When lending an ear turns into mistreatment: An episodic examination of leader mistreatment in response to venting at work

Venting—an emotion‐focused form of coping involving the discharge of negative feelings to others—is common in organizational settings. Venting may benefit the self via the release of negative emotion, or by acting as a catalyst for changes to problematic work situations. Nonetheless, venting might have unintended consequences via its influence on those who are the recipients of venting from others. In light of this idea, we provide a theoretical explanation for how leaders in particular are affected by venting receipt at work. Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we theorize that venting tends to be appraised as a threat, which triggers negative emotion that, in turn, potentiates deviant action tendencies (i.e., interpersonal mistreatment). Yet, our theory suggests that not all leaders necessarily experience venting in the same way. Specifically, leaders with higher need for cognition are less influenced by surface‐level cues associated with others’ emotional expressions and find challenging interpersonal situations to be less aversive, thereby attenuating the deleterious effects of receipt of venting. In an experience sampling study of 112 managers across 10 consecutive workdays, we find support for our theoretical model. Altogether, our findings provide insight into the costs incurred when leaders lend an ear to those who vent, which can result in negative downstream consequences.     

职场孤独感的形成原因与作用机理：基于调节匹配理论视角

随着组织广泛的信息技术运用、工作强度增加,员工之间面对面的、真诚的社交开始呈下降趋势。职场孤独感成了困扰员工的普遍问题,引起了企业管理实践界高度重视。通过综述已有文献,本文指出过往研究虽揭示了职场孤独感带来的消极影响效应并有效提高了组织对职场孤独问题的关注度,但尚未系统回答“如何预防与应对职场孤独感”。为了引导员工对职场孤独感的科学应对,本文认为有必要将员工视为能动的主角而非被动的承受者,并探讨职场孤独感与员工应对行为的关系,为如何应对职场孤独感提供建设性对策。 除此之外,为了更好地预防与遏制职场孤独感,有必要系统性地探讨职场孤独感的形成原因。综合过往研究,本文发现职场孤独感区别于其他消极情绪的核心在于：职场孤独感源自于高质量职场人际关系的缺失。与此观点对应的是,Wright和Silard （2021）认为当员工实际的职场人际关系未达到预期水平,员工会认为职场人际关系存在缺陷,产生孤独的体验。Wright和Silard （2021）的观点反映了职场孤独感是一种员工未实现期望社交目标而导致的心理体验。循此逻辑,本文采用与目标实现过程相关的调节匹配理论来解释职场孤独感的产生原因和影响机制,为预防和应对职场孤独感提供对策。以调节匹配理论为框架,本项目拟解决三个问题：（1）领导与下属的调节焦点（不）匹配如何通过影响领导成员交换,进而影响职场孤独感;（2）员工与团队的调节焦点（不）匹配如何通过影响团队成员交换,进而影响职场孤独感;（3）员工如何依据不同的团队调节氛围来选择社交应对策略,以及社交应对策略对员工绩效的影响。通过新颖的多项式回归分析与曲面响应分析方法,本文力求重构传统的职场孤独感的研究思路,为职场孤独感的产生机制提供新的研究视角。除此之外,本文首次将调节匹配理论引入职场孤独感的研究,系统性地分析了职场孤独感的产生和应对,呈现了职场孤独感现象在组织中的动态演化的过程与机制。     

情感事件视角下空气污染触发的消极情绪对工作场所环保行为的动态影响机制

摘要 鉴于当今空气污染问题日益严峻,如何激发员工的环保行为成为了各界关注的话题。本研究基于情感事件理论,从主动的视角来探讨人们在空气污染情境中产生消极情绪后的积极应对行为。运用经验取样法,对68名在职员工进行了为期14天的跟踪调查。研究发现：（1）个体每日因空气污染引发的消极情绪与每日的环保行为正相关;（2）风险感知和环保激情在个体因空气污染引发的消极情绪与环保行为之间存在链式中介作用;（3）调节焦点调节了个体每日因空气污染引发的消极情绪对每日的环保行为的影响,防御焦点弱化二者间的关系,而促进焦点的调节作用不显著。以上成果丰富了人们对空气污染触发的消极情绪动态影响机制的认识,为后续研究提供了良好的研究视角和基础,为企业可持续发展的经营管理提供了的实践启示。     

Workplace Perceptions of Veterans and Nonveterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs

Much has been written about veterans and their reintegration into civilian society, but little or no information is available about veterans’ workplace perceptions and how these might differ from those of nonveterans. The authors compared veterans’ and nonveterans’ attitudes about work (including job satisfaction aspects, perceptions of coworker interactions, supervisory support, and others) in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) based on responses to the organizational census, VA All Employee Survey (AES; N = 179,271). Based on differences in crude (unadjusted, but controlling for location) item odds ratios (range 0.65–1.08), compared to nonveterans, veterans scored modestly lower on most AES items. The authors show how controlling for demographics changes the relative size and, in some cases, the direction of the differences. This current study is 1 of only 2, to our knowledge, large-scale assessments of veterans’ workplace perceptions and the only 1 which controlled the results for demographic characteristics.     

Impact of Workplace Bullying on Emotional and Physical Well-Being: A Longitudinal Collective Case Study

Bullying and mobbing are occupational safety hazards pervasive in developed and developing countries. Our study aim was to determine whether bullying and mobbing caused poor health for a victim and a witness from the same workplace in western Canada. Longitudinal semistructured interviews were conducted in 2007 and 2008 with both parties. The interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and arranged into arrays using chronological ordering and time sequencing. The victim felt targeted because she represented a threat to the bully, with victim and witness experiencing negative health outcomes. The authors suggest that wellness programs should place greater emphasis on mental health promotion to discourage workplace bullying.     

Emotional regulation as a mediator between interpersonal mistreatment and distress

Theory and research from the emotional labour literature focusing on mistreatment of employees by customers were used to examine interpersonal mistreatment by customers, coworkers, and supervisors. Specifically, we examined the relationships between all three of these sources of interpersonal mistreatment and psychological distress. We also examine the possibility that emotional regulation strategies mediated these relationships. In Study 1, we focused on surface acting as the mediating emotional regulation strategy. Using a sample of 256 working adults, the results of that study found a mediating role for surface acting between mistreatment and distress for mistreatment by customers and coworkers but not supervisors. In Study 2, we included measures of both deep acting and surface acting as potential mediators between sources of mistreatment and distress. Using a sample of 138 working adults, this second study again found that surface acting mediated the relationship between mistreatment and distress for mistreatment by customers and coworkers but not supervisors. Further, deep acting did not mediate any of the relationships between sources of mistreatment and psychological distress. We conclude surface acting plays an important mediating role in the relationship between interpersonal mistreatment by both customers and coworkers, and psychological distress.     

To Cheat or Not to Cheat?: The Role of Personality in Academic and Business Ethics

Past research (Lawson, 2004 Lawson, R. A. 2004. Is classroom cheating related to business students’ propensity to cheat in the "real world"?. Journal of Business Ethics, 49: 189–199. doi:10.1023/B: BUSI.0000015784.34148.cb[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Nonis &; Swift, 2001 Nonis, S. and Swift, C. O. 2001. An examination of the relationship between academic dishonesty and workplace dishonesty: A multicampus investigation. Journal of Education for Business, 77: 69–77. doi:10.1080/08832320109599052[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) has revealed a correlation between academic and business ethics. Using a sample survey, this study extends this inquiry by examining the role of dispositional variables (neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness) and academic honesty on business ethics perceptions. Results indicate that (1) neuroticism and conscientiousness were positively related to more ethical perceptions in a work context, and (2) academic honesty partially mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and business ethics. Implications to business practitioners and educators are discussed as well as directions for future research.     

Workplace bullying and its relation with work characteristics,personality, and post-traumatic stress symptoms: an integrated model

Workplace bullying refers to prolonged exposure to frequent hostile behaviors at work, which can lead to severe stress reactions. Research in this area has not revealed a clear picture on how bullying escalates in organizations. Drawing on recent developments in work stress theory, this study tested a comprehensive model of bullying in which work environmental and personality factors were hypothesized to act as antecedents of bullying and post-traumatic stress symptoms as an outcome. Structural equation modeling on data provided by 609 public sector employees in Italy showed that job demands (workload and role conflict) and job resources (decision authority, co-worker support and salary/promotion prospects) were related to bullying over and above neuroticism, and that bullying mediated the relationship between job demands and PTSD symptoms. Evidence also emerged for a buffering effect of job resources on the job demands–bullying relationship. Overall results are compatible with a view of bullying as a strain phenomenon, initiated by both work environmental and personality factors.     

Validation of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in a non-clinical sample of South African working adults

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in a non-clinical sample of working people. Working South African persons (N = 269; females = 62%; mean age = 33, SD = 11.5) completed the DASS-21, as well as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7). Results following Confirmatory Factor Analysis and correlational analysis yielded a three-factor structure (depression, anxiety, and stress) for the DASS-21. The evidence for discriminant and convergent validity was strong. Additionally, we found good reliabilities for the overall scale as well as the subscales. The DASS-21 appears a valid and reliable instrument for measuring depression, anxiety, and stress in the workplace. Future studies should investigate differential item functioning and equivalence of items among South African working populations.