Types of Cynicism Management Cynicism: Employees become very jaded(yorgun,bıkkın) in their perceptions of the intent of management towards themselves. Arises out of a sense of a violation of an informal "contract" between employee and employer, for instance, when the employee perceives that he or she is being exploited or dealt with unfairly. Change Cynicism: This happens when employees get very jaded and cynical about failed change efforts in the past. They become pessimistic about the success of future change effort and come to believe that the change efforts are not rooted in common sense, logic, nor proper planning, and may be merely "change for the sake of change" Peer Cynicism: This type of cynicism is related to one’s own work team. Employees who are cynical in this way tend to be suspicious of the motives of others in their work team, and are pessimistic about the team’s ability to be successful. Customer/Client Cynicism: Another type of organizational cynicism is a sense of depersonalization and distancing that some employees feel towards the consumers of service. The employees affected by this type of cynicism blame the consumers for their problems, convey derogatory(aşağılayıcı) terms to label clients, and withdraw in order to minimize contact with consumers. Workers in the human services tend to be more subject to this type of cynicism and it is one of the primary symptoms of employee "burnout".

1. Dilek Işılay ÜÇOK

2. 
 Cynicism is on the rise in American business which increasingly
hurts their competitiveness and ability to accommodate today's
needed organizational change.
 Organizational psychologist and consultant, Philip H. Mirvis,
and Professor Donald L. Kanter found, in their national survey of
649 workers, that one bold theme prevailed:
 "self-interest and opportunism mark today's wised-up
employee»»
Cynicism Is On the Rise

3. 
 They classified 43% of these workers as being cynical and
40% of the managers and supervisors as being cynical.
 In a later study they concluded that more workers were
cynical, rising from 43% to 48% .
 They found that 65% of American workers agree that people
will lie if they'll gain from it , 41% of the population doubts
the truth of what management tells them, and 49% say that
management will take advantage of them, given a chance.
Cynicism Is On the Rise

4. 
 Over the past 20 years, confidence in business has fallen
from 70% to 15%, and ratings of management competence
and trust have fallen almost as among workers in the same
period .
 "It has now reached the point where cynicism is chic and
loyalty to the company is for saps and suckers."
Cynicism Is On the Rise

5. 
 The dictionary (Merriam-Webster, 1993, p. 323) defines a
cynic as ;
 " one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly
by self-interest."
 "agree that lying, putting on a false face, and taking
advantage of others are fundamental to human character and
people are just out for themselves and that such cynical
attitudes about life are paralleled in attitudes about work
Definition of Cynic

6. 
 Organizational cynicism is a negative attitude toward one's
employing organization, comprising three dimensions:
 (1) a belief that the organization lacks integrity;
 (2) negative affect toward the organization;
 (3) tendencies to disparaging and critical behaviors toward
the organization that are consistent with these beliefs and
affect.
Organizational Cynicism

7. 
 Organizational cynics believe that;
 The practices of their organizations betray a lack of such
principles as fairness, honesty, and sincerity(samimiyet)
 choices of organizational direction are based on self interest
 people are inconsistent and unreliable in their behavior.
Beliefs(Bilişsel)

8. 
 Cynics
 may feel contempt(hor görme)for and anger toward their
organization.
 may also experience distress, disgust, and even shame when
they think about their organization.
 are associated with a variety of negative emotions.
Affect(Duygusal)

9. 
 Explicit statements about the lack of honesty, sincerity on
the part of the organization.
 use sarcastic humor to express cynical attitudes.
 tend to make pessimistic predictions about the future course
of action in the organization.
 tendencies toward certain types of nonverbal behavior may
be used to convey cynical attitudes. ("knowing" looks and
rolling eyes)
Behavior(Davranışsal)

10. 
 Personality or trait cynicism.
 the employee has an innate(doğuştan) tendency towards
cynicism which reflects a generally negative perception of
human behaviour where there is a mistrust of others.
Types of Organizational Cynicism

11. 
 Management Cynicism:
 Employees become very jaded(yorgun,bıkkın) in their
perceptions of the intent of management towards
themselves.
 Arises out of a sense of a violation of an informal "contract"
between employee and employer, for instance, when the
employee perceives that he or she is being exploited or dealt
with unfairly.
Types of Organizational Cynicism

12. 
 Change Cynicism:
 This happens when employees get very jaded and cynical
about failed change efforts in the past.
 They become pessimistic about the success of future change
effort and come to believe that the change efforts are not
rooted in common sense, logic, nor proper planning, and
may be merely "change for the sake of change"
Types of Organizational Cynicism

13. 
 Peer Cynicism:
 This type of cynicism is related to one’s own work team.
 Employees who are cynical in this way tend to be suspicious
of the motives of others in their work team, and are
pessimistic about the team’s ability to be successful.
Types of Organizational Cynicism

14. 
 Customer/Client Cynicism:
 Another type of organizational cynicism is a sense of
depersonalization and distancing that some employees feel
towards the consumers of service.
 The employees affected by this type of cynicism blame the
consumers for their problems, convey
derogatory(aşağılayıcı) terms to label clients, and withdraw
in order to minimize contact with consumers.
 Workers in the human services tend to be more subject to
this type of cynicism and it is one of the primary symptoms
of employee "burnout".
Types of Organizational Cynicism

15. 
 Expectancy Theory (Beklenti Kuramı)(örgütsel değişim)
 Attribution Theory (Yükleme Kuramı)(nedensel atıflar)
 Attitude Theory (Tutum Kuramı)(bilinç,duygu,davranış)
 Social Exchange Theory (Sosyal Değişim Kuramı)(sosyal
değişim ihlaline verilen tepki)
Theoretical Foundations of the Study
of Organizational Cynicism

16.  Higher income and education levels are associated with a
wider extent of employment choices and freedom, and less
cynicism
 Young, poor, undereducated, minority and blue-collar
workers generally have higher levels of cynicism than older,
less poor, more educated, Caucasian, white-collar workers,
particularly those in the healing and teaching professions
 Men are perceived more frequently as being cynical than
women
 Middle-aged, or boomers, are not as cynical as younger
people
 Profit-making organizations had higher levels of cynicism
The Demographics of Cynicism

17. 
 unmet or broken promises leading to perceptions of
psychological contract breach
 organizational politics in which power play and self-serving
behavior may go at the expense of uprightness
 the feeling of being disregarded by the organization and not
being treated with respect and dignity
 the absence of meaning in work
Antecedents of organizational
cynicism-1

18.  a lack of sincere participation in decision making processes
and the absence of genuine support by management
 the deficient quality of leader-member exchange
 a history of failed change attempts
 managerial incompetence in combination with lofty salaries
 high executive compensation, restructurings, downsizings
and layoffs
Antecedents of organizational
cynicism -2

19. 
 decrease in organizational commitment,motivation and job
satisfaction
 an increase in suspicion, distrust and contempt of the organization
 psychological disengagement and detachment
 decrease in self-esteem (öz değerlilik)
 undermining of the authority of leaders and their institutions
 alienation (yabancılaşma)
Consequences of organizational
cynicism

20. 20
Measurement
Örgütsel Sinisizm (Tesluk,1995; Wanous ,2000; Wilkerson, 2002)
1 Bu kurumda işlerin daha iyi olması için sarf edilen çabalar başarıya ulaşır
Any efforts to make things better around here are likely to succeed
2 Kurum yönetimi işimizle ilgili değişim ve gelişim programlarını yürütmekte başarılıdır
Company management is good at running improvement programs or changing things in our business
3 Genel olarak, bu kurumda çalışmanın olumlu sonuçlarının olumsuz sonuçlarından fazla olacağına inanıyorum.
Overall, I expect more success than disappointment in working with this company
4 Çalıştığım kurum, çalışanlarıyla ilişkisinde üstüne düşen görevleri adil bir şekilde yerine getirir
My company pulls its fair share of the weight in its relationship with its employees
5
Kurumda yaşanan problemleri çözmek için yönetime sunduğumuz öneriler sonucunda bir değişim gerçekleşmez.
Suggestions on how to solve problems around here won’t produce much real change
6 Kurum yönetimi çalışanlarının refahından çok kendi ihtiyaç ve hedeflerini önemser
Company management is more interested in its goals and needs than in its employees’ welfare
7
Kurumdaki insanların olumsuz tutumlarından dolayı gelecekle ilgili umutlu olmak zordur.
It is hard to be hopeful about the future because people at (agency X) have such bad attitudes.
8 Kurum dışındaki arkadaşlarıma, işte olup bitenler konusunda yakınırım.
I complain about how things happen at (agency X) to friends outside the organization
9
Çalıştığım kurumdan ve çalışanlarından bahsedildiğinde, birlikte çalıştığım kişilerle “anlamlı” bir şekilde bakışırız
I exchange “knowing” glances with my co-workers.

22. Close coworkers’
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
cynicism
Focal employee
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
citizenship
behavior

23. • Workplace social influences predict organizational
cynicism, which, in turn, will lead to greater
badmouthing and less OCB.
Close coworkers’
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
cynicism
Focal employee
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
citizenship
behavior

24. Social Influences
• Social information processing (SIP) theory
(Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978) provides a basis for
predicting social influences on employee
cynicism
A central tenet of SIP
attitudes are constructed, by
employees processing information
from the social environment of
work

25. • Workplace social information ,such as coworkers’
statements about the organization,shapes how
individuals think about and act toward the
organization
• Coworkers with whom the employee has a positive
relationship and a relatively high amount of
interpersonal contact (close coworkers) are more
likely to provide such information (Meyer, 1994;
Pollock, Whitbred, & Contractor, 2000).

26. • Badmouthing should reinforce the connection
between that organizational feature and a
negative, disdainful evaluation of it (Zalesny &
Ford, 1990).
Hypothesis 1. Close coworkers’ badmouthing will be
positively associated with focal employees’
organizational cynicism.

27. • Coworkers’ badmouthing behavior not only
tells the employee what to think and feel, it
tells the employee what to do.
• Cynicism arising out of exposure to coworker
badmouthing of the organization is an attitude
that is likely to lead to greater criticism of the
organization
Hypothesis 2. Focal employees’ organizational
cynicism will be positively related to focal employee’s
badmouthing behavior.

28. • In expectancy theory terms, if the cynical
employee has come to expect frustration and
disappointment from the organization, the
instrumentality of OCB must be very low
Hypothesis 3. Focal employees’ organizational
cynicism will be negatively related to focal
employees’ organizational citizenship
behavior.

29. METHOD

30. • Research data are from a questionnaire-based
collection involving three data sources.
TIME 1
Collecting badmouthing
behavior data from close
coworkers
TIME 2
(Two weeks later)
attitude (organizational cynicism)
and behavior (badmouthing) data
were collected from focal
employees.
Supervisor ratings of OCB data

31. SAMPLE
• 105 Participants (mostly part-time MBA students)
• These full- and part-time employees were an
average of 26.8 years old
• mostly male(54%)
• mostly nonmanagerial (78%),
• mostly employed full-time (52%),
• mostly White (83% ), and
• average of 2.7 years’ organizational tenure
• 1.9 years’ job tenure

32. MEASURES
Organizational
citizenship
behavior
Organizational
cynicism
20-item OCB Scale
Niehoff and Moorman (1993).
7 -item organizational cynicism
measure.

33. Badmouthing.
formed the badmouthing measure
for both close coworkers and the
focal employee with the average
score of two items created for this
study
Control variables
TENURE
SEX

34. RESULTS

35. • Close coworkers’ badmouthing is positively
associated with focal employees’
organizational cynicism.
H1
SUPPORTED!

36. • Focal employees’ organizational cynicism is
positively related to focal employee’s
badmouthing behavior.
H2
SUPPORTED!

37. • Focal employees’ organizational cynicism isn’t
negatively related to focal employees’
organizational citizenship behavior.
H3
NOT
SUPPORTED!

38. MODEL
Close
coworkers’
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
citizenship
behavior
Focal employee
badmouthing
Focal employee
organizational
cynicism
Sex
Tenure
-.04
.05
.71**
-.02
.81**
.04
-.18
Partial
mediation

39. DISCUSSION

40. • The badmouthing behavior of close coworkers
influences focal employees’ organizational
cynicism and badmouthing behaviors
a result of Social
Information
Processing(SIP)

41. • They did not find a significant negative
relationship between focal employee
organizational cynicism and OCB.
While OCB is traditionally considered from
the perspective of acting unselfishly, this
may not always be the case (Bolino, 1999)

42. OCB-OC
RELATİONSHİP
employees may engage in OCB as an
impression-management technique in an
attempt to influence the image
others have of them
individual differences may influence the
relationship between
organizational cynicism and OCB.
the motive to receive rewards or to
avoid punishment may
also be the concept of accountability.

43. FUTURE RESEARCH
FUTURE
RESEARCH
Workplace climate
Other types of deviant
behaviors
individual motives may
influence the relationship
between organizational
cynicism and OCB.
individual, organizational, and
social factors associated with
organizational cynicism.

44. Do Leaders Reap What They Sow?
Leader and Employee Outcomes of
Leader
Organizational Cynicism about
Change(2009)

45. 30.3.2015 45
Transformational
Leader Behavior
(TLB)
LEADER CYNICISM
ABOUT
ORGANIZATIONAL
CHANGE
(CAOC)
Employee CAOC
Employee
Commitment
Leader OCB
Leader
Performance

46. Cynicism about organizational
change(CAOC)
• A specific form of organizational cynicism
known as cynicism about organizational
change (CAOC) has been proffered
• CAOC is an attitude conceptually related to,
but more narrowly defined than general
organizational cynicism.
30.3.2015 46

47. 30.3.2015 47
Organizational
Cynicism
Cynicism About
Organizational
Change
(CAOC)
as a broad feeling that one's
organization lacks integrity
and generalizes to multiple
objects
a more targeted form of
cynicism regarding
organizational change and is
anticipatory in nature

48. • CAOC entails an individual's pessimism about
future change and contempt for those
responsible for previously failed change.
30.3.2015 48
CAOC is shaped by
organizational
experiences
susceptible to
external factors
negative affectivity

49. • Wanous (2000) found that leaders highly
cynical about change were less likely to
demonstrate motivation to engage in change-
oriented behaviors.
• Lack of participation or reduction of effort is
likely to be perceived by a leader's superior as
constituting poor performance.
30.3.2015 49

50. • Leaders with high CAOC will be less likely to be
perceived as strong performers by their direct
superiors.
• Hypothesis 1. Leader CAOC is negatively associated
with leader performance.
30.3.2015 50

51. • Leaders with high CAOC will be less likely to perform
OCB primarily because they believe that the
organization has, and will continue to act ineffectively.
• Hypothesis 2. Leader CAOC is negatively associated
with leader OCB.
30.3.2015 51

52. • Leader CAOC is likely to raise employee doubt about an
organization's credibility and potency, reducing an
employee's interest in being involved with the
organization
• Hypothesis 3. Leader CAOC is negatively associated
with employee organizational commitment.
30.3.2015 52

53. • Leaders who believe that the organization has a an
experience of making promises it does not keep are quite
likely to induce similar beliefs among their followers (Davis
& Gardner, 2004;Wanous et al., 2000)
• Hypothesis 4. Leader CAOC is positively associated with
employee CAOC.
30.3.2015 53

54. The mediating role of transformational
leader behavior
• No other leader behavior represents attempts
to influence change than transformational
leader behavior (TLB).
30.3.2015 54
TLB
most
active/effective
form of leadership
engaged with
followers
motivating
followers

55. • TLB is to “transform” individual employees by
making them more receptive to organizational
change.
• Leaders who are cynical about change may
be less likely to engage in change-oriented
leader behaviors like TLB
30.3.2015 55

56. • Leaders with decreased CAOC would be more likely
to perform TLB, thereby transmitting their more
optimistic attitude about change through these
change-oriented leader behaviors
• Hypothesis 5. Leader TLB mediates the
relationships between leader CAOC and leader
outcomes (performance and OCB) and employee
outcomes (organizational commitment and
employee CAOC).
30.3.2015 56

57. METHODS
30.3.2015 57

58. Participants and procedure
• Participants were 106 managers (80% of the total
managers) or “focal leaders” occupying all levels
of management (i.e., firstline supervisors to
corporate officers)
• These focal leaders were primarily male (88%),
with a mean age of 40.03 mean organizational
tenure of 9.39 years and mean of 14.66 years of
education
30.3.2015 58

59. • Employees reporting to these focal leaders had a
mean age 37.23 , education of 12.62 years ,
organization tenure of 5.56 years, and were
primarily male (82%).
• Data were drawn from three sources: employees,
focal leaders, and direct supervisors of the focal
leaders.
30.3.2015 59

60. 5.2. Measures
30.3.2015 60
Leader cynicism
about
organizational
change
Transformational
leader behavior
CAOC Scale
Wanous (2000).
TLB Scale
Podsakoff
(1996)

61. 30.3.2015 61
Leader performance
and OCB
Employee
organizational
commitment
OCB Alturism Scale
Podsakoff and MacKenzie
(1989)
commitment scale
Allen and Meyer (1990).

62. 30.3.2015 62
Control variables
a focal leader's
organizational
tenure
A focal leader’s
organizational level
A focal leader’s
level of education

63. RESULTS
30.3.2015 63

64. • Leader CAOC and TLB were also significantly and
inversely related
• Tenure displayed no significant relationship with leader
CAOC and TLB
• Organizational level was associated with CAOC (-.32)
• Level of education was related to both TLB and CAOC.
30.3.2015 64
.24 -.26

65. • Leader CAOC is negatively associated with
leader performance (-.22)
• Leader CAOC is negatively associated with
leader OCB.(-.34)
30.3.2015 65
H1
Supported
H2
Supported

66. • Leader CAOC is negatively associated with
employee organizational commitment (-.37)
• Leader CAOC is positively associated with
employee CAOC (.35)
30.3.2015 66
H3
Supported
H4
Supported

67. • Leader TLB mediates the relationships
between leader CAOC and leader outcomes
(performance and OCB) and employee
outcomes (organizational commitment and
employee CAOC).
30.3.2015 67
H5
Supported

68. MODEL
30.3.2015 68
Transformational
Leader Behavior
(TLB)
LEADER CYNICISM
ABOUT
ORGANIZATIONAL
CHANGE
(CAOC)
Employee CAOC
Employee
Commitment
Leader OCB
Leader
Performance
fully mediate
-.27
.22
.31
.57
-.51

69. DISCUSSION
30.3.2015 69

70. FUTURE RESEARCH
• Contextual variables that
could influence
relationships between
CAOC and TLB and
outcomes
• Isolating contextual
elements (e.g., pressure to
perform TLB, rewards for
TLB, etc.) that may influence
leader performance of TLB,
despite high levels of CAOC
would be fruitful
• The moderating influence of
a leader's boss and peers on
the performance of CAOC
• Examine potential positive
consequences of leader
CAOC.
• (For example, some
research shows cynical
employees are less likely to
comply with unethical
requests (Andersson &
Bateman, 1997)
30.3.2015 70

71. 
Antecedents and consequences of
employee organizational
cynicism: A meta-analysis(2013)

72. Theoretical Model

73. 
 Organizational cynicism and organizational trust
 individuals' levels of trust in the organization may
be influenced by their dispositional tendency to trust
others and by situational characteristics that convey
the trustworthiness of the organization
Expected relationships-1

74. 
 Organizational cynicism -Positive and negative affectivity
 employees predisposed toward positive affect will be more
inclined to see and focus on positive aspects in their
immediate work environment, engage in positive
interactions at work, and have a more positive outlook
toward their organization
 employees with high negative affectivity tend to engender
and experience more negative aspects in their work
environment, and are more distrustful of and cynical
toward their organization
Expected relationships-2

75. 
 Organizational cynicism –Trait Cynicism
 Individuals with high trait cynicism tend to believe that humans
are selfish, dishonest, and take advantage of others whenever
possible
 They are also pessimistic about what will be gained by being
honest, kind-hearted, and complying with rules
 Trait cynicism will positively relate to organizational cynicism,
such that a general cynical attitude toward others will be likely to
also transfer into a cynical attitude toward the organization.
Expected relationships-3

76. 
 Organizational cynicism –Positive Organizational Support
 Employees who feel that their contributions are not valued by
the organization (i.e., low POS) are likely to develop feelings
of betrayal. Thus, if employees have low POS, then they are
likely to have higher levels of cynicism toward the
organization.
 a negative relationship between POS and organizational
cynicism
Expected relationships-4

77. 
 Organizational cynicism –Organizational Justice
 an absence (or low levels) of justice should lead employees to
develop a cynical, negative attitude toward the organization.
 perceptions of justice will be negatively related to
organizational cynicism.
Expected relationships-5

78. 
 Organizational cynicism-Psychological Contract Breach
 When employees feel that their contracts have been violated,
they will likely believe that the organization lacks integrity.
The perceived psychological contract violation should also
produce negative affective states (e.g., anger, frustration)
which can in turn fuel organizational cynicism.
 Feelings of contract violation may lead people to become
cynical toward their organizations.
Expected relationships-6

79. 
 Organizational cynicism-Perceived Organizational Politics
 Employees who perceive the organization to be acting in its
own best interest, rather than in the employees' best interest,
will deem the organization as less trustworthy due to its lack
of benevolence .
 Perceptions of a lack of trustworthiness can subsequently lead
employees to develop suspicious and cynical attitudes toward
the organization.
 Employees' perceptions of organizational politics will be
positively related to organizational cynicism.
Expected relationships-7

80. 
 Organizational cynicism-Psychological Strain(gerginlik)
 Employees with high psychological strain may question the
efficiency and fairness of the organizational procedures.
 They may be irritated by the unspecified job descriptions and
perceive that the organization cares little about their family
life.
 Experienced psychological strain at work will result in
negative attitudes toward the organization, leading to feelings
of organizational cynicism.
Expected relationships-8

81. 
 Organizational cynicism-Job Satisfaction
 Individuals who have higher levels of cynicism toward the
organization will have lower levels of job satisfaction.
 This is because their cynical attitude toward the organization
can extend to their attitudes to their job through mechanisms
such as affect infusion; the negative feeling resulting from
cynical attitudes toward the organization may dampen
evaluations of their job experiences
Expected relationships-9

82. 
 Organizational cynicism-Organizational Commitment
 Individuals with high organizational cynicism are
characterized by a distrustful attitude and negative affect
toward the organization.
 Because a certain level of trust, or a belief that the organization
will have employees' interest in mind, is critical for
organizational members to establish deep emotional bond
with the organization, organizational cynicism should be
associated with low levels of commitment to the organization.
Expected relationships-10

83. 
 Organizational cynicism-Intention to Quit
 A negative evaluation of their work environment can lead
employees to feel dissatisfied about their job and elicit
turnover intentions.
 Individuals who have overly cynical attitudes toward the
organization will, in general, also espouse negative attitudes
toward their job (e.g., low job satisfaction) and organization
(e.g., low organizational commitment), leading to withdrawal
cognition or turnover intentions
Expected relationships-11

84. 
 Organizational cynicism-Job Performance
 cynical employees, given their frustration and disappointment
with the organization, may perceive an absence of close
connection between performance and reward, or lower levels
of instrumentality .
 Such low levels of perceived instrumentality can lead to
reduced effort and performance.
Expected relationships-12

85. 
Results

86. 
 Future research can examine the potential positive effect of
cynicism on job performance through challenging OCB
 Social support (e.g., coworkers' support, supervisory
support) and supportive resources (e.g., positive job
characteristics, emotional stability, and psychological capital)
may interact with organizational cynicism in determining
employee outcomes
Future Research

87. 
MY MODEL
Psikolojik Sözleşme İhlali
(Psychological Contract
Breach)
Örgütsel Sinizm
(Organizational
Cynicism)
Tükenmişlik
(Burnout)
+
+
+