The social context of undermining behavior at work

Michelle K. Duffy; Daniel C. Ganster; Jason D. Shaw; Jonathan L. Johnson; Milan Pagon

doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005

The social context of undermining behavior at work

Michelle K. Duffy, Daniel C. Ganster, Jason D. Shaw, Jonathan L. Johnson, Milan Pagon

Work and Organizations

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

243 Scopus citations

Abstract

We developed a fairness theory perspective to explain the experience of being "singled out" for social undermining from supervisors and coworkers, and tested our predictions across four distinct social contexts. We argued and predicted that attitudinal and behavioral reactions to undermining (from supervisors and coworkers) would be strongest when a correspondingly low level of undermining was found in the social context. The hypothesized cross-level interaction was supported for supervisor and coworker undermining among a sample of officers from the national police force in the Republic of Slovenia (Study 1), replicated for supervisor undermining among soldiers in the US National Guard (Study 2), and further replicated with group-member undermining among a sample of individuals working in student teams (Study 3). We then predicted that justice perceptions would mediate the singled out interaction and tested the mediated-moderation model in a coworker-network context among employees of a restaurant chain (Study 4). The results substantially supported the mediation prediction. These findings from diverse settings demonstrate that considering the social context is important when trying to understand the effects of social undermining behaviors at work.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	105-126
Number of pages	22
Journal	Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Volume	101
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005
State	Published - Sep 2006

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Study 2 was funded by the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Kentucky. Study 4 was funded by the SHRM Foundation. The interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of these organizations. We wish to thank Jackie Thompson for editorial assistance.

Copyright:
Copyright 2006 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Abusive supervision
Deviance
Fairness theory
Networks
Social undermining

Publisher link

10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005

Find It

Find It at U of M Libraries

Cite this

@article{847cc8c0a2b14b79ae6a089d869bc4ec,

title = "The social context of undermining behavior at work",

abstract = "We developed a fairness theory perspective to explain the experience of being {"}singled out{"} for social undermining from supervisors and coworkers, and tested our predictions across four distinct social contexts. We argued and predicted that attitudinal and behavioral reactions to undermining (from supervisors and coworkers) would be strongest when a correspondingly low level of undermining was found in the social context. The hypothesized cross-level interaction was supported for supervisor and coworker undermining among a sample of officers from the national police force in the Republic of Slovenia (Study 1), replicated for supervisor undermining among soldiers in the US National Guard (Study 2), and further replicated with group-member undermining among a sample of individuals working in student teams (Study 3). We then predicted that justice perceptions would mediate the singled out interaction and tested the mediated-moderation model in a coworker-network context among employees of a restaurant chain (Study 4). The results substantially supported the mediation prediction. These findings from diverse settings demonstrate that considering the social context is important when trying to understand the effects of social undermining behaviors at work.",

keywords = "Abusive supervision, Deviance, Fairness theory, Networks, Social undermining",

author = "Duffy, {Michelle K.} and Ganster, {Daniel C.} and Shaw, {Jason D.} and Johnson, {Jonathan L.} and Milan Pagon",

note = "Funding Information: Study 2 was funded by the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Kentucky. Study 4 was funded by the SHRM Foundation. The interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of these organizations. We wish to thank Jackie Thompson for editorial assistance. Copyright: Copyright 2006 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2006",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "101",

pages = "105--126",

journal = "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes",

issn = "0749-5978",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The social context of undermining behavior at work

AU - Duffy, Michelle K.

AU - Ganster, Daniel C.

AU - Shaw, Jason D.

AU - Johnson, Jonathan L.

AU - Pagon, Milan

N1 - Funding Information: Study 2 was funded by the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Kentucky. Study 4 was funded by the SHRM Foundation. The interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of these organizations. We wish to thank Jackie Thompson for editorial assistance. Copyright: Copyright 2006 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2006/9

Y1 - 2006/9

N2 - We developed a fairness theory perspective to explain the experience of being "singled out" for social undermining from supervisors and coworkers, and tested our predictions across four distinct social contexts. We argued and predicted that attitudinal and behavioral reactions to undermining (from supervisors and coworkers) would be strongest when a correspondingly low level of undermining was found in the social context. The hypothesized cross-level interaction was supported for supervisor and coworker undermining among a sample of officers from the national police force in the Republic of Slovenia (Study 1), replicated for supervisor undermining among soldiers in the US National Guard (Study 2), and further replicated with group-member undermining among a sample of individuals working in student teams (Study 3). We then predicted that justice perceptions would mediate the singled out interaction and tested the mediated-moderation model in a coworker-network context among employees of a restaurant chain (Study 4). The results substantially supported the mediation prediction. These findings from diverse settings demonstrate that considering the social context is important when trying to understand the effects of social undermining behaviors at work.

AB - We developed a fairness theory perspective to explain the experience of being "singled out" for social undermining from supervisors and coworkers, and tested our predictions across four distinct social contexts. We argued and predicted that attitudinal and behavioral reactions to undermining (from supervisors and coworkers) would be strongest when a correspondingly low level of undermining was found in the social context. The hypothesized cross-level interaction was supported for supervisor and coworker undermining among a sample of officers from the national police force in the Republic of Slovenia (Study 1), replicated for supervisor undermining among soldiers in the US National Guard (Study 2), and further replicated with group-member undermining among a sample of individuals working in student teams (Study 3). We then predicted that justice perceptions would mediate the singled out interaction and tested the mediated-moderation model in a coworker-network context among employees of a restaurant chain (Study 4). The results substantially supported the mediation prediction. These findings from diverse settings demonstrate that considering the social context is important when trying to understand the effects of social undermining behaviors at work.

KW - Abusive supervision

KW - Deviance

KW - Fairness theory

KW - Networks

KW - Social undermining

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748884554&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33748884554&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005

DO - 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.04.005

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:33748884554

SN - 0749-5978

VL - 101

SP - 105

EP - 126

JO - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

JF - Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

IS - 1

ER -

The social context of undermining behavior at work

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this