Upgrading at work: employee disposition and cynicism about organizational changes Risky Fauzan Faculty of Economics and Business, Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, Indonesia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine potential predictors and moderating relationships involving one type of organizational cynicism – cynicism about organizational transformation (CAOC). Design/methodology/approach – A total of 137 subjects participated in this study. The participants had been in their current positions at work for an average of 4.77years and had been with their current organization an average of 7.28years. CAOC was measured using the 12-item scale (a = 0.86) from Wanous et al.’s (2000) study. The response scale had five points ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Findings – CAOC and negative affectivity were positively correlated, thus supporting H1. H2 was not supported, i.e. subjective change was not related to CAOC, and objective change was actually correlated negatively with CAOC. H3 was not supported, i.e. individuals with a higher organizational commitment will not have a less positive relationship between CAOC and organizational transformation (subjective and objective) than individuals with lower organizational commitment. H4 was not supported, i.e. individuals who perceive a higher degree of petty tyranny will not have a stronger relationship between CAOC and organizational transformation (subjective and objective) than individuals who perceive a lower degree of petty tyranny. H5 was not supported, i.e. individuals who perceive a higher degree of perceived organizational support (POS) will not have a weaker relationship between CAOC and organizational transformation (subjective and objective) than individuals who perceive a lower degree of POS. Originality/value – The intent of the present study is to examine potential causes of CAOC and potential moderators of the relationships between those antecedents and CAOC. In particular, two variables are proposed as antecedents (negative affectivity with past organizational transformations) and three as moderators (organizational commitment, petty tyranny by supervisors and POS). Keywords Organizational commitment, Organizational transformation, Negative affectivity, CAOC, Perceived organizational support Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Depictions and descriptions of cynicism seem to be becoming more prevalent in today’s society. Publications like The Cynical Americans (Kanter and Mirvis, 1989), popular books like The Joy of Work (Adams, 1998) and movies like Roger and Me (Moore, 1989) and Office Space (Rotenberg et al., 1999) depict cynicism in society. This cynicism can be found in most facets of life, including occupations and work life. Organizational cynicism is cynicism directed toward organizations and their members. It is defined by Abraham (2000) as “a negative attitude toward one’s employing organization, composed of the belief that the organization lacks integrity” (p. 269). The present study aims to examine potential predictors and moderating relationships involving one type of organizational cynicism – cynicism about organizational transformation (CAOC). Previous research and thinking on organizational cynicism can be divided into two broad categories: cynicism as a personality Upgrading at work 677 Received 13 July 2019 Revised 19 October 2019 Accepted 31 October 2019 International Journal of Organizational Analysis Vol. 28 No. 3, 2020 pp. 677-697 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1934-8835 DOI 10.1108/IJOA-07-2019-1826 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1934-8835.htm