A Cross-sectional Study on The Relationship between Core Self-Evaluations and Political Skills of Employees

Abstract

Purpose – Since political skills are a phenomenon that can explain and predict various attitudes and behaviors of employees, there is a need to investigate the factors that can affect employees' political skill levels. From this point of view, in this study, it was investigated whether there was a relationship between the core self-evaluations of the employees and their political skills. Design/method/approach – Political skills were included as the dependent variable, and core self-evaluations were included as the independent variable in the theoretical model. For purpose of the research, a cross-sectional survey has been conducted on the employees of 27 companies operating in various industries in Istanbul. The sample consisted of 414 participants working in these companies. The data were collected through a questionnaire technique and analyzed through a partial least square structural equation modeling technique. Findings – According to the findings, the core self-evaluations of participants positively and significantly predicted their networking ability, interpersonal influence, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity that constitute their political skills. Discussion – It is believed that the findings are worthwhile in terms of theory since they have brought a new perspective to the literature on political skills and core self-evaluations. They are also useful in terms of practice, as they contributed to making inferences about increasing individual and organizational performance.