Current Approaches, Typologies and Predictors of Deviant Work Behaviors: A Scoping Review of Reviews

This study provides a scoping review of the recent conceptual developments about the deviant work behavior and counterproductive work behavior constructs. It also examines the specific types of deviant work behavior that have been more consistently investigated in the last decade, and whether they cover the interpersonal or organizational type of deviant behavior. In addition, individual, group, and organizational predictors of deviant work behaviors are examined. A scoping review of reviews was conducted on Scopus and Web of Science databases and 54 studies published from 2010 to June 2021 were taken into account. Results show that more recent conceptualizations are based on well established models in the literature and consider the hierarchical structure of these two constructs. Recent reviews examine the relationships of deviant work behavior with job performance and ethical behavior constructs, the multilevel nature of deviant work behavior, and the consequences for the actor of the deviance. The specific types of deviant work behavior more frequently reviewed in the last decade are workplace abuse, incivility, ostracism, bullying and sexual harassment, and abusive and destructive leadership; this evidence suggests a much greater attention to interpersonal, rather than organizational, forms of deviant work behavior. Regarding antecedents, results show the continuing prevalence of personality factors antecedents. Limitations of the study and theoretical and practical implications for the field are also provided.

Burnout Across Boundaries: Can Parental Burnout Directly or Indirectly Influence Work Outcomes?

Burnout, while historically considered a work-related condition, can be associated with parenting where it can have direct impacts upon parental outcomes and one’s personal resources such as mental health. However, little is known about the domain-incongruent effects of burnout and thus whether parental burnout can manifest within the workplace. The current study uses longitudinal data collected from 499 parents over three intervals across an 8-month period to explore two possible mechanisms. Firstly, a direct relationship is explored by considering whether parental burnout provides incremental validity above job burnout in the prediction of three work outcomes: job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and counterproductive work behaviors. Secondly, it is explored whether depression mediates the relationship between parental burnout and work outcomes. Findings suggest parental burnout may have limited impacts upon work outcomes, providing the impetus for a new direction of research to better understand whether or how burnout in one domain of life can influence the outcomes in other life domains.

The Role of Perceived Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction in Municipality Employees' Cyberslacking Behaviors

Based on equity theory, if employees feel a sense of inequity, their organizational justice perceptions and job satisfaction are considered to be affected negatively. As a defense mechanism to undesired consequences, employees may use neutralization techniques, which pave the way for counterproductive work behaviors. Thus, when employees use “claim of relative acceptability,” which can be summarized as “in comparison to many others, my behavior is nothing at all,” in return to any injustice within the organization, the result may occur as a counter-productive work behavior. Cyberslacking, which is defined as the use of the internet for non-work-related purposes during working hours, is considered to be one of these counterproductive work behaviors. The aim of the study is to examine the effect of perceived organizational justice and job satisfaction levels of municipal employees on their cyberslacking behaviors. The results of analyses showed that perceived organizational justice and job satisfaction levels of employees are negatively associated with cyberslacking behaviors.

Linking Corporate Social Responsibility to Workplace Deviant Behaviors: Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

The purpose of this article is to present a mechanism through which the deviant work behaviors of employees can be dealt-with positively through corporate good deeds in the form of fulfilling social responsibilities. Based on the spirit of social identity theory and social exchange theory, the study explores the relationships of various deviant behaviors with corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the mediation mechanism of job satisfaction. Data were collected from 385 employees of 40 large manufacturing organizations involved in CSR activities operating in Pakistan. A self-report survey was conducted using a close-ended questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SEM through Mplus 7. The results reveal that both internal and external CSR contribute to the reduced level of turnover intention, counterproductive work behaviors, and prohibitive voice behaviors. Job satisfaction fully mediates the relationship for internal CSR while partially mediates for external CSR. The study encourages the practitioners to avail approaches that convey the feelings of care, concern, and safety, representing internal CSR practices through diverse HR interventions, organizational support, and justice. They should also keep up the socially responsible behaviors aiming toward the larger community.

Unbalanced, Unfair, Unhappy, or Unable? Theoretical Integration of Multiple Processes Underlying the Leader Mistreatment-Employee CWB Relationship with Meta-Analytic Methods

Although a litany of theoretical accounts exists to explain why mistreated employees engage in counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), little is known about whether these mechanisms are complementary or mutually exclusive, or the effect of context on their explanatory strength. To address these gaps, this meta-analytic investigation tests four theoretically-derived mechanisms simultaneously to explain the robust relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWB: (1) a social exchange perspective, which argues that mistreated employees engage in negative reciprocal behaviors to counterbalance experienced mistreatment; (2) a justice perspective, whereby mistreated employees experience moral outrage and engage in retributive behaviors against the organization and its members; (3) a stressor-emotion perspective, which suggests that mistreated employees engage in CWBs to cope with their negative affect; and (4) a self-regulatory perspective, which proposes that mistreated employees are simply unable to inhibit undesirable behaviors. Moreover, we also examine whether the above model holds across cultures that vary on power distance. Our meta-analytic structural equation model demonstrated that all but the justice mechanism significantly mediated the relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWBs, with negative affect emerging as the strongest explanatory mechanism in both high and low power distance cultures. Given these surprising results, as the stressor-emotion perspective is less frequently invoked in the literature, this paper highlights not only the importance of investigating multiple mechanisms together when examining the leader mistreatment-employee CWB relationship, but also the need to develop more nuanced theorizing about these mechanisms, particularly for negative affect.

Person-situation navigation mechanisms at work

Rather than focusing on their dynamic interplay, research in I/O psychology has mostly focused on either person-level variables as predictors of work behaviors or the impact of situational variables on employees’ behaviors. By studying person and situation variables independently or by treating the situation as fixed, previous studies have largely failed to capture the active role employees take in affecting and managing their work situations. This raises the question of how adequately current research that focuses on either the person or the situation captures the reality of work life. To address this issue, this paper aims to provide a starting point for the integration of person-situation interactions at work into an overarching process model (i.e., Person-Situation Navigation Mechanisms Framework; Rauthmann & Sherman, 2016), and illustrates how previous research on I/O constructs can be positioned within this framework.

Team Learning, Work Behaviors, and Performance: A Qualitative Case Study of a Technical University in Ghana

Higher education institutions in Ghana have a lot of expectations but appear to be facing contemporary challenges. Using five focus groups, this study explores individual learning, team learning, organizational citizenship behaviors, leader–member exchanges, innovative work behaviors, and performance in a Ghanaian technical university. Interactive exchanges suggest that individual social behaviors and leadership exchanges are important to higher educational institutions (HEIs). Both stakeholders and managers should activate these behaviors and leadership qualities to enhance performance. The inherent benefits help both faculty and HEIs fulfill their core mandates of teaching, research, and community service. With these, they remain globally competitive given challenges, dynamism, and expected performance from both faculty and HEIs as agents of socio-economic development. This study informs on underlying mechanisms that affect engagement in some of these behaviors, including the effect of culture as an inhibitor of women’s innovative behaviors. Next to that, it provides both theoretical and practical evidence for stakeholders, especially HEI managers, regarding how to increase faculty members’ efficiencies and performance. Finally, the study offers both recommendations and directions for future research.

Workplace Ostracism and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Chain Mediating Role of Anger and Turnover Intention

This study aims to explore the mediating effect of anger and turnover intention on the relationship between workplace ostracism and counterproductive work behaviors. A two-stage follow-up survey of 426 employees born after 1990 was conducted using the Workplace Ostracism Scale, Counterproductive Work Behaviors Scale, Trait Anger subscale of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and Turnover Intention Scale. Workplace ostracism was found to be significantly positively correlated with anger, turnover intention, and counterproductive work behaviors. Furthermore, anger and turnover intention both separately and serially mediated the relationship between workplace ostracism and counterproductive work behaviors. This study confirms the chain mediating effect of anger and turnover intention on the relationship between workplace ostracism and counterproductive work behaviors.

Equity Sensitivity and Organizational Outcomes: Incremental Validity over Big Five Personality Traits

One individual difference that emerged over the years is equity sensitivity. It was posited that this construct may be a central factor in predicting work outcomes in reactions to inequity. However, its conceptual overlap with already established dimensions of personality has been insufficiently taken into consideration so far. The present study examines the incremental validity of equity sensitivity in predicting counterproductive work behaviors and perception of organizational justice over the Big Five personality traits. The study sample consisted of 223 Romanian working adults. Results showed that, although equity sensitivity had a significant relationship with counterproductive work behaviors after controlling for the Big five personality traits, its incremental validity was small, with little practical utility. Moreover, the incremental validity of equity sensitivity in predicting justice dimension above the Big-Five personality dimensions was not supported. Theoretical and practical implications of equity sensitivity for personnel selection are discussed.