LIMITING FACADES OF CONFORMITY AND ITS IMPACT:
THE ROLE OF SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS
KAREN H. HUNTER, PHD
University of Lethbridge
Faculty of Management
#1100, 10707 – 100 Ave.
Edmonton, AB, T5J 3M1
Tel: (780) 424-0425
Fax: (780) 424-0455
Karen.hunter@uleth.ca
ANDREW A. LUCHAK, PHD
University of Alberta
School of Business
3-23 Business Building
Edmonton, AB T6G 2R6
Tel: (780) 492-4304
Fax: (780) 492-3325
andrew.luchak@ualberta.ca
KAY DEVINE, PHD
Athabasca University
Faculty of Business
#301, 22 Sir Winston Churchill Ave.
St. Albert, AB, T8N 1B4
Tel: (780) 481-2797
Fax: (780) 459-2093
kayd@athabascau.ca
2
LIMITING FACADES OF CONFORMITY AND ITS IMPACT:
THE ROLE OF SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS
This research investigated whether perceived organizational support and leader member
exchange affect employees’ use of facades of conformity, and how facades of conformity affect
employee outcomes such as emotional exhaustion and work engagement. We present results
from two studies: a cross-sectional survey of 155 North American Doctoral Students, and a
longitudinal study of 286 working adults. The findings from both studies extend previous
research by demonstrating that high levels of perceived organizational support and leader
member exchange significantly reduce facades of conformity. A positive relationship between
facades of conformity and emotional exhaustion was observed, but results for the relationship
between facades of conformity and work engagement were inconsistent.
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial assistance for this project from the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and from a Faculty of Management Seed Funding
Grant from the University of Lethbridge.
3
LIMITING FACADES OF CONFORMITY AND ITS IMPACT:
THE ROLE OF SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS
In recent years, a nascent construct called facades of conformity has begun to garner
scholars’ interest. Facades of conformity occur when employees create false impressions in order
to appear as though they embrace organizational values (Hewlin, 2003, 2009). Employees
suppress or withhold their own personal values while appearing to agree with the perceived
values of the organization; they may explicitly express opinions they do not believe, or may
implicitly conform in appearance or expressions of agreement (Hewlin, 2009).
As the facades of conformity construct is still quite new, the theoretical framework
continues to emerge (see Hewlin, 2003), and is supported by the limited empirical evidence (see
Hewlin, 2003, 2009; Stormer & Devine, 2008). Developing a more comprehensive theory of
facades of conformity requires identifying its antecedents and outcomes, and the mechanisms
which underlie these relationships. In the present study, we focus on the contextual antecedents
of facades of conformity, with an emphasis on the role of supportive employment relationships.
In particular, we pursue a finer level of distinction with respect to the employee’s work
environment, and distinguish between support from the organization (i.e., perceived
organizational support) and support from the manager (i.e. leader-member exchange), as
antecedents of facades of conformity. In addition, we revisit the relationship between facades of
conformity and emotional exhaustion, and also examine its relationship with work engagement.
After reviewing the extant literature, we believe that the roles of organizational versus
managerial relationships in the development of facades of conformity warrant further attention,
as the two sources of support are sometimes co-mingled in discussions of antecedents of facades.
Hewlin (2009) found that non-participative work environments significantly contribute to the
development of facades of conformity. She explained that employees
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“…who perceive that they work in organizations lacking tolerance for
members expressing diverse ideas, opinions, and values might be particularly
likely to create facades of conformity. Spreitzer (1996) described such
organizations as non-participative, in which control, order, and predictability
are values. In these contexts, management is likely to be less approachable
and receptive to the expression of diverse values” (Hewlin, 2009: 729,
emphasis ours).
This explanation of the non-participative work environment taps into both organizational and
managerial characteristics, even though Hewlin (2003) defines the scope of facades of
conformity as being broader than the dyadic relationship between employees and their manager,
and addressing acceptance of organizational values.
Given that prior research has shown that a non-participative work environment increases
the creation of facades of conformity (Hewlin, 2009), we believe that our understanding of the
facades of conformity construct would be enhanced by examining how organizational support
and leader support contribute, individually, to the development of facades of conformity. Not
only would this advance the emerging theory of facades of conformity, but it would also have
practical implications for managers looking for ways to reduce facades of conformity in the
workplace. Accordingly, the study addresses these issues by testing the relationship between
perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange, and facades of conformity, and by
examining how these, in turn, affect emotional exhaustion and work engagement. To validate
and generalize our findings, we present results from two survey-based studies, including a crosssectional design and a longitudinal design. We consider the theoretical and practical
implications, and offer suggestions for future research.
5
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES
Perceived Organizational Support
Perceived organizational support occurs when employees form general beliefs about the
extent to which the organization appreciates their contributions and cares about their well-being
(Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986). Employees personify the organization, and
interpret their favorable or unfavorable treatment by the organization as an indication of the
organization’s benevolent or malevolent intent (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Perceived
organizational support is strengthened when the organization treats employees with dignity and
respect, and provides them with opportunities to express their opinions. Conversely, perceived
organizational support is weakened when self-seeking partisanship prevails in the organizational
culture, and conveys that the organization has little interest in employee welfare (Eisenberger et
al., 1986; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).
To a certain extent, the literature on voice and silence offers relevant insights into the role
of a safe environment and employees’ willingness to speak up about sensitive issues.
Organizational silence refers to employees’ decisions to withhold ideas, suggestions, questions,
or concerns, often out of fear of reprisal or concerns that sharing the information would be futile
(Morrison, Wheeler-Smith, & Kamdar, 2011). Bies (2009) noted the strong resemblance between
facades of conformity and silence, particularly when silence is used as a form of disguise, where
employees present a public face that is quite different from their private beliefs. Employees are
known to evaluate their work environment to assess the safety of speaking up or expressing
dissent (Morrison & Milliken, 2000). For example, Ashford, Rothbard, Piderit, and Dutton
(1998) argued that employees examine their work environment to determine whether issueselling on gender-equity would be well-received. They noted that favorable work contexts were
6
those where employees felt the issue would be treated seriously and fairly, and where a sense of
encouragement and safety were present. They found that high levels of perceived organizational
support made employees feel safe speaking up about issues that mattered to them.
We believe that the organization’s perceived supportiveness is also relevant to employees’
decisions about whether or not to engage in facades of conformity. When perceived
organizational support is high, and employees believe that the organization cares about their
well-being, strongly considers their goals and values, and would forgive an honest mistake on
their part (Eisenberger et al., 1986), they should be more likely to believe that the organization
would be tolerant of dissenting opinions and differences in values, and should feel safer
disclosing the incongruence between their values and the organization’s values, thereby making
them less likely to engage in facades of conformity. Accordingly,
H1: Perceived organizational support will be negatively related to facades of
conformity.
Leader-Member Exchange
Leader-member exchange theory holds that leaders form exchange relationships with their
subordinates, and that some of these relationships will be high quality whereas others will not
(Sparrowe & Liden, 1997). Value congruity appears to play an important role in promoting the
development of higher quality leader member exchange relationships (Ashkanasy, Neal M &
O'Connor, Christine, 1997; Dienesch & Liden, 1986; Phillips & Bedeian, 1994). Employees and
leaders in satisfactory leader-member relationships have been found to share similar values, and
employee’s perceptions of value similarity has been shown to affect even their earliest
interactions with the leader (Steiner, 1988).
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Findings from the voice and silence literatures also offer insights into the relationship
between leader member exchange and employees’ willingness to speak up. For example,
employees’ perceptions of managerial openness and psychological safety are positively related to
voice behavior (Ashford et al., 1998; Detert & Burris, 2007). High quality leader member
exchange relationships are characterized by loyalty, liking, and respect, and create contexts that
encourage employees to speak up and express their ideas (Van Dyne, Kamdar, & Joireman,
2008). In addition, employees in high quality leader member exchange relationships have more
opportunities to speak up (Botero & Van Dyne, 2009; Krone, 1991), and are significantly more
likely to share their opinions and articulate dissent (Kassing, 2000). This may be due to the fact
that employees in high quality leader member exchange relationships have already “paid their
dues” with their supervisor, and are therefore able to share risky information within that
relationship (Botero & Van Dyne, 2009).
Given that high quality leader member exchange relationships are characterized by higher
levels of trust and perceived safety, and since employees in high leader member exchange
relationships are more likely to speak up and articulate dissent, we believe that high quality
leader member exchange relationships will make employees feel safe sharing their personal
values and disclosing value incongruity. Accordingly, we propose that employees in high quality
leader member exchange relationships will be less likely to engage in facades of conformity.
H2: Leader member exchange will be negatively related to facades of conformity.
Outcomes: Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement
Although facades of conformity likely affect a number of employee outcomes, we limit our
focus here to two outcomes. First, we look to replicate Hewlin’s (2009) results with respect to
the relationship between facades of conformity and emotional exhaustion. Second, we look to
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extend the nomological network for facades of conformity by examining the relationship
between facades of conformity and work engagement.
Emotional exhaustion is one facet of burnout; it occurs when job demands exceed
resources and result in a depletion of emotional energy (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). In the job
resources-demands model, aspects of a job that require sustained physical or psychological
(including cognitive or emotional) effort are known as job demands, and are associated with
physical and psychological costs (e.g., Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Korunka et al., 2009). There
is ample evidence in the job demands-resources literature that higher levels of job demands are
associated with increased emotional exhaustion and burnout in single-sample (Bakker &
Demerouti, 2007; Hu et al., 2010; Korunka et al., 2009) and meta-analytic (Crawford et al.,
2010) studies.
Employees are motivated to create and maintain facades of conformity as a survival
mechanism when they are concerned or fearful of the consequences of not conforming (Hewlin,
2003, 2009). Maintaining a facade of conformity involves concealing or suppressing one’s true
self, through careful control of one’s emotional displays, verbal statements, and behavior in daily
interactions with others in the workplace (Hewlin, 2003). Doing so, in our opinion, requires
sustained psychological, cognitive and emotional effort. If employees feel they have no choice
but to create a façade of conformity, then, given the psychological demands, maintaining a
façade of conformity is a job demand. Accordingly, facades should be associated with an
increase in emotional exhaustion.
Empirically, incongruence between organizational and personal values has been shown to
increase emotional exhaustion among university professors (Siegall & McDonald, 2004) and
doctors and nurses (Leiter, Gascón, & Martínez-Jarreta, 2010). We also note that prior research
9
has demonstrated a positive relationship between facades of conformity and emotional
exhaustion (Hewlin, 2009). In accordance with the theoretical and empirical evidence, we expect
that employees who maintain facades of conformity will experience higher levels of emotional
exhaustion.
Hypothesis 3: Facades of conformity will be positively related to emotional exhaustion.
Work engagement is defined as “a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind that is
characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption” (Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006: 702).
According to Schaufeli, et al. (2006), vigor is characterized by high levels of mental resilience,
energy and persistence, and the willingness to invest effort in one’s work. Dedication refers to
the sense of enthusiasm, significance, challenge, and inspiration that one experiences when
strongly involved in one’s work. Absorption refers to the experience of being engrossed in one’s
work, concentrating fully, and finding it hard to detach from work. As the opposite of burnout,
the work engagement concept extends and supplements the burnout model (Korunka et al.,
2009). Previous research has demonstrated that while the engagement and burnout constructs are
related, they are empirically distinct (e.g., Bakker, Albrecht, & Leiter, 2011; Schaufeli, 2002;
Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Some research using the job demands-resources model has shown
that job demands significantly reduce work engagement (Crawford et al., 2010; Hakanen et al.,
2008; Hu et al., 2010). Having previously argued that creating and maintaining a facade of
conformity constitutes a job demand, we would expect that facades of conformity will lower
employee’s work engagement. Accordingly, we expect that
Hypothesis 4: Facades of conformity will be negatively related to work engagement.
METHODS FOR STUDY ONE
Data and Sample
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In Study 1, doctoral students at North American universities responded to a survey that
examined their perceptions of organizational support, leader-member exchange, expression of
facades of conformity, and demographic characteristics. We solicited participation in three ways:
through an online community for graduate students, via emails sent to graduate student
associations at Canadian schools requesting distribution of an invitation to participate, and by
asking participants to pass along the survey link to other eligible participants. As we are unable
to determine how many people received an email or viewed the online invitation, we cannot
determine a response rate. 279 people began the online survey. After eliminating incomplete or
ineligible responses, the final sample consisted of 155 current or recently graduated doctoral
students (56% completion rate) in research-based doctoral programs at North American
universities. The average age of respondents was 32 years (SD 5.78) and 79% were women.
Measures
Unless otherwise specified, the measures consisted of 7-point Likert-style rating scales in
which 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = neither agree nor disagree,
5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree, and 7 = strongly agree.
Perceived organizational support. We measured perceived organizational support using six
items from Eisenberger et al., 2001 (e.g., the university really cares about my well-being). The
reliability of the scale was α = .92.
Leader-member exchange. We measured leader-member exchange using the 11-item scale
from Liden and Maslyn (1998), (e.g., my supervisor would come to my defense if I were
“attacked” by others). The reliability of the scale was α = .90.
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Facades of conformity. We measured facades of conformity using five items from Hewlin
(2009), (e.g., I behave in a manner that is consistent with academe’s values, even though it is
inconsistent with my personal values). The reliability of the scale was α = .89.
Emotional exhaustion. We measured emotional exhaustion with the 7-item scale from
Maslach and Jackson (1981), (e.g., I feel emotionally drained from my work). The reliability of
the scale was α = .89.
Work engagement. We measured work engagement using the nine-item Utrecht Work
Engagement Scale from Schaufeli et al. (2006), (e.g., I am enthusiastic about my work). This
scale was measured on a 6-point Likert type scale (1 = never; 7 = always). The reliability of the
scale was α = .93.
RESULTS
The means, standard deviations, correlations and alpha coefficients of internal reliability
for all study measures are provided in Table 1. In anticipation of using parametric methods to
test our hypotheses, all measures were logarithmically transformed to ensure more normal
distributions. The table shows that correlations between all predictors are within reasonable
ranges, suggesting the unique effects of each can reasonably be estimated through a statistical
procedure like multiple regression. Consistent with hypotheses 1 and 2, perceived organizational
support and leader-member exchange were significantly and negatively correlated with facades
of conformity. Facades of conformity were positively correlated with emotional exhaustion and
were negatively correlated with work engagement, consistent with hypotheses 3 and 4.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 1 about here
---------------------------------------------------------
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Table 2 presents the results of an ordinary least squares regression model, in which façades
of conformity was regressed on perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange.
These results support Hypothesis 1, which posited that higher levels of perceived organizational
support would reduce facades of conformity, and Hypothesis 2, which predicted that higher
levels of leader-member exchange would reduce facades of conformity. These findings indicate
that supportive employment relationships, at both the organizational and managerial levels, are
significantly related to the expression of facades of conformity.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 2 about here
--------------------------------------------------------Next, we examined the relationships between facades of conformity and our two outcomes
measures.1 Table 3 presents the results of two ordinary least-squares regression models. We
regressed emotional exhaustion and work engagement, respectively, on facades of conformity.
These results support Hypothesis 3, which predicted that facades of conformity are significantly
and positively related to emotional exhaustion, and Hypothesis 4, which posited that facades of
conformity are significantly and negatively related to work engagement.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 3 about here
--------------------------------------------------------Since perceived organizational support and leader member exchange could also affect the
outcome variables directly, we carried out a post-hoc hierarchical regression to identify the
1
In addition to the ordinary least squares regressions presented here, we also analyzed the relationship between
facades of conformity and the two outcome variables using multivariate regression, yielding the same pattern and
levels of significance. For ease of presentation, we present the OLS results, however the multivariate results are
available upon request.
13
unique effects of facades of conformity after controlling for these measures. The results for the
two hierarchical regression models for emotional exhaustion and work engagement, respectively,
are presented in Table 4. Emotional exhaustion was significantly and negatively predicted by
leader member exchange in both steps of the hierarchical model while perceived organizational
support was not. Facades of conformity was entered in the second step, and was found to
significantly increase emotional exhaustion, independent of perceived organizational support and
leader member exchange. Facades accounted for 3% of the unique variance in emotional
exhaustion. Post-hoc tests of mediation for emotional exhaustion indicated that facades of
conformity partially mediated the relationship between leader member exchange and emotional
exhaustion (Sobel test statistic = −2.03, S.E. = 0.03, p < 0.05).
Work engagement was significantly and positively predicted by leader member exchange
in both stages of the hierarchical model, as illustrated in Table 4. However, adding facades of
conformity in the second step of the model was not statistically significant, and therefore the
effects on work engagement are attributed to main effects from leader member exchange alone.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 4 about here
--------------------------------------------------------Common Method Variance Assessment
As all the measures in study 1 were collected from the same respondents at the same point
in time, common method bias is possible (Cook & Campbell, 1979; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee,
& Podsakoff, 2003). We assessed the potential for this problem through two approaches.
Harman’s one-factor test. Following Podsakoff et al.’s (2003) approach, we conducted an
unrotated principal components factor analysis on all the items in this study. Eight factors with
14
eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were obtained, and these accounted for 72% of the total variance.
The first factor accounted for 33.7% of the total variance. As there were multiple factors, and no
single factor accounted for the majority of the observed variance, we concluded that substantial
common method variance error is not present (Podsakoff et al., 2003).
Partial correlation adjustment. Lindell and Whitney (2001) suggested that a variable that
is theoretically unrelated to at least one study variable (preferably the dependent variable) can be
used as a marker variable to diagnose common method variance. We selected the type of
doctorate degree (operationalized as a categorical measure of PhD versus any other type of
doctorate degree) as our marker variable because it was theoretically unrelated to facades of
conformity. We found that the significant zero-order correlations were unchanged after the
partial correlation adjustment, and again concluded that substantial common method variance is
not present (Lindell & Whitney, 2001; Podsakoff et al., 2003).
METHODS FOR STUDY TWO
Data and Sample
Participants for Study 2 were permanent, non-unionized, non-supervisory employees who
were older than 25 and had been employed in a service-industry organization for at least one
year. Participants were recruited via email invitations. Approximately 4500 email invitations
were distributed, yielding 2335 visits to our online survey (approximate response rate of 51.8%).
Of those who visited our survey website, 238 opted not to participate, 1238 participants were
screened out by our eligibility criteria, and an additional 221 participants did not complete the
survey. Of the 849 eligible respondents, 628 participants completed the survey at Time 1 (73.9%
completion rate). Three months later, we invited all 628 participants to complete the survey at
Time 2. 389 participants responded to our invitations. After excluding those who no longer met
15
the eligibility criteria (e.g., respondents who changed jobs or organizations between time
periods), as well as those with incomplete survey responses, we were left with a total of 286
participants to study at Time 2 (matched response rate of 45.5%). The average age of participants
was 45.2 years (S.D. = 11.01), 62.5% were female. Average organizational tenure was 8.08 years
(S.D. = 7.00), and 76.0% of participants were employed full time, working at least 35 hours per
week.
Measures
All variables were measured using scales identical in format to Study 1, except that a
generic reference to organization rather than university was used in the question wording. Time 1
measures included perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange. Time 2
measures were collected after a three month lag, and included facades of conformity, emotional
exhaustion, and work engagement.
RESULTS
The means, standard deviations, correlations and alpha coefficients of internal reliability
for all study measures are provided in Table 5. As in Study 1, the table shows all variables are
reliably measured with high α values. As before, logarithmic transformations were also
performed on all variables in anticipation of the parametric tests to be subsequently used. The
table shows that correlations between the predictor variables do not appear to a source of
concern, however, we did examine the variance influence factor for assurance that the correlation
between perceived organization support and leader-member exchange was within tolerable limits
(Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003). This test statistic showed no cause for concern for
including both variables in the same multiple regression equation. Perceived organizational
support and leader-member exchange were significantly and negatively correlated with facades
16
of conformity; these results are consistent with hypotheses 1, and 2. Facades of conformity were
significantly and positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, and negatively correlated with
work engagement, results which are consistent with Hypotheses 3 and 4.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 5 about here
--------------------------------------------------------To test the research hypotheses, we conducted several regression analyses. Table 6
presents the results of an ordinary least squares regression model in which facades of conformity
was regressed on perceived organizational support and leader member exchange. Hypotheses 1
and 2, which posited that higher levels of perceived organizational support and leader-member
exchange, respectively, would significantly reduce facades of conformity, were therefore
supported.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 6 about here
--------------------------------------------------------Next, we examined the relationship between facades of conformity and outcomes. Table 7
presents the results of two separate ordinary least squares regression models.2 We regressed
emotional exhaustion and work engagement, respectively, on facades of conformity. Hypothesis
3, which predicted that facades of conformity would significantly increase emotional exhaustion,
was supported. Hypothesis 4, which posited that facades of conformity would significantly
reduce work engagement, was not supported.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 7 about here
2
In addition to the ordinary least squares regressions presented here, we also analyzed the relationship between
facades of conformity and the two outcome variables using multivariate regression, yielding the same pattern and
levels of significance. For ease of presentation, we present the OLS results, however the multivariate results are
available upon request.
17
--------------------------------------------------------To determine the unique effects of facades of conformity on our outcomes independent of
the potential influence of perceived organizational support and leader member exchange, we also
carried out two separate hierarchical regressions models, which are presented in Table 8.
Perceived organizational support was found to significantly and negatively predict emotional
exhaustion in both steps of the hierarchical regression while the effects of leader-member
exchange were found to be insignificant. Facades of conformity significantly increased
emotional exhaustion in the second step, and explained 6% of the unique variance in this
outcome. Post-hoc tests of mediation for emotional exhaustion indicated that facades of
conformity partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and
emotional exhaustion (Sobel test statistic = −2.44, S.E. = 0.04, p <0.05). Lastly, perceived
organizational support was found to significantly increase work engagement in both stages of the
hierarchical model, but the addition of facades of conformity in the second stage was not
statistically significant.
-------------------------------------------------------Insert Table 8 about here
--------------------------------------------------------DISCUSSION
The present study makes several important contributions to work on facades of conformity,
and further develops the facades construct and its corresponding theory. First, we extend past
research on the role of non-participative work environments, and tease apart the role of
organizational support and leader support as antecedents of facades of conformity. In two
separate studies, we found that perceived organizational support and leader member exchange
significantly reduce employees’ creation of facades of conformity. These findings are consistent
18
with prior research on voice behavior. Dutton et al. (1994) demonstrated that people read their
work context for clues about how voice behavior (in the form of issue selling) would be
received. They found that employees who perceived high levels of organizational support
inferred that the organization would be supportive of their concerns. In a similar fashion, our
findings suggest that employees who believe that the organization cares about them, values their
contributions, and strongly considers their values and opinions will infer that the organization
will be tolerant of employees who express dissent with respect to organizational values, and are
therefore less likely to engage in facades of conformity.
In differentiating facades of conformity from impression management on the basis of
differences in scope, Hewlin (2003) argued that impression management was associated with
employees’ efforts to conform to the opinions and preferences of their manager, whereas facades
of conformity related to the employee’s appearance of accepting organizational values. Though
we do not study impression management, our findings are consistent with the view that facades
of conformity are associated with employee efforts to conform to the views of their managers
and their organization. Employees who experience high quality exchange relationships with the
organization and the supervisor feel less compelled to suppress their personal values, perhaps
due to increased psychological safety (Detert & Burris, 2007). High quality relationships, such as
those characterized by shared knowledge, shared goals, and mutual respect, and which are
somewhat similar to strong perceived organizational support and high quality leader member
exchange relationships, have been shown to increase psychological safety (Carmeli & Gittell,
2009). Accordingly, we suggest that high perceived organizational support and strong leader
member exchange increase psychological safety, which reduces employees’ fear of negative
19
repercussions for voicing disagreement with organizational values, and thus reduce the creation
of facades of conformity.
In both of our studies, the relationship between perceived organizational support and
facades of conformity was stronger than the one between leader member exchange and facades
of conformity. If employees believe that the organization, as a whole, cares about their wellbeing, appreciates their contributions, and strongly considers their values and opinions
(Eisenberger et al., 1986), they should feel less need to create facades of conformity, because the
tolerance and acceptance of different values would be organization-wide. In comparison,
employees who change departments and/or supervisors can’t be certain of a high quality leader
member exchange relationship with their new manager. If they express their disagreement with
organizational values within a department where they do not have a strong relationship with their
manager, there may be negative repercussions. In this way, the negative relationship between
leader member exchange and facades of conformity might be more localized within an
organization, such that some employees feel they should continue to suppress and withhold their
true values, since they can’t be certain that all managers within an organization would be open to
their expressions of dissent.
In addition to examining how supportive employment relationships affect facades of
conformity, another objective of this study was to examine how maintaining facades of
conformity affect employees. Both of our studies showed that engaging in facades of conformity
increases emotional exhaustion. These findings are consistent with prior research (e.g., Hewlin,
2009), which suggested that employees experience tensions as a result of creating facades.
Drawing on the job-resources and demands model, we have argued that employees who engage
in facades of conformity as a survival mechanism are, in fact, experiencing a job demand, and
20
experience emotional exhaustion as a result of the strains resulting from the sustained emotional
and cognitive effort associated with maintaining the façade. The findings from the hierarchical
regressions indicate that the quality of the employment relationships account for a substantially
greater portion of the variance in emotional exhaustion than do the facades of conformity. In
Study 1, however, leader member exchange significantly predicted emotional exhaustion while
in Study 2, perceived organizational support significantly predicted this outcome. This difference
may be due to the unique context of the supervisory-student relationship in doctoral programs
which, unlike the general employment relationship examined in Study 2, is more apt to be time
bound, intensively developmental, and characterized by greater power distance.
The relationship between facades of conformity and work engagement was less robust and
consistent in our research, as the relationship was only significant in one study. While some
empirical studies have found a significant relationship between job demands and work
engagement, it is much weaker than the relationship between job demands and burnout (e.g.,
Crawford et al., 2010; Hakanen et al., 2008), and several studies have found that the relationship
between job demands and work engagement is not significant (e.g. Korunka et al., 2009; Van
den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, De Witte, & Lens, 2008). Based on the results from the hierarchical
regression models, work engagement is primarily affected by the quality of the employment
relationships. Future work might continue to explore the relationship between facades of
conformity and its effect on work engagement.
Theoretical Implications
Our primary contribution is to establish both theoretically and empirically that high quality
exchange relationships with the organization (i.e., perceived organizational support) and with the
immediate supervisor (i.e., leader-member exchange) significantly reduce employees’ use of
21
facades of conformity. Previous research has demonstrated that non-participative environments,
where employees do not participate in decision making and perceive that diverse opinions are
unwelcome, promote the creation of facades of conformity (Hewlin. 2009). Our findings advance
the theoretical framework by demonstrating that the quality of the relationship with the
organization and with the manager affects employees’ use of facades of conformity.
Our findings suggest that employees who experience high quality exchange relationships
with the organization and the supervisor feel less compelled to suppress their personal values,
perhaps due to increased psychological safety. High quality relationships, such as those
characterized by shared knowledge, shared goals, and mutual respect, and which are somewhat
similar to strong perceived organizational support and high quality leader member exchange
relationships, have been shown to increase psychological safety (Carmeli & Gittell, 2009).
Accordingly, we suggest that high perceived organizational support and strong leader member
exchange increase psychological safety, which reduces employees’ fear of negative
repercussions for voicing disagreement with organizational values, and thus reduced the creation
of facades of conformity.
Our findings are also relevant to self-presentation and conformity research, as they
demonstrate that organizational and managerial support affect employees’ decisions to suppress
their true values and create the impression that they accept organizational values. Our work
builds on Hewlin’s earlier research, and further reinforces the notion that employee’s decisions
about creating facades of conformity depends, in part, on the organizational environment.
Our study makes a modest contribution to the perceived organizational support and leader
member exchange literatures, and demonstrates, for the first time, that these constructs are
related to facades of conformity. From this perspective, employees who experience high quality
22
treatment from the organization and a supervisor may experience a felt obligation to reciprocate
through a higher standard of integrity and personal conduct (as represented by the concept of
facades of conformity).
Practical Implications
Organizations can shape members potential to engage in facades of conformity in two
general ways. One method is through selecting people on the basis of this characteristic. A
second method is by creating organizational conditions that encourage high levels of both
perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange. To increase perceived
organizational support, organizations should work to improve procedural fairness and supervisor
support, implement human resource practices that promote training and autonomy, and reward
and recognize employee contributions (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). To strengthen leadermember exchange, managers should provide employees with opportunities to build relational
trust through delegation (Bauer & Green, 1996). In addition, managers should be encouraged to
demonstrate respect for their employees’ capabilities and offer all their direct reports the
opportunity to build a high quality leader-member relationship (Graen & Uhl-Bein, 1995). Doing
these things not only holds the potential to reduce facades of conformity, but also to reduce
emotional exhaustion and increase work engagement.
Strengths
The primary strength of this study was the replication of results showing that effects of
perceived organizational support and leader member exchange reduce facades of conformity in
two studies in different industries, which increases the generalizeability of our findings in
different organizational settings. We chose samples where there are significant differences in the
importance of a positive recommendation from one’s immediate supervisor in securing a new
23
job, as this may affect employees’ self-presentation concerns. In the corporate world, it is
common and acceptable for people to apply for a new job without providing their current
supervisor as a reference. The expectations are very different in academia, where it is all but
impossible for a doctoral candidate to secure a faculty position without a very strong
recommendation from the dissertation supervisor. Additional research is required to further
establish the generalizeability of our findings. We would suggest that future work examine
different industries and different occupation groups and levels to determine where the pressures
for facades are most significant, and whether antecedents vary in importance based on the
industry, occupation type, or level within an organization. A second strength of our study is the
use of a longitudinal design in the second study, which gives us greater confidence in our
assertion regarding the causal relationship between perceived organizational support and leader
member exchange, and facades of conformity.
Limitations and Future Research
Several issues should be kept in mind when interpreting the results of this study. First, our
study relied on self-reported measures. This was necessary, as the creation of facades of
conformity is secretive in nature, and is therefore difficult to observe (Hewlin, 2009). We used a
cross-sectional design in Study 1 and measured all the variables simultaneously, which has the
potential to introduce common method bias (Cook & Campbell, 1979). We used several
procedural remedies to reduce the likelihood of response biases.
To reduce the likelihood of common method error and social desirability response bias,
both surveys assured participants of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses
(Podsakoff et al., 2003). To reduce the impact of common method variance, none of the items or
item groupings were labeled with the reported construct name, each scale appeared on a separate
24
page in the survey, and the scale items in the survey were presented in reverse causal order. In
addition, we separated the facades, perceived organizational support, and leader member
exchange scales with extraneous measures such that each of these measures appeared several
screens apart. In addition to these preventive measures (Podsakoff et al., 2003), we conducted
two statistical tests to assess common method variance and the results from both tests suggested
that common method variance was not substantially present in Study 1. We also acknowledge
that the results from Study 1 are based on correlational data, which limits our ability to draw
conclusions on causal relationships among the variables, although we would note that the
proposed sequence of the measures was theory-driven.
Although the common method variance assessment from Study 1 suggested that common
method bias was not a significant concern in that study, we measured the predictor and criterion
variables separately (Podsakoff et al., 2003) when we replicated the study with a different
sample. In Study 2, we used a longitudinal research design: we measured facades of conformity
and other outcomes three months after measuring perceived organizational support and leader
member exchange. As the criterion measures for work engagement and emotional exhaustion
were collected at the same time as the facades measure, our ability to draw conclusions about
causal relationships among these measures is limited. Additional longitudinal research on the
consequences of facades of conformity would be beneficial.
As Hewlin (2009) noted, participants may also have been influenced by a general concern
for giving the impression that their behavior is consistent with their internal feelings (Higgins,
1989), and may have been inclined to report engaging in lower levels of facades of conformity
than they actually perform as a result of a self-consistency bias. If this were the case, our results
would reflect a conservative test, and would therefore strengthen the study’s conclusions. One of
25
our objectives in the present study was to tease apart the influence of organizational and
managerial support on facades of conformity. To do this, we looked to the well-established
constructs of perceived organizational support and leader member exchange, which are known to
be separate and discrete constructs (Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997). As we did not include a
measure of the non-participative environment in our studies, we are unable to determine whether
the non-participative environment construct overlaps with either the perceived organizational
support or leader-member exchange constructs. Future studies might examine all three
antecedents simultaneously to establish their discriminant validity in this context, and to assess
their comparative influence on the creation of facades of conformity.
We have suggested that perceived safety might explain why perceived organizational
support and leader member exchange reduce the creation of facades of conformity in the
workplace. We would encourage scholars to subject our explanation to empirical testing, and to
explicitly examine whether psychological safety mediates the relationship between each of
perceived organizational support and leader member exchange and facades of conformity.
The present study introduced work attitudes to the nomological network for facades of
conformity. We believe that other work attitudes may also influence employees’ decisions about
creating facades of conformity, and would encourage scholars to examine the role of other work
attitudes and beliefs as antecedents. In particular, we suggest that organizational commitment
(e.g., Meyer & Allen, 1991) may be a promising antecedent, as the mindset and basis of one’s
commitment to the organization may significantly affect the creation of facades of conformity.
Employees who remain with their organization on the basis of continuance commitment, because
they perceive few alternatives for employment or because of the sacrifices they would make in
leaving should be far more likely to engage in facades of conformity than employees who stay
26
because of strong affective commitment, which is derived from a strong identification with the
organization (e.g., Meyer & Allen, 1991).
Future work should also examine other outcomes of facades, preferably using a
longitudinal design or with other-rated outcomes. Understanding how facades affect in-role and
extra-role performance will be critical in extending the theoretical framework for facades of
conformity, and for advancing practical implications. We know that facades of conformity affect
employees’ well-being but if there is no corresponding impact on job performance, organizations
may be less motivated to take steps to reduce the occurrence of facades of conformity in the
workplace. One promising avenue of future inquiry is voice and silence. Voice directed at
identifying or solving organizational problems is a particularly important form of extra-role
behaviour critical to organizations that rely on employee involvement for their successes.
Organizations that make it inhospitable or risky to challenge the status quo may invite higher
levels of facades of conformity from their employees that manifest themselves in reduced voice
or increased forms of withdrawal such as silence.
CONCLUSION
Research on facades of conformity is still in its infancy. Our primary objective in the
present study was to determine whether the quality of employment relationships affects
employees’ use of facades of conformity. We found, in two studies, that high perceived
organizational support and high quality leader-member exchange relationships significantly
reduce facades of conformity. Our results demonstrate that the managerial and organizational
contexts are both relevant to employees’ decisions to withhold or suppress their personal values
at work. Consistent with earlier research, we found that maintaining facades of conformity has
deleterious effects on employee well-being, as it increases emotional exhaustion.
27
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Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Scale Reliabilities, and Correlations
Variable
M
SD
1
2
3
1. Facades of conformity
2. Perceived organizational support
1.84 0.43
1.56 0.31
(.89)
-.30 *** (.92)
3. Leader-member exchange
1.96 0.36
-.26 **
.22 **
5. Emotional exhaustion
1.71 0.38
-.21 **
.20 **
.52 **
6. Work engagement
1.88 0.37
.29 **
.20 **
-.45 **
4
5
(.90)
(.93)
-.63 **
(.89)
Note: Doctoral student sample. N = 155. Internal consistency reliability coefficients (alphas) appear in
parentheses along the main diagonal. Variables have been logarithmically transformed. Significance tests are onetailed. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
33
Table 2
Regression Results for Predicted Antecedent Variables
of Facades of Conformity
β
Predictor
Perceived organizational support
Leader-member exchange
R
2
Adjusted R
F
-.25 **
-.20 **
.13
2
.12
11.10 ***
Note. Doctoral student sample. N = 155. Variables have
been logarithmically transformed, thus standardized coefficients
are presented. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
34
Table 3
Regression Results for Outcomes of Facades of Conformity
Emotional
Exhaustion
β
Predictor
Facades of conformity
R
2
Adjusted R
F
Work
Engagement
.29 ***
.09
2
.08
14.22 ***
Note. Doctoral student sample. N = 155. * p < .05. ** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
β
-.21 **
.05
.04
7.32 **
35
Table 4
Hierarchical Regression Results for Outcomes of Facades of Conformity
Emotional Exhaustion
Model 1
Work Engagement
Model 2
Model 1
Model 2
β
β
β
β
Perceived organizational support
-.11
-.07
.09
.07
Leader-member exchange
-.43 ***
-.39 ***
.50 **
.48 ***
Predictor
Facades of conformity
F
20.60 ***
R2
Adjusted R
ΔR 2
.17 *
2
15.77 *
-.07
28.73 ***
19.40
.21
.24
.27
.28
.20
.22
.27
.26
.21 ***
.03 *
.27 ***
.00
Note. Doctoral student sample. N = 155. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
36
Table 5
Means, Standard Deviations, Scale Reliabilities, and Correlations
Variable
1. Facades of conformity
2. Perceived organizational support
3. Leader-member exchange
4. Emotional exhaustion
5. Work engagement
M
SD
1
2
3
4
1.74
1.88
2.00
1.88
1.62
0.40
0.37
0.36
0.45
0.24
(.89)
-.24 **
-.24 **
.34 **
-.10 *
(.93)
.62 **
-.41 **
.40 **
(.95)
-.29 **
.23 **
(.96)
-.57 **
5
(.93)
Note: Working adult sample. N = 286. Internal consistency reliability coefficients (alphas) appear in parentheses
along the main diagonal. Significance tests are one-tailed. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
37
Table 6
Regression Results for Predicted Antecedent Variables of Facades
of Conformity
β
Predictor
Perceived organizational support
Leader-member exchange
R
2
Adjusted R
F
2
-.15 *
-.15 *
.07
.07
11.14 ***
Note. Working adult sample. N = 286. Variables have been
logarithmically transformed, thus standardized coefficients are presented.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
38
Table 7
Regression Results for Outcomes of Facades of Conformity
Emotional
Exhaustion
Predictor
β
Work
Engagement
β
Facades of conformity
.34 ***
R2
.11
.01
Adjusted R 2
.11
.01
F
36.16 ***
-.10
2.77
Note. Working adult sample. N = 286. * p < .05. ** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
39
Table 8
Hierarchical Regression Results for Outcomes of Facades of Conformity
Emotional Exhaustion
Predictor
Model 1
Model 2
Model 1
Model 2
β
β
β
β
Perceived organizational support
-.38 ***
-.34 ***
Leader-member exchange
-.06
-.02
Facades of conformity
F
Work Engagement
.42 ***
-.03
.25 ***
29.29 ***
27.88 ***
.42 ***
-.03
-.01
26.43 ***
17.56 ***
R2
.17
.23
.16
.16
Adjusted R 2
.17
.22
.15
.16
.17 ***
.06 ***
.16 ***
.00
ΔR
2
Note. Working adult sample. N = 286. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.