Factors Associated with the Use of Ingratiatory Behaviors in Organizational Settings: an Empirical Investigation

Although ingratiatory behaviors have been investigated by social psychologists for almost twenty-five years, and have been discussed as being used in organizational settings as an upward influence strategy, few empirical studies have explored the use of ingratiation in organizations. The intent of this study has been to empirically investigate the use of ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings. \ud In doing so, a theory-based rationale for the occurrence of ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings was developed. The framework developed for this study examined ingratiation as both an individually initiated and organizationally induced behavior. Next, a scale was developed to measure the frequency with which employees resort to ingratiatory behaviors in relationships with their superiors. Finally, a series of research propositions about the occurrence of ingratiatory behaviors in organizations were tested across a variety of organizational settings