Perceptions of politics and perceived performance in public and private organisations: A test of one model across two sectors

This article suggests a theoretical model and empirical examination of the relationship between organisational politics and perceived employees' performance across two separate settings: the private sector and the public sector. 700 employees of private sector and public sector organisations provided data on perceptions of organisational politics, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, job distress and burnout, as well as self-reported turnover intentions, negligent behaviour and absenteeism. Our findings indicate that politics perceptions differ substantially across sectors and prove higher in the public than in the private sector. The theoretical model was tested using an SEM technique and was found valid in both sectors. However, when closely analysed, the same model still fits private sector organisations better than public sector ones.