Organizational Conspiracy Beliefs: Implications for Leadership Styles and Employee Outcomes

Abstract

PurposeBelief in conspiracy theories about societal events is widespread among citizens. The extent to which conspiracy beliefs about managers and supervisors matter in the micro-level setting of organizations has not yet been examined, however. We investigated if leadership styles predict conspiracy beliefs among employees in the context of organizations. Furthermore, we examined if such organizational conspiracy beliefs have implications for organizational commitment and turnover intentions.Design/Methodology/ApproachWe conducted a survey among a random sample of the US working population (N = 193).FindingsDespotic, laissez-faire, and participative leadership styles predicted organizational conspiracy beliefs, and the relations of despotic and laissez-faire leadership with conspiracy beliefs were mediated by feelings of job insecurity. Furthermore, organizational conspiracy beliefs predicted, via decreased organizational commitment, increased turnover intentions.ImplicationsOrganizational conspiracy beliefs matter for how employees perceive their leaders, how they feel about their organization, and whether or not they plan to quit their jobs. A practical implication, therefore, is that it would be a mistake for managers to dismiss organizational conspiracy beliefs as innocent rumors that are harmless to the organization.Originality/ValueThree novel conclusions emerge from this study. First, organizational conspiracy beliefs occur frequently among employees. Second, participative leadership predicts decreased organizational conspiracy beliefs; despotic and laissez-faire leadership predict increased organizational conspiracy beliefs due to the contribution of these destructive leadership styles to an insecure work environment. Third, organizational conspiracy beliefs harm organizations by influencing employee commitment and, indirectly, turnover intentions.

Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work‐related outcomes

“…This study first aimed to corroborate the finding that organizational conspiracy belief is correlated with turnover intentions (see Van Prooijen & de Vries, ). Going further, we also tested the mechanisms that may be responsible for this association.…”

“…Further, Van Prooijen and de Vries () found that organizational commitment was associated with belief in workplace‐related conspiracies and that it mediated the association between organizational conspiracy belief and turnover intentions. It remains to be seen whether organizational conspiracy belief exerts a causal influence on organizational commitment.…”

“…Specifically, workers may be more likely to consider leaving their organization to the extent that they view it as a negative place where groups act secretly and maliciously in the pursuit of their own selfish interests. Indeed, some recent research shows support for this idea, demonstrating that belief in workplace‐related conspiracies – as a result of despotic or laissez‐faire leadership – is associated with turnover intentions (Van Prooijen & de Vries, ).…”

“…In the present research, we therefore explicitly examine how conspiracy belief may affect psychological ties to the organization. To do so, we investigate the roles of three variables that have been found to either directly or indirectly predict turnover intentions – organizational identification (Randsley de Moura et al ., ; Van Dick et al ., ), organizational commitment (Schwepker, ; Van Prooijen & de Vries, ), and job satisfaction (Randsley de Moura et al ., ; Schwepker, ; Van Dick et al ., ).…”

“…It is therefore unlikely that employees will positively identify with a workplace where conspiracies are perceived to occur. As existing research links organizational conspiracy belief with turnover intentions (Van Prooijen & de Vries, ), and organizational identification with increased turnover intentions (Abrams, Ando, & Hinkle, ; Mael & Ashforth, ; Randsley de Moura et al ., ; Van Dick et al ., ), it is reasonable to test the idea that organizational identification may mediate the relationship between organizational conspiracy belief and turnover intentions.…”