The relationship between perceptions of politics and depressed mood at work: Unique moderators across three levels

The authors examined the unique moderating potential of need for achievement, perceived organizational support, and faith in management on the relationship between perceptions of politics across 3 hierarchical levels (one's peer level, 1 level up, and at the highest level in the organization) and depressed mood at work. Results from 173 full-time employees, representing a wide range of occupations, supported the hypotheses. Specifically, the authors found that need for achievement interacted with perceived politics at one's peer level, perceived organizational support interacted with perceived politics at 1 level up, and faith in management interacted with politics perceived at the highest levels in the organization to relate to depressed mood at work. Contributions of this study, strengths and limitations, and future research directions are provided.