The Interactive Effects of Negative and Positive Affect on the Politics Perceptions–Job Satisfaction Relationship

The politics perceptions literature has historically failed to determine the impact of dispositional factors. To address this gap, the current study examined the moderating effects of negative (NA) and positive affect (PA) on the perceptions of politics–job satisfaction relationship. It was hypothesized that individuals high on both NA and PA would report lower job satisfaction scores when politics were perceived to be high. In Study 1, data gathered from 752 employees of a large university in the southeastern United States confirmed these hypotheses. In Study 2, 311 full-time employees representing a wide array of occupations provided support for the PA × politics perceptions interaction, but not for the NA × politics perceptions interaction. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and avenues for future research are provided.