Organizational and psychological climate: A review of theory and research

This article offers a brief history of psychological climate and the products of aggregates of psychological climate, typically referred to as “organizational climate”. The article begins with a synopsis of psychological climate. Discussion proceeds to organizational climate, where attention is given to what it means to form within-group aggregates of psychological climate, and what conditions these aggregates need to satisfy in order to qualify as measures of organizational climate. The relationship between climate and culture is next, where we build on prior theorizing and empirical research to argue that the two are distinct constructs. Finally, recent research in climate is briefly summarized.