Testing Differential Mediation Effects of Sub-dimensions of Political Skills in Linking Proactive Personality to Employee Performance

The purpose of this research was to examine the mediating roles of political skill dimensions (i.e., networking ability, interpersonal influence, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity) in linking employees' proactive personality and supervisor-rated in-role performance and altruism. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the mediation model based on data collected from employees working for a large insurance company in China (N = 198). Results suggested that networking ability, interpersonal influence, and social astuteness mediated the relationship between proactive personality and in-role performance. Networking ability and social astuteness mediated the relationship between proactive personality and altruism. Testing the mediation effects of all dimensions of political skills between proactive personality and in-role performance and altruism helps to advance our theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the beneficial effect of proactive personality on performance. Our findings may also help to inform the importance of developing employees' political skill in order to enhance their job performance. This empirical study provides preliminary evidence of the mediating effects of the specific dimension of political skill in the positive relationship between proactive personality and in- and extra-role performance.