Responses to Offense at Work and the Impact of Hierarchical Status: The Fault of the Leader, Causal Attributions, and Social Support During the Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

The study explores the mechanism by which unadapted causal attributions and the perception of social support stimulate revenge and reconciliation at the social and professional level in the context of the current pandemic. In particular, the purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the accused, the victim and offender status and the search for revenge or reconciliation following a personal offense. To test the suggested research model, we analyzed the data collected by 167 (m = 28.52; SD = 8.98) employees in different organizations using a multifactorial experimental design. The results support the influence of attributional predictions in forming revenge and reconciliation and show that they are involved in the decision to carry out revenge, but especially in the way the employee interprets the trigger situation. In conclusion, the revenge is based on a negative attributional mechanism that produces the greatest deficit of adaptation to the situation and a weakening of the perception of social support, while reconciliation seems to be based on a much more complex socio-occupational mechanism. Leaders should pay attention to organizational communication during a crisis as they could encourage hopelessness depression. Adjusting crisis communication is crucial to ensuring job satisfaction that could mitigate negative effects.

Analysis of Social Support as an Argument for the Sustainable Construction of the European Community Space

“…It is possible that the occupation (COR), which is a precedent and a causal factor in the perception of social support, is in fact the result of such a conflicting connection. For example, some employees may increase their level of involvement in the profession as a result of low perceptions of family support and as a consequence of loneliness [21,45]. At the same time, it appears that many of the relationships observed in this study are potentially bi-directional.…”

“…Alexe et al [20] found that, in the case of performance athletes, perceived social support was not associated with the frequency and severity of daily hassles or negative life events. On the other hand, Marian et al [21] have argued that the orientation towards reconciliation in organizations was more common among employees with high social support while the orientation towards revenge at work was more common among employees with low social support. On the other hand, perceived social support appeared to act as a buffer between the offense perceived by employees and the negative emotions that generated revenge in organizations.…”