Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale

Abstract

The Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS) is a widely utilized instrument developed by Kacmar and Ferris (1991) designed to quantify employee perceptions regarding the extent of organizational politics within their workplace setting. This 12-item measure assesses subjective beliefs about political dynamics, including the overall political climate of the organization, the actions and behaviors of supervisors, and interactions among co-workers. The scale is structured to capture three specific dimensions of perceived politics: general political behavior, political behavior aimed at personal advancement (to “get ahead”), and the perceived ambiguity or political influence concerning pay and promotion policies and rules.

Keywords

Organizational politics, POPS, Organizational behavior, Employee perceptions, Job satisfaction, Turnover intentions, Workplace climate, Kacmar and Ferris.

Authors

K. Michele Kacmar, Gerald R. Ferris

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS) is to provide a standardized, psychometrically sound measure for researchers and practitioners to evaluate how employees subjectively experience the political environment of their workplace. By quantifying these perceptions, the scale helps identify organizational contexts where perceived politics might be influencing employee attitudes and behaviors.

Specifically, the POPS aims to capture the perceived use of self-serving behaviors and influence tactics that are not officially sanctioned by the organization, often leading to negative outcomes such as reduced trust and increased stress. Understanding these perceptions is crucial for diagnosing organizational health and implementing targeted interventions aimed at improving employee well-being and productivity, thereby mitigating factors contributing to negative outcomes like turnover intentions.

Construct

The POPS measures the psychological construct of Perceived Organizational Politics (POP). This construct refers to an individual employee’s subjective interpretation of the extent to which self-serving behaviors—not officially approved or mandated—are prevalent and influential in the decision-making processes, reward allocations, and general organizational climate.

The scale is multidimensional, conceptualizing POP across three distinct but related sub-dimensions:

• General Political Behavior: Reflects broad beliefs about the organization’s climate, such as the existence of influential groups or the use of destructive tactics (e.g., tearing others down).
• Political Behavior to “Get Ahead”: Focuses on the belief that personal advancement (e.g., promotions, rewards) is achieved through political maneuvering or favoritism rather than merit or hard work.
• Ambiguity in Pay and Promotion Policies: Measures the perception that organizational policies regarding compensation and career advancement are unclear, inconsistently applied, or highly subject to political influence.

Validity

The POPS has demonstrated robust construct validity through its established relationships with critical organizational outcomes. Studies consistently show that high levels of perceived organizational politics are associated with detrimental employee attitudes and behaviors.

Specifically, perceived organizational politics correlated negatively with several positive organizational constructs, including perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, and job involvement. Conversely, perceived organizational politics correlated positively with indicators of withdrawal and negative behavioral intentions, most notably turnover intentions (Cropanzano et al., 1997; Kacmar, 1999; Kacmar & Ferris, 1991). This pattern of correlations supports the theoretical understanding that organizational politics acts as a significant workplace stressor that diminishes employee commitment and increases the desire to leave the organization.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale has been consistently supported across multiple studies using different samples. The reliability is typically assessed using Coefficient alpha (Cronbach’s alpha), which measures how closely related a set of items are as a group.

Reported Coefficient alpha values for the POPS have ranged from .87 to .91 (Cropanzano et al., 1997; Kacmar, 1999; Kacmar & Ferris, 1991). These values are well above the generally accepted threshold of .70 for established psychological scales, indicating excellent internal reliability and suggesting that the items reliably measure the underlying construct of perceived organizational politics across diverse organizational settings.

Factor Analysis

Kacmar and Ferris (1991) conducted a factor analysis during the scale’s development to confirm its structural integrity and distinctiveness from existing measures. They factor analyzed the POPS items alongside the items of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), a well-known measure of job satisfaction.

The results of the factor analysis demonstrated strong evidence for discriminant validity: the organizational politics items loaded onto a single, distinct factor that was entirely separate from the factors associated with the JDI items. This finding confirms that the POPS is measuring a construct—perceived organizational politics—that is empirically separate from, though related to, traditional measures of job attitudes.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report scale, Psychometric instrument

Format: 12 items administered via a 5-point Likert-type scale.

Language Available: English (Original development language).

Population Group: Employees, Workers, Organizational members.

Age Group: Adults (Working population).

Population Details: Applicable across various industries and organizational levels where perceptions of politics are relevant.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement with each statement, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.

Keywords

POPS, Organizational climate, Perception, Organizational support, Reliability, Validity, Employee stress, Work attitudes, Organizational justice.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 1991. The original publication, “Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS): Development and construct validation,” was copyrighted by Sage Publications, Inc. Items were reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc. Researchers seeking to utilize the POPS in their work should consult Sage Publications or the authors for current permissions and licensing requirements.

Reference’s

• Kacmar, K. M., & Ferris, G. R. (1991). Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale (POPS): Development and construct validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 51, 193-205. Copyright© 1991 by Sage Publications, Inc.
• Cropanzano, R., Howes, J. C., Grandey, A. A., & Toth, P. (1997). The relationship of organizational politics and support to work behaviors, attitudes, and stress. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18(2), 159-180.
• Kacmar, K. M. (1999). Organizational Politics: Perceptions and Outcomes. In J. C. Wofford (Ed.), The Blackwell Handbook of Organizational Behavior. Blackwell Publishing.

Items of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale

Responses are obtained using a 5-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

General political behavior items:

1. One group always gets their way.
2. Influential group no one crosses.
3. Policy changes help only a few
4. Build themselves up by tearing others down
5. Favoritism not merit gets people ahead.
6. Don’t speak up for fear of retaliation.

Get ahead items:

1. Promotions go to top performers (R)
2. Rewards come to hard workers (R)
3. Encouraged to speak out (R)
4. No place for yes men (R)

Pay and promotion policies items:

1. Pay and promotion policies are not politically applied
2. Pay and promotion decisions are consistent with policies

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored.