Interactive Effects of Impression Management and Organizational Politics on Job Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the interactive effect of organizational politics and impression management on supervisor ratings of employee performance. We hypothesized that the negative relationship between organizational politics and supervisor-rated performance is weaker among employees who are high in impression management than among those low in impression management. Data were collected from a matched sample of 112 white-collar employees and their supervisors. Results indicated that the interaction of organizational politics and impression management explained a significant incremental amount of variance in supervisor ratings of employee performance. These findings demonstrated that the extent to which an individual engaged in impression management in a non-political atmosphere may have been a key component to receiving favorable performance ratings.