Open Access

ARTICLE

Employee perceptions of organizational politics and job burnout: The roles of organization-based self-esteem and perceived organizational support

Lan Li^1,*, Xingshan Zheng²

1 College of Business and Administration, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai, China
2 Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

* Corresponding Author: Lan Li. Email:

Journal of Psychology in Africa 2026, 36(4), 711-719. https://doi.org/10.32604/jpa.2026.078027

Received 22 December 2025; Accepted 12 May 2026; Issue published 31 August 2026

Abstract

This study tested a moderated mediation model on the role of employee organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and perceived organization support in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics (POP) and job burnout. A two-wave online survey was conducted with 313 employees of 9 enterprises (females = 28.4% mean age = 3.35, SD = 0.808). These enterprises cover the manufacturing (76.4%), service (3.5%), and other industries (20.1%). PROCESS linear regression analyses results show that POP is associated with higher job burnout. Organization-based self-esteem mediates the relationship between POP and job burnout. Furthermore, POS moderates the relationship between POP and OBSE so that when POS is high level, OBSE is higher. The indirect effect of POP on job burnout via OBSE weakens when employees have a high level of POS. These findings are consistent with the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, which proposes that a reduction in job resources (e.g., perceptions of organizational politics) exacerbates job burnout; meanwhile, job resources (e.g., perceived organizational support) can buffer the indirect effect of POP on job burnout via OBSE. The study findings convey the practical implications POS as an imperative resource in alleviating job burnout and enhancing OBSE among employees in organizations where POP is prevalent.

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Keywords

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