The role of irritability in the relation between job stressors, emotional reactivity, and counterproductive work behaviour

Abstract

Researchers have stressed the importance of assessing individual differences in personality as an approach to understanding aggressive and deviant conduct across different contexts. This study investigated the moderation role of irritability, a specific aggression-related disposition, in the process of work stressors that are conducive to counterproductive work behavior (CWB) within the stressor-emotion model. From a total sample of 1,147 Italian workers (53.5% women), high-and low-irritability groups were identified. Then, using a multi-group structural equations model, we simultaneously examined all the relations in both high-and low-irritability groups, and investigated whether these relations were different between them. Results showed that job stressors elicited negative emotions that, in turn, lead to CWB. Moreover, only in high-irritability group some job stressors influenced CWB also directly. Overall irritability moderated mainly the relation among job stressors and CWB but not the relation among job stressors and negative emotions, with the only exception of role conflict. As well, irritability did not moderate the relation between emotion and CWB. Thus, high-irritability employees may be more prone to react aggressively to job stressors via multiple functioning paths. The principal differences between low-and high-irritability individuals could be how they manage the impact of perceived stressors on emotions and behavior.

Time-related work stress and counterproductive work behavior

“…Thus, it pinpoints an unexplored, indirect, harmful role of employees' deviant personality traits; they can serve as catalysts that stimulate the conversion of time-related work stress into enhanced CWB. With this focus on the invigorating role of the dark triad, which is aberrant, socially malevolent, and destructive (Paulhus and Williams, 2002;Smith and Lilienfeld, 2013), this study also extends research that notes how other, less extreme individual factors, such as a lack of agreeableness (Skarlicki et al, 1999), irritability (Fida et al, 2014), or negative affectivity (Penney and Spector, 2005), moderate the effect of adverse work conditions on negative work behaviours.…”

“…Notably, the influences of these contextual and individual factors cannot be seen in isolation; the extent to which exposure to adverse work conditions may escalate into negative work behaviours is greater, for example, among employees who score high on negative affectivity (Skarlicki et al, 1999) and irritability (Fida et al, 2014) or low on emotional intelligence (Greenidge and Coyne, 2014), agreeableness (Skarlicki et al, 1999), and honesty-humility (Chirumbolo, 2015).…”

Impact of irritability: a 2‐year observational study of outpatients with bipolar I or schizoaffective disorder

“…Irritability at home or work can have negative consequences . Irritability was found to impair accurate recognition of affect in others, to decrease social cognition or mentalizing, as well as mutual affection in relationships, and to exacerbate interpersonal stress .…”

“…Family, friends, and work colleagues commonly find it difficult to know how to respond when interacting with a person who is irritable . Ensuing interpersonal stress and high expressed emotion can increase the risk of affective relapse, and undermine relationships and job security …”

What is Behind Counterproductive Work Behaviors in the Nursing Profession? A Systematic Review

“…Moreover, other research has found that organizational aspects, such as the lack of social support, injustices, role ambiguity, and role conflict, can play a relevant role in the development of CWB [16]. In addition, previous studies have investigated the relationship between personal characteristics [17][18][19] and certain demographic factors [20] or even organizational factors [21,22].…”