The mediating role of social identity in the relationship between teachers' cultural value and organizational political perceptions

The purpose of this research is to examine the mediating role of social identity in the relationship between teachers' cultural value perceptions and organizational policy perceptions. For this purpose, the research has been designed in the explanatory correlational research model. The study population of research consists of 976 teachers working in public educational institutions in Düzce. Cultural Values Scale, Perception of Organizational Politics Scale and Teachers' Social Identity Perception Scale have been used as data collection tools in the research. The data of the research were collected by the researcher in the 2021-2022 academic year. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping have been used in the analysis of the research data. The results obtained in the research show that teachers' cultural value perceptions explain their perceptions of organizational politics in a negative way and their social identity perceptions in a positive and meaningful way; their social identity perceptions also explain the perceptions of organizational politics negatively and significantly. In addition, it has been concluded that teachers' social identity perceptions play a partial mediating role in the relationship between their cultural value perceptions and perceptions of organizational politics. Also, the results of the bootstrapping process show that this indirect effect is statistically significant. The findings have been discussed in line with the relevant literature, and suggestions have been made for future research and practice.