Journal of Strategic Management Studies

Journal of Strategic Management Studies

The Impact of Employees’ Perceived Organizational Politics on Individual and Organizational Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Hostility

Document Type : Research

Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Management, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran
3 a graduate with a Master's degree in Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
4 PhD in Public Administration, Researcher and Lecturer
10.22034/smsj.2025.521446.2147
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of employees’ perception of organizational politics on the emergence of interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors, with hostility acting as a mediating variable. Based on this objective, relevant hypotheses were proposed and a conceptual model was developed, wherein perception of organizational politics was considered the independent variable, employees’ interpersonal and organizational counterproductive behaviors were the dependent variables, and employee hostility served as the mediating variable. The statistical population of this research comprised all employees of the East Azerbaijan Building Engineering Organization. Using Cochran’s formula, a sample of 134 individuals was selected. To measure the research variables, the questionnaire developed by Meisler et al. (2019) was employed. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and path analysis. The results indicated that perception of organizational politics had a positive and significant effect on hostility as well as on interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors. Moreover, hostility had a positive and significant effect on both types of counterproductive behaviors. The mediating role of employee hostility in the relationship between perception of organizational politics and counterproductive work behaviors was also confirmed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of employees’ perception of organizational politics on the emergence of interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors, with hostility acting as a mediating variable. Based on this objective, relevant hypotheses were proposed and a conceptual model was developed, wherein perception of organizational politics was considered the independent variable, employees’ interpersonal and organizational counterproductive behaviors were the dependent variables, and employee hostility served as the mediating variable. The statistical population of this research comprised all employees of the East Azerbaijan Building Engineering Organization. Using Cochran’s formula, a sample of 134 individuals was selected. To measure the research variables, the questionnaire developed by Meisler et al. (2019) was employed. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and path analysis. The results indicated that perception of organizational politics had a positive and significant effect on hostility as well as on interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors. Moreover, hostility had a positive and significant effect on both types of counterproductive behaviors. The mediating role of employee hostility in the relationship between perception of organizational politics and counterproductive work behaviors was also confirmed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of employees’ perception of organizational politics on the emergence of interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors, with hostility acting as a mediating variable. Based on this objective, relevant hypotheses were proposed and a conceptual model was developed, wherein perception of organizational politics was considered the independent variable, employees’ interpersonal and organizational counterproductive behaviors were the dependent variables, and employee hostility served as the mediating variable. The statistical population of this research comprised all employees of the East Azerbaijan Building Engineering Organization. Using Cochran’s formula, a sample of 134 individuals was selected. To measure the research variables, the questionnaire developed by Meisler et al. (2019) was employed. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and path analysis. The results indicated that perception of organizational politics had a positive and significant effect on hostility as well as on interpersonal and organizational counterproductive work behaviors. Moreover, hostility had a positive and significant effect on both types of counterproductive behaviors. The mediating role of employee hostility in the relationship between perception of organizational politics and counterproductive work behaviors was also confirmed.
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  • Receive Date 05 May 2025
  • Revise Date 17 July 2025
  • Accept Date 16 November 2025