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

Douglas, Karen M.; Leite, Ana C.

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Authors

Karen M. Douglas



Abstract

Belief in conspiracy theories about societal events is widespread and has important consequences for political, health, and environmental behaviour. Little is known, however, about how conspiracy theorizing affects people's everyday working lives. In the present research, we predicted that belief in conspiracy theories about the workplace would be associated with increased turnover intentions. We further hypothesized that belief in these organizational conspiracy theories would predict decreased organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Finally, we hypothesized that these factors would mediate the relationship between organizational conspiracy theories and turnover intentions. In three studies (one correlational and two experiments, Ns = 209, 119, 202), we found support for these hypotheses. The current studies therefore demonstrate the potentially adverse consequences of conspiracy theorizing for the workplace. We argue that managers and employees should be careful not to dismiss conspiracy theorizing as harmless rumour or gossip.

Citation

Douglas, K. M., & Leite, A. C. (2016). Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work-related outcomes. British Journal of Psychology, 108(3), 486-506. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12212

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 8, 2016
Online Publication Date Aug 4, 2016
Publication Date Aug 4, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 13, 2019
Publicly Available Date Jun 13, 2019
Journal British Journal of Psychology
Print ISSN 0007-1269
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 108
Issue 3
Pages 486-506
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12212
Related Public URLs https://kar.kent.ac.uk/56748/

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Douglas, Karen M. & Leite, Ana C. (2017). Suspicion in the workplace: Organizational conspiracy theories and work-related outcomes. British Journal of Psychology 108(3): 486-506., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12212. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.




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