Learning from supervisor negative gossip: The reflective learning process and performance outcome of employee receivers

Abstract

Workplace gossip is generally viewed as a deviant behavior that negatively affects the work outcomes of employees. However, we argue that this negative view is incomplete. Drawing on the cultural learning perspective of gossip and social learning theory, we examine how the job performance of employee receivers benefits from supervisor negative gossip through reflective learning. On the basis of multi-source, cross-sectional designs, Studies 1 and 2 consistently find that supervisor negative gossip facilitates employee receiver reflective learning and subsequent job performance when controlling for two sets of theory-relevant variables. Study 3, which has a multi-source, cross-lagged panel design, provides further evidence of the directional relationship from supervisor negative gossip to employee receiver job performance through reflective learning. The findings of the three separate field studies support the positive effect of supervisor negative gossip on employee receivers from a learning perspective. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings in terms of how employee receiver job performance can benefit from workplace negative gossip.

Don’t Speak Ill of Others Behind Their Backs: Receivers’ Ostracism (Sender-Oriented) Reactions to Negative Workplace Gossip

“…Therefore, the present research revealed the influence of negative workplace gossip on another important group: gossip receiver, which is not only a useful supplement to negative workplace gossip research from the recipient's perspective, but also response the recalls for research from multiple perspectives. 10,11 The proposed theoretical framework provides an understanding of whether, why, and when negative workplace gossip affects the recipient's actions to implement workplace ostracism (sender-oriented). Second, the empirical results proved that negative workplace gossip can result in the gossip recipients implementing workplace ostracism behaviors against the gossip senders.…”

“…Second, most previous studies that from a gossip receiver perspective emphasized the learning effect of negative workplace gossip based on social learning theory. 11,12 Therefore, although this research emphasized the role of learning motivation in the recipient employees' response to negative workplace gossip, it also correspondingly ignored the psychological cognitive mechanism of employees' reaction to this gossip. Employees tend to make reasoned judgments based on their colleagues' behaviors, which then forms part of their psychological beliefs about these colleagues, 13 with these individual beliefs further affecting their evaluations of and behavioral responses to their colleagues.…”

“…10 For example, some studies have found that the gossip receivers can learn from the normative organizational information contained in gossip, and carry out reflective selfimprovement, self-promotion, and self-protection activities to improve their work performances. 11,12 However, these studies focused on the impact of the negative workplace gossip on the gossip receivers themselves, while ignoring the employees' response to the gossip senders after receiving the negative workplace gossip. As the main focus of gossip lies is its influence on the interpersonal relationships within organizations, 4 investigating this problem could assist in understanding the bilateral "senderreceiver" interpersonal interaction processes during the gossip dissemination.…”

“…22,23 Meanwhile, we not only respond to the previous criticism that most negative workplace gossip studies are conducted from a single research perspective, but also respond to the call for research from multiple perspectives in this field. 10,11 Second, different from the few studies based on gossip receiver's perspective, which only focused on the impact of negative workplace gossip on the gossip receivers themselves, this paper focused on the behavioral responses of receivers to senders. The results show that negative workplace gossip is a kind of negative social information.…”

“…This enriches the bilateral interpersonal interaction model of "spreader-receiver" during the spread of gossip. 4,11 Third, the current research takes psychological safety as the psychological cognitive mechanism between negative workplace gossip and the behavioral response of the receivers and emphasizes the meaning construction process of the receiver in responding to the negative workplace gossip. Furthermore, as highquality bilateral coworker exchange relationship indicates the high value of the gossip senders, this kind of social information can enhance the role of psychological safety in the recipient employee's behavioral responses.…”