The cost of being nice: taking a nonlinear perspective on benevolent political will and job satisfaction

Purpose This study aims to conceptualize benevolent political will as a motivation that may positively affect job satisfaction up to a certain level after which the levels began to fall down. Drawing upon the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect and self-determination theory, the authors argue that this relationship will be an inverted-U shaped curve for individuals who do not engage in political tactics frequently and will take a U-form for employees who use non-sanctioned political tactics frequently. Design/methodology/approach Data analyses of a sample of employees of a large public sector organization with bureaucratic features were performed using LISREL and PROCESS macro for the interaction effects. Findings The analysis demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship between political will and job satisfaction. At extreme levels of benevolent political will, employees experience less job satisfaction. The model also demonstrates a similar relationship between benevolent political will and job satisfaction for employees who do not use political tactics frequently. This relationship becomes U-shaped for employees who frequently use political tactics providing support for our hypotheses. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the restricted non-linear relationship between political will and job satisfaction and calls attention to the agentic nature of the political motivations of employees. Furthermore, it expands our understanding of political tactics as a boundary condition and its interaction with intrinsic motivations and work outcomes.