Perceptions of organizational politics: A restricted nonlinearity perspective of its effects on job satisfaction and performance

Abstract This study examined a restricted nonlinearity perspective of the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and work outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction and job performance), dependent upon the level of employee loyalty. Consistent with prior work, we conceptualized POPs as a demand that can have positive effects on job satisfaction and performance, up to certain levels, before negative effects are observed as levels of POPs continue to increase to more extreme levels. Drawing upon the transactional theory of stress, we then argued that this relationship would hold for more loyal employees. However, we hypothesized that these relationships would take a more linear and negative form for less loyal employees. Data analyses of a sample of 177 financial services employees offered mixed support for our hypotheses, replicating prior work that showed a nonlinear, inverse‐U‐shaped relationship between POPs and job satisfaction, and demonstrating an inverted U‐shaped relationship between POPs and both satisfaction and performance for more loyal employees, but not for less loyal employees. We discuss contributions to theory and research, limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications.