Prelims

Half Title Page

POWER, POLITICS, AND POLITICAL SKILL IN JOB STRESS

Series Page

RESEARCH IN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND WELL BEING

Series Editors: Pamela L. Perrewé and Christopher C. Rosen

Recent Volumes:

Title Page

RESEARCH IN OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND WELL BEING VOLUME 15

POWER, POLITICS, AND POLITICAL SKILL IN JOB STRESS

EDITED BY

CHRISTOPHER C. ROSEN

University of Arkansas, USA

PAMELA L. PERREWÉ

Florida State University, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2017

Copyright © 2017 Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78743-066-2 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78743-065-5 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78743-236-9 (Epub)

ISSN: 1479-3555 (Series)

List of Contributors

Editorial Advisory Board

• Terry Beehr

  Department of Psychology, University of Central Michigan, USA

• Chu-Hsiang (Daisy) Chang

  Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, USA

• Yitzhak Fried

  Texas Tech – Rawls College of Business, USA

• Dan Ganster

  Department of Management, Colorado State University, USA

• Leslie Hammer

  Department of Psychology, Portland State University, USA

• Russ Johnson

  Department of Management, Michigan State University, USA

• John Kammeyer-Mueller

  University of Minnesota, USA

• E. Kevin Kelloway

  Department of Psychology, Saint Mary’s University, USA

• Jeff LePine

  Department of Management, Arizona State University, USA

• Paul Levy

  Department of Psychology, University of Akron, USA

• John Schaubroeck

  School of Management and Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, USA

• Norbert Semmer

  Department of Psychology, University of Berne, Switzerland

• Sabine Sonnentag

  Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, Germany

• Paul Spector

  Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, USA

• Lois Tetrick

  Department of Psychology, George Mason University, USA

• Mo Wang

  Department of Management, University of Florida, USA

Editors

• Pamela L. Perrewé

  Department of Management, Florida State University, USA

• Christopher C. Rosen

  Department of Management, University of Arkansas, USA

Overview

In our 15th volume of Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, we offer six chapters that examine the role of power, politics, and influence in occupational stress and well-being. The first two chapters take a more balanced perspective than what has been typically presented and discussed in the politics literature by focusing on negative, as well as positive aspects of organizational politics. In our lead chapter, Zinta S. Byrne, Steven G. Manning, James W. Weston, and Wayne A. Hochwarter develop an integrative conceptualization that explains how positive and negative organizational politics are perceived as challenge and hindrance stressors that affect employee outcomes through their influence on the social environment. In the second chapter, Erin M. Landells and Simon L. Albrecht propose a more positive conceptualization of organizational politics and explore potential associations between both positive and negative politics and employee engagement and consider a number of intervening variables (i.e., psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability, and psychological safety) that explain these relations.

The theme of the next section centers around power. In the third chapter, Galit Meisler, Eran Vigoda-Gadot, and Amos Drory consider the negative implications of the use of intimidation and pressure by supervisors, who hold positions of power in their organizations. Their model maintains that these influence tactics create stress in subordinates and are, ultimately, an ineffective means of motivation those in lower power positions. The fourth chapter, by Darren C. Treadway, Emily D. Campion, and Lisa V. Williams, views the phenomenon of power from “the other end of the telescope” by focusing on the concept of objective and/or subjective powerlessness. More specifically, the authors present a multi-level model that offers an accessible way to understand how perceptions of powerless come to be and how those perceptions impact psychological, physical, and behavioral responses.

The final section of this volume focuses on novel theoretical extensions to the power and politics literature. The fifth chapter, by Kaitlyn DeGhetto, Zachary A. Russell, and Gerald R. Ferris, considers organizational politics within the context of large-scale organizational change initiatives. More explicitly, this chapter introduces a conceptual model that draws from sensemaking theory and research to explain how employees perceive and interpret their uncertain environments, the politics in them, and the resulting work stress that follows from changes (i.e., Mergers and Acquisitions, CEO Succession, and Corporate Entrepreneurship) adopted to improve the firm’s strategy and increase financial performance. In the sixth chapter, Paul E. Spector discusses how the control and strategic management of resources plays a role in the occupational stress process. This chapter presents a number of novel ideas that are centered around the idea that control of external and internal resources, and not resource acquisition or maintenance, is a vital element that contributes to how employees respond to workplace to demands.

Together, these chapters offer an insight into the role of power, politics, and influence in occupational stress research. These chapters challenge our traditional thinking and offer several exciting and novel directions for future research. We hope you enjoy volume 15 of Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being.

Pamela L. Perrewé

Christopher C. Rosen

Editors