The interaction of social skill and organizational support on job performance

The present study examined the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship between social skill and supervisor-rated job performance. On the basis of regulatory and activation models of behavior, the authors argue that low-POS environments activate social skill because they reflect situations in which interpersonal acuity is required to demonstrate effective job performance. Accordingly, the authors hypothesize that social skill is more strongly related to performance among workers reporting low rather than high levels of organizational support. Results of hierarchical moderated multiple regression analyses on data gathered from 2 samples support the hypothesis. These results suggest that the relevance of social skill to job performance may be dependent on contextual cues. Implications for substantive research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are offered.     

Who Abuses Their Coworkers? An Examination of Personality and Situational Variables

ABSTRACT

This study examines predictors of abusive employee behavior toward coworkers. We examined two personality variables, negative affectivity and political skill, and two situational relationship variables—team member exchange and coworker relationship conflict. We tested our hypotheses with data obtained from a sample of 232 working employees. We found that political skill and team member exchange were negatively related to coworker abuse, whereas negative affectivity and relationship conflict were positively related. Additionally, we found statistical support for the negative affectivity-relationship conflict, political skill-team member exchange, and political skill-relationship conflict interactions. Practical implications and directions for future research are provided.     

Employee–supervisor political skill congruence and work outcomes: The mediating role of leader–member exchange quality

This study aims to investigate the effect of employee–supervisor political skill congruence on the quality of leader–member exchange (LMX), which in turn influences employees' job satisfaction and turnover intention. For this purpose, two survey studies were conducted. The first study examined the relationship between employee–supervisor political skill congruence and LMX using multi-source data collected from 287 employee–supervisor dyads. The second study examined the indirect effect of congruence in political skill on work outcomes through LMX by using time-lagged multi-source data collected from 142 employee–supervisor dyads. The findings indicate that compared with incongruence, congruence in political skill is associated with higher employee-rated LMX. Moreover, among dyads with congruent political skills, congruence at high levels of political skill is associated with higher employee-rated LMX compared with congruence at low levels of political skill. Moreover, in case of incongruency, low employee–high supervisor political skill combination was related to higher supervisor-rated LMX compared with high employee–low supervisor political skill combination. Lastly, employee–supervisor political skill congruency indirectly influences job satisfaction and turnover intention through employee-rated LMX. This research significantly contributes to the political skill literature by examining potential consequences of employee–supervisor congruence in political skill in the workplace.     

Coping with Abusive Supervision: the Neutralizing Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Political Skill on Employees’ Burnout

While research into the antecedents of burnout has steadily grown, the relationship between abusive supervision and burnout remains largely unknown. In addition, we know little about the contingencies under which abusive supervision may be related to employees’ burnout. This study aims to examine the contingency side of the abusive supervision-burnout relationship by addressing the exploratory question of whether perceived organizational support and individual differences in political skill play moderating roles in the abusive supervision-burnout relationship. The present article developed a model and tested it with data from a sample of 248 supervisor–subordinate dyads. We hypothesized and found that (1) Abusive supervision was positively associated with burnout; (2) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ perceived organizational support in such a way that the relationship was weaker for employees who perceive higher rather than lower organizational support; (3) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ political skill in such a way that the relationship was weaker for people with high, rather than lower level of political skill.     

An examination of when and how leader political skill influences team performance in China: A cultural value perspective

This study examined the relationship between leader political skill and team performance, as well as the mediating (team cohesion) and moderating (power distance) variables of the relationship. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees in a food service company. Analyses of multisource and lagged data from 59 teams and 276 members indicated that leader political skill was positively related to team performance via team cohesion. Further, both the relationship between leader political skill and team cohesion and the indirect relationship between leader political skill and team performance were stronger when teams exhibited lower power distance.     

Connect within to connect outside: effect of salespeople's political skill on relationship performance

Scholars have recently explored the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational relationships on salespeople's job-related outcomes. Grounded in social influence theory, we explore the effects of salespeople's intraorganizational skills on salesperson relationship performance. We empirically tested the proposed relationships using the data from a non-Western sales force working with an organization in an emerging economy. The results indicate that salespeople's political skill positively contributes to salespeople's identification with the organization and to creative performance, while strikingly, we also find that salesperson task adaptivity weakens these effects. Moreover, salespeople's identification and creative performance are positively related to customer satisfaction. These findings demonstrate that salespeople's intraorganizational relationships play a key role in enhancing customer satisfaction. In light of these results, we explore implications for marketers and academics and conclude by suggesting directions for further research.     

Dispositional antecedents and outcomes of political skill in organizations: A four-study investigation with convergence

We developed a four-study research plan to examine the dispositional antecedents of political skill and its job performance consequences, and also to incorporate the mediating role of reputation, drawing upon a recent theoretical model of political skill in organizations. Study 1 established the psychometric properties of the two reputation scales used in the present research, and also demonstrated the validity of the self-report reputation measure in Study 4. Study 2 tested, and demonstrated support for, the ‘Affability’ dispositional theme as a predictor of political skill, and political skill as predictor of job performance. In Study 3, the political skill-job performance linkage was replicated, but when reputation was investigated as an intermediate linkage, it was found to fully mediate the relationship between political skill and job performance. Study 4 investigated all the linkages examined in Studies 2 and 3, and found that the ‘Active Influence’ dispositional theme predicted political skill, and that the political skill-job performance relationship was fully mediated by reputation. Collectively, these studies demonstrated support for recent theoretical developments in political skill and reputation, suggesting that political skill has dispositional antecedents, and that political skill demonstrates a significant impact on job performance, through reputation. The strengths and limitations of this research are discussed, and directions for future research are provided.     

Employees' Political Skill and Job Performance: An Inverted U‐Shaped Relation?

During the past decade, the construct of political skill has attracted a lot of attention. In particular, its relation to job performance has been examined. With regard to this link, it is typically proposed that political skill affects job performance in a positive linear manner. However, in this article it is suggested that intermediate levels of employees' political skill yield the highest job performance, implying that this association is in fact represented by an inverted U‐shape. Findings from two field studies (N₁ = 178, N₂ = 115 employee‐supervisor‐colleague triads) that incorporated different sample characteristics (early career employees, established employees), job performance dimensions (overall, task, contextual, and adaptive performance), and rating sources (supervisors and colleagues) supported this idea. Across different analyses, employees with intermediate levels of political skill received higher job performance ratings compared to those with lower and higher levels, respectively. In addition, the nature of the relationships between employees and their raters was found to moderate this curvilinear effect. Specifically, besides the fact that employees who had close working relationships with their raters generally received higher job performance ratings, the decreases in the job performance ratings of employees high in political skill were less pronounced when they had close relationships.     

Leading future orientations for current effectiveness: The role of engagement and supervisor coaching in linking future work self salience to job performance

Recent research suggests that the salience of a future work self has a considerable impact on future-oriented activities such as skill development, career planning, career networking, and job searching. However, little is known as to whether, how, and under what conditions a more salient future work self may influence concomitant work outcomes such as job performance. Drawing on self-regulation theory, we argue that future work self salience (FWSS) affects job performance via its influence on engagement, with this influence amplified as a function of supervisor coaching. Using multi-source and lagged data collected from employees (N = 441), their direct supervisors (N = 98), and archival records in an insurance company, we found that engagement mediated the relationships between FWSS and both supervisor-rated and archival sales performance. Furthermore, the relationships FWSS has with employee engagement and sales performance, as well as the indirect effects of FWSS on two performance indicators, were stronger for employees exposed to higher levels of supervisor coaching.     

Extending the metatheoretical framework of social/political influence to leadership: Political skill effects on situational appraisals,responses, and evaluations by others

Building off and extending the metatheoretical framework of political skill, we examined the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms through which the intrapsychic effects of political skill inform its interpersonal effects, and how these interpersonal effects ultimately are transmitted into desirable outcomes. Specifically, we argue that politically skilled leaders demonstrate better situational appraisals (i.e., understanding), and thus, more appropriate situational responses (e.g., consideration and initiating structure behaviors); the demonstration of appropriate situational responses is argued to positively affect subordinates’ evaluations of their leaders (i.e., instrumentality) and subordinates’ concomitant attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction) and behaviors (e.g., performance). Results provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, leader understanding mediated the relationship between political skill and consideration but not the relationship between political skill and structuring behaviors. Moreover, consideration was positively related to subordinates’ group-level instrumentality perceptions, whereas initiating structure was not. Finally, subordinates’ individual (within-level) perceptions of leader instrumentality were positively related to job satisfaction and performance. The implications of these findings as they relate to theory and practice are discussed along with this investigation's strengths, limitations, and directions for future research.     

Politics perceptions as moderator of the political skill – job performance relationship: A two-study, cross-national, constructive replication

We developed a two-study, cross-national, constructive replication to examine the role of organizational politics perceptions as a contextual moderator of the political skill – job performance relationship. Specifically, we hypothesized that high levels of political skill would demonstrate its strongest positive effects on job performance when politics perceptions were perceived as low. Conversely, we hypothesized that political skill would demonstrate no relationship with job performance under conditions of high politics perceptions. Across studies conducted both in the United States and Greece, the hypothesis received strong support. In settings characterized by lower perceived politics, high levels of political skill predicted significant increases in job performance, whereas these effects were attenuated in environments characterized by high perceived politics. Contributions and implications of this research, strengths and limitations, and directions for future study are discussed.     

工作家庭冲突对电讯人员工作倦怠和心理健康的影响

采用工作家庭冲突问卷、工作倦怠问卷（MBI-Gs）和一般健康状况问卷（GHQ-12）调查了某国营电讯公司526名员工。中介回归分析（Mediating Regressin Analysis）的结果显示,工作家庭冲突及其两个子成分（工作浸扰家庭和家庭浸扰工作）都对心理健康具有显著的负向影响;工作倦怠对工作家庭冲突影响心理健康具有完全中介作用;具体而言,工作浸扰家庭对心理健康的影响受情绪衰竭和玩世不恭的完全中介;家庭浸扰工作对心理健康的影响受工作倦怠所有三个子成分的完全中介。     

Personality, political skill, and job performance

Based on the socioanalytic perspective of performance prediction [Hogan, R. (1991). Personality and personality assessment. In M. D. Dunnette, L. Hough, (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 873–919). Chicago: Rand McNally; Hogan, R., & Shelton, D. (1998). A socioanalytic perspective on job performance. Human Performance, 11, 129–144.], the present study tests whether motives to get along and to get ahead produce greater performance when interactively combined with social effectiveness. Specifically, we investigated whether interactions of the Five-Factor Model constructs of agreeableness and conscientiousness with political skill predict job performance. Our results supported our hypothesis for the agreeableness-political skill interaction. Additionally, after correcting for the unreliability and restricted range of conscientiousness, we found that its interaction with political skill also significantly predicted job performance, although not precisely as hypothesized. Implications of the results and directions for future research are provided.     

Nonlinearity in the relationship between political skill and work outcomes: Convergent evidence from three studies

The current investigation examined the form and magnitude of the relationship between political skill and two intrapersonal worker reactions—job satisfaction and job tension. Political skill was hypothesized to demonstrate an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship with job satisfaction and a U-shaped relationship with job tension. Data from three separate studies supported the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, moderate levels of political skill were associated with higher levels of job satisfaction (Studies 1-3) and lower levels of job tension (Studies 1 and 2). Conversely, in comparison to more moderate levels, higher and lower levels of political skill were adversely related to these outcomes. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

The impact of political skill on career success of employees' representatives

Works councillors are elected representatives of employees in German companies. It is their job to protect and bargain the interests of the employees with the company. We investigated the impact of 558 works councillors' individual political skill on their career success, where career ascendancy is based on success in upward elections and not on appointments by supervisors. The participants were from core German industries mostly working in large companies. We found that the stronger works councillors' political skill the more successful they were in their career still after controlling for sex, age, and union membership. Implications and limitations of the study and consequences for future research are discussed.     

The impact of political skill on career success of employees' representatives

Works councillors are elected representatives of employees in German companies. It is their job to protect and bargain the interests of the employees with the company. We investigated the impact of 558 works councillors' individual political skill on their career success, where career ascendancy is based on success in upward elections and not on appointments by supervisors. The participants were from core German industries mostly working in large companies. We found that the stronger works councillors' political skill the more successful they were in their career still after controlling for sex, age, and union membership. Implications and limitations of the study and consequences for future research are discussed.     

压力情境认知评价与工作倦怠的关系

为探讨压力情境认知评价与工作倦怠的关系,选取北京、河南两家公司的303名员工进行了调查。分层结果分析发现,在控制了人口统计学因素之后,挑战评价对玩世不恭存在显著正向预测作用,控制评价对情绪衰竭、玩世不恭和成就感低落存在显著负向预测作用;进一步分析发现,控制评价在情绪中心应对和情绪衰竭、问题中心应对与成就感低落之间按的关系上具有调节作用。结果表明,压力情境认知评价是影响员工工作倦怠的重要因素。     

Job skill discretion and emotion control strategies as antecedents of recovery from work

Recovery from work protects employees’ health and well-being, and therefore it is important to understand its antecedents. The aim of this study conducted among 183 middle-aged participants drawn from the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development was to examine whether job skill discretion and emotion control strategies (emotional rumination and emotional inhibition) are related to psychological aspects of recovery from work (subjective recovery evaluation, psychological detachment and relaxation). The results of hierarchical general linear models confirmed the hypothesis that job skill discretion is positively associated with subjective recovery evaluation and relaxation. As expected, high emotional rumination predicted difficulties in psychological detachment and relaxation. Emotional inhibition moderated the relationship between job skill discretion and psychological detachment: where emotional inhibition was at a moderate level, job skill discretion was positively related to psychological detachment. The findings suggest that not only job characteristics but also individual factors contribute to recovery, revealing practical implications for employees, employers and occupational health care professionals seeking to promote employees’ work ability, health and well-being.     

Personality as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Role Conflict,Role Ambiguity,and Burnout

We propose that role conflict and role ambiguity act as stressors to increase burnout. Personality, however, serves as a resource that moderates the negative effects of role conflict and role ambiguity on burnout. To test these hypotheses, we used a sample of 263 faculty members at a large state university. Stepwise regression shows that role conflict increased emotional exhaustion, while extraversion and emotional stability reduced emotional exhaustion. Role conflict increased depersonalization, while agreeableness decreased depersonalization. Role ambiguity reduced personal accomplishments, while agreeableness and emotional stability increased personal accomplishments. Role conflict combined with extraversion, and role ambiguity combined with conscientiousness to increase personal accomplishments. Our results highlight the complexity of burnout in the workplace.