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Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

María Fernanda Wagstaff, Adrienne Collela, María del Carmen Triana, Alexis Nicole Smith and Marla Baskerville Watkins

Drawing from social dominance theories and conceptualizations of paternalism, the purpose of this paper is to define and develop a measure of subordinates’ perceptions of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Drawing from social dominance theories and conceptualizations of paternalism, the purpose of this paper is to define and develop a measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism (SPSP).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assess the validity of the measure using Hinkin’s (1998) scale development steps.

Findings

The authors found evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism drawing from three different samples. Participants in the study were also able to differentiate a low from a high paternalism condition using the measure of paternalism. Finally, as expected, the interaction between a supervisor’s benevolence and control was significantly associated with subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism.

Research limitations/implications

The authors provide evidence for the validity of a measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism while controlling for various status signals represented by demographic variables. Results may have been influenced by common method variance. However, there is no theoretical reason to expect any such interactions. Additionally, as the authors limited the data collection to the USA, the authors caution against generalizing beyond that context.

Practical implications

The authors provide validity and reliability evidence for a unidimensional measure that is short and easy to administer in future research to further examine the consequences of perceptions of supervisor paternalism.

Social implications

Defining and measuring subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism is important to society given the potential adverse consequences of these perceptions. Because paternalistic relationships pervade many supervisor-subordinate interactions, both subordinates and supervisors can become more sensitive to the consequences of such interactions by understanding the conditions under which supervisor paternalism manifests itself.

Originality/value

Conceptually, in this study, the authors build on prior research and define supervisor paternalism from a social dominance perspective. Empirically, the authors contribute a statistically valid and reliable unidimensional measure.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

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Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Marla Baskerville Watkins and Alexis Nicole Smith

– The aim of this paper is to investigate whether or not political skill helps women working in a male-dominated environment to obtain positions with authority.

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether or not political skill helps women working in a male-dominated environment to obtain positions with authority.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were emailed to female lawyers working full-time in a variety of law firms across the USA. Participants were 140 lawyers with an average of ten years of practicing law.

Findings

In support of their hypotheses, the authors found that when working in male-dominated organizations, women with high levels of political skill fared better than women with low levels of political skill in terms of obtaining positions with authority.

Research limitations/implications

Because the research design was cross-sectional, direction of causality cannot be established. Second, common method bias may have affected the observed relationships.

Practical implications

Given that women with political skill may be able to recognize and break down the barriers that are especially present in male-dominated organizations, women and managers alike should consider training to help women understand and enhance their political skill.

Social implications

This research highlights the particular challenge of workplace politics for women and presents political skill as a potential solution.

Originality/value

This research is the first to demonstrate the benefit of having political skill for women working in male-dominated organizations.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

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