Group Dominance in Hierarchy-Attenuating and Hierarchy-Enhancing Organizations: The Role of Social Dominance Orientation, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Power Tactics in a Person–Environment (Mis)Fit Perspective

In the present study, we examined the relationship between subordinates social dominance orientation (SDO) and their acquiescence to harsh power tactics as means for sustaining group hierarchies in different work environments. We examined the person-environment (P-E) misfit (vs. P-E fit) between employees’ high in SDO in a hierarchy-attenuating (vs. a hierarchy-enhancing) organization. In particular, we hypothesized that the interaction between SDO and need for cognitive closure (NFCC; an individual epistemic motivation to avoid uncertainty) sustained a greater acquiescence to harsh power tactics when subordinates faced an ambiguity condition of P-E misfit compared to a more stable condition of P-E fit. A total of 286 employees participated in the study. We recruited participants in a hierarchy-attenuating organization (N = 174) and in a hierarchy-enhancing organization (N = 112). The study’s variables were measured by administering an anonymous questionnaire.A three-way interaction analysis confirmed our hypothesis. In particular, the simple analysis showed that the association between subordinates’ SDO and harsh power tactics only occurs in the hierarchy-attenuating (vs. hierarchy enhancing) organization at the conditional level of high (vs. low) NFCC. The NFCC contributes to reducing the P-E misfit between subordinates’ SDO level and the organization’s hierarchy-attenuating function. SDO and NFCC interact in sustain asymmetrical group relationships in an uncertainty condition of P-E misfit leading subordinates in endorsing harsh power tactics