Perceived organizational politics and employee voice: the role of affect and supervisor political support

Abstract

Purpose

Adopting an affective events perspective, our study investigates the relationship between perceived organizational politics (POP) and employee voice by exploring the mediating role of affect and the moderating role of supervisor political support.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypothesized model was tested with three-wave data collected from 393 full-time employees.

Findings

Results indicate that POP indirectly impacts employee voice through influencing positive and negative affect, and that supervisor political support moderates these indirect effects by moderating the relationship between POP and affective states.

Research limitations/implications

Survey data can hardly test the causal relationship. Effect of employees' POP could be further examined in the lens subjective positive experiences. Organizational politics might have positive meanings.

Practical implications

Our findings show that POP brings employees negative feelings and reduces their voice behaviors while supervisor political support can mitigate this inhibiting effect. Therefore, managers should learn how to use political behavior more reasonably in highly political work environment.

Originality/value

By highlighting the possibility that employees can be beneficiaries having a vested interest in political environment and investigating the unexplored affective explanatory mechanisms underlying the POP–voice relationship, this study provides new directions for future research on POP and employee voice.