The mediated effects of status leveling symbols on employee work attitudes through trust in management, overall justice perceptions and leader-member exchange

Abstract

We developed a measure of organizational status leveling by focusing on three symbols – physical space, dress, and forms of address. Using a sample of 106 employees who were enrolled in a part-time MBA program, we tested the mediating effects of trust in management, perceived overall justice, and leader-member exchange using procedures for testing multiple mediator models outlined by MacKinnon (2000), an extension of Baron and Kenny (1986). The results fully supported our proposed model. Our study contributes to organizational culture theory and high involvement work practices literature by elucidating the social-psychological process through which status leveling symbols operate.