Organizational climate systems and psychological climate perceptions: A cross-level study of climate-satisfaction relationships

Research has consistently demonstrated that both individual-level climate perceptions and organizational climate are related to job satisfaction; however, little work has investigated their relative importance in a single study. Using a sample of 1,076 employees from 120 branches of a US-based bank, the relative importance of individual- and unit-level climate on individual satisfaction was examined. Cross-level results of hierarchical linear models indicated that individuals' perceptions of the climate accounted for a large percentage of variance in individuals' satisfaction. Further, unit-level climate systems accounted for a small but significant portion of individual satisfaction above and beyond individuals' perceptions of the climate. These results suggest that the overall climate in a work unit has some influence on individual attitudes, after accounting for individuals' idiosyncratic perceptions of the climate.