The Relationship Between Workplace Ostracism and Organizational Dehumanization: The Role of Need to Belong and its Outcomes

Abstract

This research investigates whether experiencing workplace ostracism is positively related to employees’ perceptions of organizational dehumanization, and examines one underlying mechanism of this relationship (i.e., thwarted need to belong), as well as its consequences for both employees and organizations. First, a cross-sectional study (N = 256) highlighted that workplace ostracism positively relates to organizational dehumanization which, in turn, is related to employees’ well-being (i.e., increased depression), attitudes (i.e., decreased job satisfaction) and behaviors toward the organization (i.e., increased turnover intentions, decreased loyalty behaviors toward the organization). Second, an experimental study manipulating workplace ostracism using vignettes (N = 199) showed that workplace ostracism has a positive impact on organizational dehumanization, which subsequently relates to employees’ decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, and decreased loyalty behaviors. Finally, a third cross-sectional study (N = 423) revealed that employees’ thwarted need to belong mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and organizational dehumanization, which is ultimately associated with employees’ increased depression, decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, and decreased loyalty behaviors. Theoretical contributions, directions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

How supervisor and coworker ostracism influence employee outcomes: the role of organizational dehumanization and organizational embodiment

“…, 2000), these findings move multifoci research on mistreatment forward by shedding light on the factors influencing the strength of cross-foci effects. By showing that the extent to which supervisor ostracism relates to organizational perceptions (i.e., organizational dehumanization) varies as a function of supervisor’s organizational embodiment, these findings nuance scholars’ assumption that this generalization occurs uniformly (Brison and Caesens, 2023; Paşamehmetoğlu et al. , 2022).…”

“…Based on the dual model of dehumanization (Haslam, 2006) and related prior studies (e.g. Bastian and Haslam, 2010, 2011), scholars proposed that workplace ostracism may foster organizational dehumanization, which can have undesirable consequences for both employees and organizations (Brison and Caesens, 2023). Therefore, we propose that organizational dehumanization might explain how supervisor ostracism and coworker ostracism have a detrimental effect on outcomes.…”

“…Second, in the workplace ostracism literature, scholars have increasingly argued that organizations are not innocent bystanders of the exclusionary behaviors perpetrated by their members (e.g. Brison and Caesens, 2023; Paşamehmetoğlu et al. , 2022; Robinson et al.…”

“…For instance, echoing the social psychology literature on dehumanization, according to which such perceptions arise from interpersonal mistreatment (e.g. Bastian and Haslam, 2010, 2011), recent evidence (Brison and Caesens, 2023) indicates that ostracized employees might feel dehumanized by the overall organization. This phenomenon is embodied by the organizational dehumanization construct (i.e., “the experience of an employee who feels objectified by his/her organization […] and made to feel like a tool or an instrument for the organization’s ends”; Bell and Khoury, 2011, p. 170) and is thought to be associated with poorer employee well-being, work attitudes and behaviors (Brison et al.…”

“…However, the few prior studies that examined the detrimental influence of workplace ostracism on organizational perceptions and subsequent employee outcomes assumed that these effects occur uniformly, regardless of who perpetrates the ostracism (e.g. Brison and Caesens, 2023; Paşamehmetoğlu et al. , 2022).…”