize that all member benefit from diversity management programs. Originality/value—despite theoretical work that suggests that organizational attitudes are an important factor for the effectiveness of diversity management programs, this is the first known research that shows that perspective taking can help people see the value in diversity management.

     

Linking Workplace Aggression to Employee Well-Being and Work: The Moderating Role of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB)

Purpose

The present study examined the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression (i.e., patient-initiated physical aggression and coworker-initiated psychological aggression) and employee well-being and work outcomes.

Methodology

Data were obtained from a field sample of 417 healthcare workers in two psychiatric hospitals. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression analyses.

Findings

Psychiatric care providers’ perceptions of FSSB moderated the relationship between patient-initiated physical aggression and physical symptoms, exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker-initiated psychological aggression and physical symptoms and turnover intentions.

Implications

Based on our findings, family-supportive supervision is a plausible boundary condition for the relationship between workplace aggression and well-being and work outcomes. This study suggests that, in addition to directly addressing aggression prevention and reduction, family-supportive supervision is a trainable resource that healthcare organizations should facilitate to improve employee work and well-being in settings with high workplace aggression.

Originality

This is the first study to examine the role of FSSB in influencing the relationship between two forms of workplace aggression: patient-initiated physical and coworker-initiated psychological aggression and employee outcomes.

     

How Today’s Shocks Predict Tomorrow’s Leaving

Purpose

This research explores “shocking events” as part of the unfolding model of turnover, extending our understanding of the influence of various types of shocks on future voluntary employee separations.

Design/Methodology/Approach

1536 new hires at a large financial institution reported shocks monthly during their first 8 months at work as well as their job satisfaction and perceptions of marketability. We used event history to estimate the basic distributional properties of the shocks and Cox proportional hazards models to examine the effects of shocks on job satisfaction and turnover over the subsequent year as reported by the organization.

Findings

Organizational shocks generally occur earlier than personal shocks. Further, unexpected shocks have a stronger impact than expected shocks on subsequent turnover. Finally, the effects of organizational shocks on turnover are mediated by job satisfaction, whereas personal shocks have direct effects on turnover.

Implications

Our findings offer evidence for the utility of the shock construct in the unfolding model of turnover and speak to the importance of encouraging managers to monitor shocks on an ongoing basis in order to predict when different types of shocks will occur and their likely influence on turnover.

Originality/Value

Ours is the first study to examine shocks as they occur. This is a contrast to prior studies that relied on retrospective accounts. Thus, we are able to test new hypotheses (e.g., direct effects vs. mediation) that expand the unfolding model of turnover.