Getting even for customer mistreatment: The role of moral identity in the relationship between customer interpersonal injustice and employee sabotage.

Abstract

Research on the "dark side" of organizational behavior has determined that employee sabotage is most often a reaction by disgruntled employees to perceived mistreatment. To date, however, most studies on employee retaliation have focused on intra-organizational sources of (in)justice. Results from this field study of customer service representatives (N = 358) showed that interpersonal injustice from customers relates positively to customer-directed sabotage over and above intra-organizational sources of fairness. Moreover, the association between unjust treatment and sabotage was moderated by 2 dimensions of moral identity (symbolization and internalization) in the form of a 3-way interaction. The relationship between injustice and sabotage was more pronounced for employees high (vs. low) in symbolization, but this moderation effect was weaker among employees who were high (vs. low) in internalization. Last, employee sabotage was negatively related to job performance ratings.

Workplace Bullying and Unethical Behaviors: A Mediating Model

“…These "locked in" employees while maintaining organizational membership might actively engage in behaviors that are unfavorable and counter to the organization's interest (Crino, 1994;Terris & Jones, 1982). Empirical results support this argument, it has been shown that sabotage and stealing are adaptive behaviors adopted by employees in response to unfavorable incidents (Greenberge, 1990;Skarlicki, Van Jaarsveld & Walker, 2008).…”

Antecedents of Deviant Work Behavior: A Review of Research

“…A myriad of other factors has been proposed to explain CWB, which could stem from abusive supervisors and customers toward employees to violation of psychological contract (e.g., termination of one's employment on grounds of perceived supervisor vendetta rather than one's poor job performance), work events, and unfavorable working conditions [10][11][12][13]. Deviant work behavior can result from employees who feel mistreated by others in the organization and could be a way to retaliate against other employees.…”

Being in Control May Make You Lose Control: Role of Self-Regulation in Unethical Leadership Behavior

“…Research that investigates precisely when moral identity may influence behavior remains relatively sparse. Thus far, scholars have looked at the interaction between moral identity and formalism (Reynolds & Ceranic, 2007), at the interaction between moral identity and ethical organization culture (Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, 2008), and at the interaction between internal and symbolic moral identity (Caldwell & Moberg, 2007). We add to this existing literature and illuminate how moral identity operates.…”