.Inurnal of Management 1995, Vol, 21, No, 5, 891-912 Perceptions of Organizational Poiitics: An Investigation of Antecedents and Consequences Christopher P. Parker Northern Illinois University Robert L. Dipboye ,, Stacy L. Jackson I Rice University Factor analyses of data from art organizational climate survey suggest that organizationalpolitics is an important dimension of peoples' perceptions of the work environment. These data were used to examine antecedents and consequences of politics perceptions using the framework suggested by Ferris. Rtiss and Fandt (1989). Measures of perceived intergroup cooperation, clarity of roles and responsibilities, and fairness of rewards j recognition were most predictive of politics perceptions. Minority status was the only personal characteristic that predicted politics perceptions. When controlling for its antecedents, perceptions of organizational politics were only related to perceived innovation. Analyses using structural equation modeling indicated that the relationships between politics and its antecedents were not influenced by an overall affective response to the work environment. Of the many terms that may be used to describe organizations and the behaviors of the individuals within them, the term "political" may be one of the most descriptive. Indeed, Gandz and Murray (1980) reported that 60% of their survey respondents agreed with the statement that "most casual conversation appears to be about things I would consider as workplace politics" (p. 241). This is not to imply tbat this term is sufficient to describe the work environment, but certainly both the occurrence of political behavior and individuals' perceptions of politics are important to our understanding of organizations. Previous researchers have decried the paucity of attention to organization politics (Gandz & Murray, 1980; Madison, Allen, Porter, Renwick & Mayes, 1980) and suggested frameworks from which to view both the occurrence (Vredenburgh & Maurer, 1984) as well as the perception (Ferris et al., 1989) of organizational politics. In this study we will present data confirming tbat the perception of organization politics is truly a significant dimension of individuals' perception Direct all correspondence lo: Christopher P. Parker, Northern Illinois University, Department of Psychology, Dekalb.lL 60115. Copyright ® 1995 by JAI Press Inc. 0149-2063 891