It's all in interpersonal interactions: Empowerment, organizational cynicism and perception of organizational politics

Abstract

Organizational cynicism has been found to an impediment in making successful change efforts in the organization. Perception of organizational politics (POPS) has been posited to be linked to cynicism but empirical proof is limited. This paper conceptualizes and tests a path model to counter cynicism. Empowerment is hypothesized to reduce cynicism which in turn would influence POPS. These would together result in higher satisfaction with work and manager. Interpersonal interactions moderated the relationship between cynicism and POPS. Structural equation modeling was used to test data collected from 340 participants in IT Service industry. Design involved control for various conditions. Implications for theory and practice improvements have emerged.