Organizational cynicism: Extending the exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect model of employees' responses to adverse conditions in the workplace

• Published in: Human relations (New York) Vol. 60; no. 5; pp. 683 - 718
• Main Authors: Naus, Fons, van Iterson, Ad, Roe, Robert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.05.2007; Kluwer Academic; Plenum; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Assertiveness; Attitudes; Autonomy; Cynicism; Employee attitude; Employee involvement; Employee management relations; Employees; Employment; Five factor model; Hypotheses; Interpersonal relations; Labor unions; Loyalty; Netherlands; Organizational behavior; Organizational change; Regression analysis; Role conflict; Sociology; Sociology of organizations; Sociology of organizations and enterprises. Bureaucracy and administration; Sociology of work and sociology of organizations; Studies; Success; Work environment; Work place; Workers; Workplaces; Netherlands; cynicism; organizational cynicism; exit; employee cynicism; employee disengagement; loyalty; Organization; Variable; Work Station; Trade union; Interaction; Conflict; Multiple Regression Analysis; Clerical worker; Model; Organizational analysis; Autonomy; Cynicism
• ISSN: 0018-7267; 1741-282X
• DOI: 10.1177/0018726707079198

We propose to extend the Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect (EVLN) model of employees' responses to adverse organizational circumstances with the construct of Organizational Cynicism. Structural equation modeling was used to fit the data provided by 159 office employees of a large Dutch trade union, who were involved in a restructuring program at the time of the research, to the postulated five-factor model. Results indicated that the model showed an acceptable fit, providing suppor t for including organizational cynicism as a distinct response in the model. Multiple regression analysis was used for the differential prediction of the five responses, using two situational variables (role conflict and autonomy), two personality variables (asser tiveness and rigidity), and selected interactions. The best predictions are obtained for exit, cynicism and loyalty. Loyalty is predicted by low role conflict and high autonomy, whereas cynicism and exit are about equally predicted by high role conflict, low autonomy, and low assertiveness.