Yes, according to Vickie Gallagher and Mary Laird, two American psychologists.  They suggest that in highly political work environments, those people with low political skills suffer reduced job satisfaction.

Political skill was measured by participants’ agreement with statements like “I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others”.

A sense that the organisation’s decisions are influenced by internal politics was measured by participants’ agreement with statements like “I have seen organisational decisions based on things other than business necessity, like the wants of a certain few.” Finally, job satisfaction was measured as you’d expect by agreement with statements like “I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job.”

They suggest that existing employees should be trained to be more politically skilled, and indeed new recruits should have their political skills considered as part of the recruitment process.

You can see the full study here.

What do you think?  Are political skills vital to enjoy work?  Are they something that can be taught?