Justifying Deviant Behavior: The Role of Attributions and Moral Emotions

The missing link? Implications of internal, external, and relational attribution combinations for leader–member exchange, relationship work, self‐work, and conflict

“…Weiner contends that the causal dimensions of attributions are locus of causality, stability, and controllability. Locus of causality “describes the extent to which an event is attributed to causes internal or external to the observer” (Harvey, Martinko, & Borkowski, , p. 781). Stability refers to the extent to which an observed event is enduring (i.e., permanent) or temporary (i.e., variable), and controllability describes the event cause as one that is either “volitional or optional control” or uncontrollable (Weiner, , p. 551).…”

“…Emotional responses can include anger or frustration, commonly caused by external attributions, and guilt, commonly caused by internal attributions (Weiner, , ). Behavioral reactions may consist of helping behaviors (Weiner, , ), task performance (Thomas & Mathieu, ), and even deviant behaviors (Harvey et al, ). The achievement motivation model “therefore relates the structure of thinking to the dynamics of feeling and action” (Weiner, , p. 548).…”

“…In subsequent research, Brees and Martinko () elaborated on the connection between personal accountability and organizational citizenship behaviors. In other research, Harvey et al () described this as “adaptive guilt” because it prompts individuals to constructively address the adverse event to prevent it from happening again in the future (p. 783). In addition, the focus by both parties on improving the relationship is likely to increase LMX quality.Proposition Convergent relational attributions (the combination of leader relational and follower relational attributions; Tables and , Cell 1) are likely to result in relationship work by both the leader and follower, and LMX quality is likely to increase.…”

“…Under these circumstances, no relationship work occurs, but each party engages in self‐work because of guilt for their role in the adverse event. Indeed, Harvey et al () found that guilt was related to constructive workplace behaviors. Thus, the leader and follower may work to improve themselves by refining their skills to enhance future performance.…”

Attribution theory: An introduction to the special issue

“…Although there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of emotions in leadership and organizational behavior (Ashkanasy & Daus, ), we did not see this attention reflected in our submissions or in the recent literature. However, there are a few notable exceptions in the existing literature, particularly in the area of leader–member relations (Dasborough & Ashkanasy, , ; Martinko, Moss, Douglas, & Borkowski, ), abusive supervision (Brees, Mackey, Martinko, & Harvey, ; Chan & McAllister, ; Dasborough & Ashkanasy, , ; Martinko, Harvey, Sikora, & Douglas, ), deviant behavior (Harvey et al, ), and aggression (Douglas et al, ). Works by Weiner (, , , ) and the works cited above offer specific guidance on how particular types of attributions lead to specific emotions, including anger, shame, and gratitude.…”