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Article
Political affiliation dissimilarity: Exploring lone affiliate employees' work attitudes and experiences
Stress and Health
  • Alexandra A. Henderson, Zayed University
  • Sophia S. Jeong, Zayed University
ORCID Identifiers

0000-0002-3361-168X

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-9-2021
Abstract

Political affiliation is an important demographic variable that has been relatively neglected in the organizational literature. At present, it is unclear how political dissimilarity between employees and their coworkers affects employees' attitudes and experiences, and whether traditional theories are applicable to this unique form of diversity. Based on time-lagged data from a sample of working Americans (N = 360), we found that lone affiliates (employees who work with coworkers who do not share the same political affiliation) experienced lower levels of positive attitudes than majority affiliates (employees who work with coworkers who do share the same political affiliation). Specifically, in Republican majority organizations, Democrats had lower job satisfaction and affective commitment compared to Republicans. This difference was not found in Democrat majority organizations. Interestingly, these trends were not found for negative experiences, such as incivility from coworkers and depletion. Unaffiliated employees had a unique set of attitudes and experiences in that they suffered the most in organizations with no clear affiliation. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future directions are also discussed.

Publisher
Wiley
Scopus ID
85112623286
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
No
https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3089
Citation Information
Alexandra A. Henderson and Sophia S. Jeong. "Political affiliation dissimilarity: Exploring lone affiliate employees' work attitudes and experiences" Stress and Health (2021) ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/1532-2998" target="_blank">1532-2998</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alexandra-henderson/3/