Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Organizational Cynicism A Study Among Advertising Agencies

Year 2014, Issue: 22, 130 - 151, 31.12.2014
https://doi.org/10.31123/akil.441950

Abstract

This study is about one of those less favorable aspects of work and employee behavior: Cynicism
toward the employing organization, in the organizational sciences referred to as organizational
cynicism. Cynicism is a somewhat controversial issue. It can be define as a belief that an
organization lacks integrity, which, when coupled with a powerful negative emotional reaction,
leads to disparaging and critical behavior. The aim of this paper is to examine cynic behavior of
the employees in the organization. Therefore, in the first part, cynicism, organizational cynicism
and the nature of the concept will be explained theoretically. In the second part, we will share
the results of the study conducted in advertising agencies in Kayseri. It is thought that this study
contributes to the knowledge on workplace deviance and cynicism an area of research that is
almost unexplored in especially ad agencies.
In the study questionnaire technic was used and data was gathered from advertising agency
employees in Kayseri. There are 23 advertising agencies in Kayseri. A total of 122 questionnaires
were distributed from which 88 questionnaires were received by the researcher and this result in
response rate of 86% out of which questionnaires were found suitable for the analysis. Data were
obtained using the “Organizational Cynicism Scale (OCS),” which was developed by Brandes,
Dhartwadkar and Dean (1999). The scale consists of emotional, cognitive and behavioral
dimensions. The research hypotheses that were developed based on theoretical knowledge and
findings, were tested in the study. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to test
hypothesis. Some demographic variables have been found related with ad employees’ cynicism
level like gender, age, education and department. However it has been found that ad agency
employees’ marital status, income and year of the service were not related with their cynicism
level.

References

  • Abraham, Rebecca (2000). “Organizational Cynicism: Bases and Consequences”, Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs. 126(3): 269-292.
  • Ajzen, Icek (2001). “Nature and Operation of Attitudes”, Annual Review of Psychology. 52: 27-58.
  • Andersson, Lynee M. (1996). “Employee Cynicism: An Examination Using A Contract Violation Framework”, Human Relations. 49(11).
  • Andersson, Lynee M. and Bateman, Thomas S. (1997). “Cynicism in the Workplace: Some Causes and Effects”. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 18: 449-469.
  • Arabacı, Bakir (2010). “The Effects of Depersonalization and Organizational Cynicism Levels on the Job Satisfaction of Educational İnspectors”, African Journal of Business Management. 4(13).
  • Balfour, Danny L. and Wechsler, Barton (1996). “Organizational Commitment: Antecedents and Outcomes in Public Organizations”, Public Productivity and Management Review. 29: 256–277.
  • Bateman, Thomas S., Sakano, Tomoaki and Fujita, Makoto (1992). “Roger, Me, and my Attitude: Film Propaganda and Cynicism toward Corporate Leadership”, Journal of Applied Psychology. 77: 786-771.
  • Becker, Howard S. and Geer, Blance (1958). “The Fate of Idealism in Medical School”, American Sociological Review. 18: 449-469.
  • Brandes Pamela, Dharwadkar, Ravi and Dean, James W., (1999). “Does Organizational Cynicism Matter? Employee And Supervisor Perspectives On Work Outcomes”, Eastern Acad. Manage. Proceedings
  • Brandes, Pamela and Das, Diya (2006). “Locating Behavioural Cynicism At Work: Construct Issues And Performance Implications”, Employee Health, Coping And Methodologies, Pamela L.Perrewe, Daniel C. Ganster (Eds), New York: JAI Press.
  • Breckler, Steven J. (1984), “Empirical Validation of Affect, Behavior, And Cognition As Distinct Components Of Attitude”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47: 1191-1205.
  • Brown, Michalle and Cregan, Cregan (2008). “Organizational Change Cynicism: The Role of Employee Involvement”, Human Resource Management. 47(4): 667–686.
  • Chiaburu, Dan., Peng, Ann C., Oh, In-Sue., Banks, George C. and Lomeli, Laura C., (2013), “Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Organizational Cynicism: A Meta-Analysis”, Journal of Vocational Behavior. 83.
  • Cole, Michael S., Bruch, Heike and Vogel, Bernd (2006), “Emotion as Mediators Of The Relations Between Perceived Supervisor Support And Psychological Hardiness On Employee Cynicism”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27: 463-484.
  • Cook, Walter W. and Medley, Donald M. (1954). “Proposed Hostility and Pharisaic-Virtue Scales for the MMPI”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 38:414-418.
  • Copleston, Frederick (1986). A History of Philosophy, Vol.I-Greek and Rome. New York: Doubleday. Dean, James W., Brandes, Pamela and Dharwadkar, Ravi (1998), “Organizational Cynicism”, Academy of Management Review, 23(2): 341-352.
  • Delken, Menno (2004). ”Organizational Cynicism: A Study Among Call Centers” http://www.academicrepublic. com/academicrepublic/dissertations/organizational_cynicism.pdf Access Date: 11 March 2014.
  • Dudley, Donald R. (1937). A History of Cynicism. London: Methuen and Co.
  • Eagly, Alice H. and Chaiken, Shelly (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes, Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • Gibson, James L. and M. Klein, Stuart (1970). “Employee Attitudes as a Function of Age and Length of Service: A Reconceptualization”, Academy of Management Journal. 13: 411.
  • Goldner, Fred H., Ritti, Richard and Ference, Thomas (1977). “The Production of Cynical Knowledge in Organizations”, American Sociological Review. 42(4): 539-551.
  • Grama, Blanca (2013). “Cynicism in Organizational Change, Cross-Cultural”, Management Journal. 3(29).
  • Hilgard, Ernest R. (1980). “The Trilogy Of Mind: Cognition, Affection, and Conation”, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 16: 107-117.
  • Johnson, Jonathan L. and O’Leary-Kelly, Anne, M. (2003). “The Effects Of Psychological Contract Breach And Organizational Cynicism: Not All Social Exchange Violations Are Created Equal”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(5), 627-647.
  • Kanter, Donald L. and H. Mirvis, Philip (1991). “Cynicism: The New American Malaise”, Business & Society Review. 91(77): 57-61.
  • Kanter, Donald L. and H. Mirvis, Philip (1989). The Cynical Americans: Living And Working In An Age Of Discontent And Disillusion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Karadağ, Engin., Kılıçoğlu, Gökhan and Yılmaz, Derya, (2014). “Organizational Cynicism, School Culture, and Academic Achievement: The Study of Structural Equation Modeling”, Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 14(1): 102-113.
  • Kasalak, Gamze and Aksu, Mualla (2014). “The Relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Organizational Cynicism of Research Assistants”, Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 14(1): 125-133.
  • Kutaniş, Özen Rana and Çetinel, Emine (2010). “Adaletsizlik Algısı Sinisizmi Tetikler mi?: Bir Örnek Olay”, Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 1: 26: 186-195.
  • Maslach, Christina (1982). Burnout The Cost of Caring Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall
  • McClough, Anita C. (1998). “Cynicism and the Quality of an Individual’s Contribution to an Organizational Diagnostic Survey”, Organization Development Journal. 16(2): 31-42.
  • McNamara, Carter, (1999) “Overview of Cynicism in Business Organizations”, http://managementhelp.org/ personalwellness/cynicism/ Access Date: 21 March 2013.
  • Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2003). Webster’s Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary. Springield, MA: Author.
  • Meyerson, Debra E. (1990). “Uncovering Socially Undesirable Emotions: Experiences of Ambiguity In Organizations”, American Behavioral Scientist, 33:296-307.
  • Nafei, Wageeh A. (2013). “Examining the Relationship between Organizational Cynicism and Organizational Change: A Study from Egyptian Context”, Journal of Business Administration Research. 2(2).
  • Nafei, Wageeh A. and Belal A. Kaifi, (2013) “The Impact of Organizational Cynicism on Organizational Commitment: An Applied Study on Teaching Hospitals in Egypt”, European Journal of Business and Management, 5(12):132.
  • Nair, Priya and T.J Kamalanabhan (2010). “The Impact of Cynicism on Ethical Intentions of Indian Managers: The Moderating Role of Seniority”, Journal of International Business Ethics. 3(1).
  • Namie, Gary and Lutgen, Pamela (2010). “Active and Passive Accomplices: The Communal Character of Workplace Bullying”, International Journal of Communication. 4: 343-373.
  • Naus, Alphons Johannes Aloysius Maria (2007). “Organizational Cynicism on the Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences of Employee Cynicism Toward the Employing Organization”, Unpublished Thesis, http://arno. unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=9199, Access Date: 25 February 2014.
  • Niederhoffer, Arthur (1967). Behind The Shield: The Police In Urban Society. NJ: Garden City, Anchor O’Brien Anne T., Haslam, Alexander and Jetten, Jolanda (2004). “Cynicism And Disengagement Among Devalued Employee Groups: The Need To Aspire”, Career Development International. 9(1): 28-44.
  • Özler, Derya E. ve Atalay, Ceren (2011). “Research To Determine The Relationship Between Organizational Cynicism and Burnout Levels Of Employees In Health Sector”, Business and Management Review. 1(4): 26 – 38.
  • Pailing, Patricia E. and Segalowitz, Sidney J. (2004). “The Error-Related Negativity as A State and Trait Measure: Motivation, Personality and ERPs in Response to Errors”, SPR Psychophysiology. 41(1): 84–95.
  • Pelit, Elbeyi and Pelit, Nil (2014). “The Effects of Mobbing on Organizational Cynicism: A Study on Hotels in Turkey”, International Journal of Human Resource Studies. 4(1): 34-56.
  • Polat, Soner, (2013). “The Impact of Teachers’ Organizational Trust Perceptions on Organizational Cynicism Perception”, Global Journal of Teacher Education. 1(1): 106-111.
  • Reichers, Arnon E., Wanous, John and Austin, James (1997). “Understanding and Managing Cynicism about Organizational Change”, Academy of Management Executive. 11(1): 48-59.
  • Sajid, Bashir (2011) “Organizational Cynicism Development and Testing of an Integrated Model A study of Public Sector Employees in Pakistan”, Unpublished PhD thesis, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi.
  • Stanley, David J., Meyer, John and Topolnytsky, Laryssa (2005). “Employee Cynicism and Resistance to Organizational Change”, Journal of Business & Psychology, 19(4): 429-459.
  • Turner, James H. and Valentine, Sean R. (2001). “Cynicism as a Fundamental Dimension Of Moral Decision- Making: A Scale Development”, Journal of Business Ethics. 34(2): 123-136.
  • Urbany, Joel E. (2005). “Inspiration and Cynicism in Values Statements”, Journal of Business Ethics. 62: 169- 182.
  • Wanous, John P., Reichers, Austin and Austin, James 1994). “Organizational Cynicism: An Initial Study”, Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings.
  • Wanous, John P., Reichers, Austin and Austin, James (2000), “Cynicism about Organizational Change. Measurement, Antecedents, and Correlates”, Group and Organization Management. 25(2): 132-153.
  • Wu, Shih-Ying (2006). “Corruption and Cross-Border Investment by Multinational Firms”, Journal of Comparative Economics. 34: 839–856.
  • Yamane, Taro (1967). Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, New York: Harper and Row.
Year 2014, Issue: 22, 130 - 151, 31.12.2014
https://doi.org/10.31123/akil.441950

Abstract

References

  • Abraham, Rebecca (2000). “Organizational Cynicism: Bases and Consequences”, Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs. 126(3): 269-292.
  • Ajzen, Icek (2001). “Nature and Operation of Attitudes”, Annual Review of Psychology. 52: 27-58.
  • Andersson, Lynee M. (1996). “Employee Cynicism: An Examination Using A Contract Violation Framework”, Human Relations. 49(11).
  • Andersson, Lynee M. and Bateman, Thomas S. (1997). “Cynicism in the Workplace: Some Causes and Effects”. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 18: 449-469.
  • Arabacı, Bakir (2010). “The Effects of Depersonalization and Organizational Cynicism Levels on the Job Satisfaction of Educational İnspectors”, African Journal of Business Management. 4(13).
  • Balfour, Danny L. and Wechsler, Barton (1996). “Organizational Commitment: Antecedents and Outcomes in Public Organizations”, Public Productivity and Management Review. 29: 256–277.
  • Bateman, Thomas S., Sakano, Tomoaki and Fujita, Makoto (1992). “Roger, Me, and my Attitude: Film Propaganda and Cynicism toward Corporate Leadership”, Journal of Applied Psychology. 77: 786-771.
  • Becker, Howard S. and Geer, Blance (1958). “The Fate of Idealism in Medical School”, American Sociological Review. 18: 449-469.
  • Brandes Pamela, Dharwadkar, Ravi and Dean, James W., (1999). “Does Organizational Cynicism Matter? Employee And Supervisor Perspectives On Work Outcomes”, Eastern Acad. Manage. Proceedings
  • Brandes, Pamela and Das, Diya (2006). “Locating Behavioural Cynicism At Work: Construct Issues And Performance Implications”, Employee Health, Coping And Methodologies, Pamela L.Perrewe, Daniel C. Ganster (Eds), New York: JAI Press.
  • Breckler, Steven J. (1984), “Empirical Validation of Affect, Behavior, And Cognition As Distinct Components Of Attitude”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47: 1191-1205.
  • Brown, Michalle and Cregan, Cregan (2008). “Organizational Change Cynicism: The Role of Employee Involvement”, Human Resource Management. 47(4): 667–686.
  • Chiaburu, Dan., Peng, Ann C., Oh, In-Sue., Banks, George C. and Lomeli, Laura C., (2013), “Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Organizational Cynicism: A Meta-Analysis”, Journal of Vocational Behavior. 83.
  • Cole, Michael S., Bruch, Heike and Vogel, Bernd (2006), “Emotion as Mediators Of The Relations Between Perceived Supervisor Support And Psychological Hardiness On Employee Cynicism”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27: 463-484.
  • Cook, Walter W. and Medley, Donald M. (1954). “Proposed Hostility and Pharisaic-Virtue Scales for the MMPI”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 38:414-418.
  • Copleston, Frederick (1986). A History of Philosophy, Vol.I-Greek and Rome. New York: Doubleday. Dean, James W., Brandes, Pamela and Dharwadkar, Ravi (1998), “Organizational Cynicism”, Academy of Management Review, 23(2): 341-352.
  • Delken, Menno (2004). ”Organizational Cynicism: A Study Among Call Centers” http://www.academicrepublic. com/academicrepublic/dissertations/organizational_cynicism.pdf Access Date: 11 March 2014.
  • Dudley, Donald R. (1937). A History of Cynicism. London: Methuen and Co.
  • Eagly, Alice H. and Chaiken, Shelly (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes, Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • Gibson, James L. and M. Klein, Stuart (1970). “Employee Attitudes as a Function of Age and Length of Service: A Reconceptualization”, Academy of Management Journal. 13: 411.
  • Goldner, Fred H., Ritti, Richard and Ference, Thomas (1977). “The Production of Cynical Knowledge in Organizations”, American Sociological Review. 42(4): 539-551.
  • Grama, Blanca (2013). “Cynicism in Organizational Change, Cross-Cultural”, Management Journal. 3(29).
  • Hilgard, Ernest R. (1980). “The Trilogy Of Mind: Cognition, Affection, and Conation”, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 16: 107-117.
  • Johnson, Jonathan L. and O’Leary-Kelly, Anne, M. (2003). “The Effects Of Psychological Contract Breach And Organizational Cynicism: Not All Social Exchange Violations Are Created Equal”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(5), 627-647.
  • Kanter, Donald L. and H. Mirvis, Philip (1991). “Cynicism: The New American Malaise”, Business & Society Review. 91(77): 57-61.
  • Kanter, Donald L. and H. Mirvis, Philip (1989). The Cynical Americans: Living And Working In An Age Of Discontent And Disillusion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Karadağ, Engin., Kılıçoğlu, Gökhan and Yılmaz, Derya, (2014). “Organizational Cynicism, School Culture, and Academic Achievement: The Study of Structural Equation Modeling”, Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 14(1): 102-113.
  • Kasalak, Gamze and Aksu, Mualla (2014). “The Relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Organizational Cynicism of Research Assistants”, Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 14(1): 125-133.
  • Kutaniş, Özen Rana and Çetinel, Emine (2010). “Adaletsizlik Algısı Sinisizmi Tetikler mi?: Bir Örnek Olay”, Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 1: 26: 186-195.
  • Maslach, Christina (1982). Burnout The Cost of Caring Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall
  • McClough, Anita C. (1998). “Cynicism and the Quality of an Individual’s Contribution to an Organizational Diagnostic Survey”, Organization Development Journal. 16(2): 31-42.
  • McNamara, Carter, (1999) “Overview of Cynicism in Business Organizations”, http://managementhelp.org/ personalwellness/cynicism/ Access Date: 21 March 2013.
  • Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2003). Webster’s Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary. Springield, MA: Author.
  • Meyerson, Debra E. (1990). “Uncovering Socially Undesirable Emotions: Experiences of Ambiguity In Organizations”, American Behavioral Scientist, 33:296-307.
  • Nafei, Wageeh A. (2013). “Examining the Relationship between Organizational Cynicism and Organizational Change: A Study from Egyptian Context”, Journal of Business Administration Research. 2(2).
  • Nafei, Wageeh A. and Belal A. Kaifi, (2013) “The Impact of Organizational Cynicism on Organizational Commitment: An Applied Study on Teaching Hospitals in Egypt”, European Journal of Business and Management, 5(12):132.
  • Nair, Priya and T.J Kamalanabhan (2010). “The Impact of Cynicism on Ethical Intentions of Indian Managers: The Moderating Role of Seniority”, Journal of International Business Ethics. 3(1).
  • Namie, Gary and Lutgen, Pamela (2010). “Active and Passive Accomplices: The Communal Character of Workplace Bullying”, International Journal of Communication. 4: 343-373.
  • Naus, Alphons Johannes Aloysius Maria (2007). “Organizational Cynicism on the Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences of Employee Cynicism Toward the Employing Organization”, Unpublished Thesis, http://arno. unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=9199, Access Date: 25 February 2014.
  • Niederhoffer, Arthur (1967). Behind The Shield: The Police In Urban Society. NJ: Garden City, Anchor O’Brien Anne T., Haslam, Alexander and Jetten, Jolanda (2004). “Cynicism And Disengagement Among Devalued Employee Groups: The Need To Aspire”, Career Development International. 9(1): 28-44.
  • Özler, Derya E. ve Atalay, Ceren (2011). “Research To Determine The Relationship Between Organizational Cynicism and Burnout Levels Of Employees In Health Sector”, Business and Management Review. 1(4): 26 – 38.
  • Pailing, Patricia E. and Segalowitz, Sidney J. (2004). “The Error-Related Negativity as A State and Trait Measure: Motivation, Personality and ERPs in Response to Errors”, SPR Psychophysiology. 41(1): 84–95.
  • Pelit, Elbeyi and Pelit, Nil (2014). “The Effects of Mobbing on Organizational Cynicism: A Study on Hotels in Turkey”, International Journal of Human Resource Studies. 4(1): 34-56.
  • Polat, Soner, (2013). “The Impact of Teachers’ Organizational Trust Perceptions on Organizational Cynicism Perception”, Global Journal of Teacher Education. 1(1): 106-111.
  • Reichers, Arnon E., Wanous, John and Austin, James (1997). “Understanding and Managing Cynicism about Organizational Change”, Academy of Management Executive. 11(1): 48-59.
  • Sajid, Bashir (2011) “Organizational Cynicism Development and Testing of an Integrated Model A study of Public Sector Employees in Pakistan”, Unpublished PhD thesis, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi.
  • Stanley, David J., Meyer, John and Topolnytsky, Laryssa (2005). “Employee Cynicism and Resistance to Organizational Change”, Journal of Business & Psychology, 19(4): 429-459.
  • Turner, James H. and Valentine, Sean R. (2001). “Cynicism as a Fundamental Dimension Of Moral Decision- Making: A Scale Development”, Journal of Business Ethics. 34(2): 123-136.
  • Urbany, Joel E. (2005). “Inspiration and Cynicism in Values Statements”, Journal of Business Ethics. 62: 169- 182.
  • Wanous, John P., Reichers, Austin and Austin, James 1994). “Organizational Cynicism: An Initial Study”, Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings.
  • Wanous, John P., Reichers, Austin and Austin, James (2000), “Cynicism about Organizational Change. Measurement, Antecedents, and Correlates”, Group and Organization Management. 25(2): 132-153.
  • Wu, Shih-Ying (2006). “Corruption and Cross-Border Investment by Multinational Firms”, Journal of Comparative Economics. 34: 839–856.
  • Yamane, Taro (1967). Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, New York: Harper and Row.
There are 53 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Özlem Güllüoğlu Işık

Publication Date December 31, 2014
Submission Date July 9, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2014 Issue: 22

Cite

APA Güllüoğlu Işık, Ö. (2014). Organizational Cynicism A Study Among Advertising Agencies. Akdeniz Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi(22), 130-151. https://doi.org/10.31123/akil.441950