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How organizational politics and subjective social status moderate job insecurity–silence relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2022

SuJin Son ,
Tae Seok Yang  and
Junsu Park Open the ORCID record for Junsu Park [Opens in a new window]
SuJin Son
Affiliation:
College of Business, Chosun University, 309 Philmun-daero, Dong-gu, Gwangju 61452, South Korea
Tae Seok Yang
Affiliation:
School of Management and Marketing, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA
Junsu Park*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Entrepreneurship and Humanistic Future Studies, SungKyunKwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03063, South Korea
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: jsp2208@skku.edu
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Abstract

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory and self-determination theory, this study examines the subjective social status (SSS) of employees and how it moderates the two-way interaction effect of job insecurity and perceived organizational politics on the types of silence (i.e., acquiescent, and defensive silence [DS]). Using data of about 350 employees in South Korea, it was found that the relationship between job insecurity and employees' acquiescent silence (AS) was stronger for individuals who perceived their organizations as highly political. The results also indicated a three-way interaction between job insecurity, perceived organizational politics, and employees' SSS on employees' AS, such that in a highly political work environment, the relationship between job insecurity and employees' AS was stronger especially for employees with low social status. However, the same pattern did not exist between job insecurity and DS.

Keywords

Job insecurityorganizational silenceperceived organizational politicssubjective social status
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , March 2023 , pp. 266 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management

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