Oral Presentation by Christine Unterrainer¹
¹ Universität Innsbruck, Austria
TIME: Wednesday, 15 July, 14:30 – 16:00
Location: Room 2
Session: 14
Abstract
In work- and organizational psychology, the organizational climate is defined as employees’ shared perception of organizational practices, policies, and procedures. The prevailing literature describes both general and specific forms of the organizational climate (e.g., the socio-moral climate). This presentation focuses on the conceptualization and operationalization of the neoliberal organizational climate as a specific type of climate. The neoliberal organizational climate is characterized by the dimensions 1) instrumentality, 2) individualism, and 3) competitiveness, which served as the basis for the development of the questionnaire presented here (NLBQ-C). While previous studies have examined related aspects (such as objectifying or competitive climates), they have not addressed the integrated construct of the neoliberal organizational climate. The present paper provides results of the factorial structure and first construct validity from two quantitative survey studies (study 1: N = 151; study 2: N = 436). Those initial studies found evidence for a three- and four-dimensional structure of the questionnaire. Study 1 reveals positive associations between the neoliberal organizational climate and both work intensification and work extensification, as well as negative correlations with employees’ psychological well-being. Furthermore, in both studies employees perceive a stronger neoliberal organizational climate in profit than in non-profit organizations and working in industries like finance, trade and insurance compared to education, instruction, health and social services.