Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:27:58.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Workplace ostracism and discretionary work effort: A conditional process analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2019

Muhammad Adeel Anjum*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Dapeng Liang
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Dilawar Khan Durrani
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Ammarah Ahmed
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: muhammadadeelanjum@gmail.com

Abstract

Drawing on affective events theory (AET) and workplace incivility spiral, this study tested a conditional process model to explain, when and how, affective workplace events (workplace ostracism and workplace incivility) affect employees’ emotions and work effort. Data for this cross-sectional study were collected via an online survey from 251 employees at three public sector universities in Quetta, Pakistan. Results indicated that both ostracism and incivility encumber work effort, and that one way via which ostracism negatively affects work effort is by provoking targets’ negative affect (NA). Results also revealed that workplace incivility exacerbated positive relationship of ostracism and NA such that this relationship was stronger when incivility was high and weaker when incivility was low. Moreover, the indirect effects of ostracism on work effort were also contingent on workplace incivility. Practical implications are discussed at the end.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almagor, M., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (1989). The two-factor model of self-reported mood: A cross- cultural replication. Journal of Personality Assessment, 53(1), 1021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amundsen, S., & Martinsen, Ø. L. (2015). Linking empowering leadership to job satisfaction, work effort, and creativity: The role of self-leadership and psychological empowerment. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(3), 304323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andersson, L. M., & Pearson, C. M. (1999). Tit for tat? The spiralling effect of incivility in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 452471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106(3), 529550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barclay, L. J., Skarlicki, D. P., & Pugh, S. D. (2005). Exploring the role of emotions in injustice perceptions and retaliation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 629643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, P.M. (1995) EQS: Structural equations program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software, Inc.Google Scholar
Bibi, Z., Karim, J., & Din, S. (2013). Workplace incivility and counterproductive work behavior: Moderating role of emotional intelligence. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 28(2), 317334.Google Scholar
Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim's perspective: A theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 9981012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brief, A. P., & Weiss, H. M. (2002). Organizational behavior: Affect in the workplace. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 279307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buckley, K. E., Winkel, R. E., & Leary, M. R. (2004). Reactions to acceptance and rejection: Effects of level and sequence of relational evaluation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(1), 1428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, D., Kacmar, K. M., Zivnuska, S., Ferguson, M., & Whitten, D. (2011). Work-family enrichment and job performance: A constructive replication of affective events theory. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16(3), 297312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiaburu, D. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2008). Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of coworker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 10821103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chow, R. M., Tiedens, L. Z., & Govan, C. L. (2008). Excluded emotions: The role of anger in antisocial responses to ostracism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3), 896903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, Y. W. (2015). The mediating effects of organizational conflict on the relationships between workplace ostracism with in-role behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. International Journal of Conflict Management, 26(4), 366385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, Y. W. (2018). Workplace ostracism and workplace behaviors: A moderated mediation model of perceived stress and psychological empowerment. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 31(3), 304317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.Google Scholar
Cortina, L. M., Magley, V. J., Williams, J. H., & Langhout, R. D. (2001). Incivility in the workplace: Incidence and impact. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6(1), 6480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Cooman, R., De Gieter, S., Pepermans, R., Jegers, M., & Van Acker, F. (2009). Development and validation of the work effort scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25(4), 266273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeWall, C. N., Twenge, J. M., Gitter, S. A., & Baumeister, R. F. (2009). It's the thought that counts: The role of hostile cognition in shaping aggressive responses to social exclusion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 4559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 403425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dotan-Eliaz, O., Sommer, K. L., & Rubin, Y. S. (2009). Multilingual groups: Effects of linguistic ostracism on felt rejection and anger, coworker attraction, perceived team potency, and creative performance. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 31(4), 363375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubinsky, A. J., & Skinner, S. J. (2004). High performers: Recruiting & retaining Top employees. USA: South-Western Pub.Google Scholar
Fatima, A. (2016). Impact of workplace ostracism on counter productive work behaviors: Mediating role of job satisfaction. Abasyn University Journal of Social Sciences, 9(2), 388408.Google Scholar
Ferris, D. L., Brown, D. J., Berry, J. W., & Lian, H. (2008). The development and validation of the Workplace Ostracism Scale. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 13481366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferris, D. L., Chen, M., & Lim, S. (2017). Comparing and contrasting workplace ostracism and incivility. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 315338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, D. L., Lian, H., Brown, D. J., & Morrison, R. (2015). Ostracism, self-esteem, and job performance: When do we self-verify and when do we self-enhance? Academy of Management Journal, 58(1), 279297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, D. L., Yan, M., Lim, V. K., Chen, Y., & Fatimah, S. (2016). An approach–avoidance framework of workplace aggression. Academy of Management Journal, 59(5), 17771800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, G. R., Treadway, D. C., Perrewé, P. L., Brouer, R. L., Douglas, C., & Lux, S. (2007). Political skill in organizations. Journal of Management, 33(3), 290320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, S., & Stallworth, L. E. (2005). Racial/ethnic bullying: Exploring links between bullying and racism in the US workplace. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(3), 438456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frenkel, S., Restubog, S. L. D., & Bednall, T. (2012). How employee perceptions of HR policy and practice influence discretionary work effort and co-worker assistance: Evidence from two organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(20), 41934210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, J., & Wheeler, L. (2009). On being rejected: A meta-analysis of experimental research on rejection. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(5), 468488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilin Oore, D., Leblanc, D., Day, A., Leiter, M. P., Spence Laschinger, H. K., Price, S. L., & Latimer, M. (2010). When respect deteriorates: Incivility as a moderator of the stressor–strain relationship among hospital workers. Journal of Nursing Management, 18, 878888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glasø, L., Vie, T. L., Holmdal, G. R., & Einarsen, S. (2010). An application of affective events theory to workplace bullying. European Psychologist, 16(3), 198208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., & Anderson, R. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall Inc..Google Scholar
Harmon-Jones, E., Gable, P. A., & Price, T. F. (2013). Does negative affect always narrow and positive affect always broaden the mind? Considering the influence of motivational intensity on cognitive scope. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(4), 301307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Highhouse, S., & Gillespie, J. Z. (2009). Do samples really matter that much? In Lance, C. E. & Vandenberg, R. J. (Eds.), Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences (pp. 247265). New York, NY, US: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Hitlan, R. T., Cliffton, R. J., & DeSoto, M. C. (2006a). Perceived exclusion in the workplace: The moderating effects of gender on work-related attitudes and psychological health. North American Journal of Psychology, 8(2), 217236.Google Scholar
Hitlan, R. T., Kelly, K. M., Schepman, S., Schneider, K. T., & Zárate, M. A. (2006b). Language exclusion and the consequences of perceived ostracism in the workplace. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 10(1), 5670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahanzeb, S., & Fatima, T. (2018). How workplace ostracism influences interpersonal deviance: The mediating role of defensive silence and emotional exhaustion. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(6), 779791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahanzeb, S., Fatima, T., & Malik, M. A. R. (2018). Supervisor ostracism and defensive silence: A differential needs approach. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 27(4), 430440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, P. R., & Indvik, J. (2001). Rudeness at work: Impulse over restraint. Public Personnel Management, 30(4), 457465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and industrial and organizational psychology. Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(2), 75130.Google Scholar
Karim, J., Bibi, Z., Rehman, S. U., & Khan, M. S. (2015). Emotional intelligence and perceived work-related outcomes: Mediating role of workplace incivility victimization. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 30(1), 2137.Google Scholar
Khair, Q., & Fatima, T. (2017). Interactive effects of workplace ostracism and belief in reciprocity on fear of negative evaluation. Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, 11(3), 911933.Google Scholar
Kirkhaug, R. (2010). Charisma or group belonging as antecedents of employee work effort? Journal of Business Ethics, 96(4), 647656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kmec, J. A., & Gorman, E. H. (2010). Gender and discretionary work effort: Evidence from the United States and Britain. Work and Occupations, 37(1), 336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Latham, G. P. (2007). Work motivation. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Leiter, M. P., Day, A., Oore, D. G., & Spence Laschinger, H. K. (2012). Getting better and staying better: Assessing civility, incivility, distress, and job attitudes one year after a civility intervention. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(4), 425432.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leung, A. S., Wu, L. Z., Chen, Y. Y., & Young, M. N. (2011). The impact of workplace ostracism in service organizations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(4), 836844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lim, S., Cortina, L. M., & Magley, V. J. (2008). Personal and workgroup incivility: Impact on work and health outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 95107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lloyd, R. (2008). Discretionary effort and the performance domain. The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology, 1, 2234.Google Scholar
Lustenberger, D. E., & Jagacinski, C. M. (2010). Exploring the effects of ostracism on performance and intrinsic motivation. Human Performance, 23(4), 283304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mao, Y., Liu, Y., Jiang, C., & Zhang, I. D. (2018). Why am I ostracized and how would I react?—A review of workplace ostracism research. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35(3), 745767.Google Scholar
Miner, A., Glomb, T., & Hulin, C. (2005). Experience sampling mood and its correlates at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78(2), 171193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miner, K. N., Settles, I. H., Pratt-Hyatt, J. S., & Brady, C. C. (2012). Experiencing incivility in organizations: The buffering effects of emotional and organizational support. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(2), 340372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R. J. (2009). Employee work motivation and work effort (Doctoral dissertation). Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.Google Scholar
Naragon-Gainey, K., Watson, D., & Markon, K. E. (2009). Differential relations of depression and social anxiety symptoms to the facets of extraversion/positive emotionality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118(2), 299310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, K. D. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2(3): 223250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ng, T. W., & Sorensen, K. L. (2009). Dispositional affectivity and work-related outcomes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(60), 12551287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Reilly, J., & Robinson, S. L. (2009). The negative impact of ostracism on thwarted belongingness and workplace contributions. Best paper proceedings, Academy of Management meeting, Chicago.Google Scholar
O'Reilly, J., Robinson, S. L., Berdahl, J. L., & Banki, S. (2014). Is negative attention better than no attention? The comparative effects of ostracism and harassment at work. Organization Science, 26(3), 774793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, C. P., Baltes, B. B., Young, S. A., Huff, J. W., Altmann, R. A., Lacost, H. A., & Roberts, J. E. (2003). Relationships between psychological climate perceptions and work outcomes: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(4), 389416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C. M., Andersson, L. M., & Porath, C. L. (2005). Workplace incivility. In Fox, S. & Spector, P. E. (Eds.), Counterproductive work behavior: Investigations of actors and targets (pp. 177200). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C. M., & Porath, C. L. (2005). On the nature, consequences and remedies of workplace incivility: No time for “nice”? Think again. The Academy of Management Executive, 19(1), 718.Google Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., & Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, 26(3), 513563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12(4), 531544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reio, T. G., & Wiswell, A. (2000). Field investigation of the relationship among adult curiosity, workplace learning, and job performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 11(1), 530.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reio, T. R., & Ghosh, R. (2009). Antecedents and outcomes of workplace incivility: Implications for human resource development research and practice. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 20(3), 237264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S. L., O'Reilly, J., & Wang, W. (2013). Invisible at work: An integrated model of workplace ostracism. Journal of Management, 39(1), 203231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sakurai, K., & Jex, S. M. (2012). Coworker incivility and incivility targets' work effort and counterproductive work behaviors: The moderating role of supervisor social support. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(2), 150161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schilpzand, P., De Pater, I. E., & Erez, A. (2016). Workplace incivility: A review of the literature and agenda for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(1), 5788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Türkmen, E., Doğan, A., & Karaeminoğulları, A. (2016). The impact of ostracism on work effort: A comparison between Turkish and Azerbaijani Employees. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 6(4), 110128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Yperen, N. W., Hagedoorn, M., Zweers, M., & Postma, M. (2000). Injustice and employees’ destructive responses: The mediating role of state negative affect. Social Justice Research, 13, 291312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickers, M. H. (2006). Writing what's relevant: Workplace incivility in public administration-A wolf in sheep's clothing. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 28(1), 6988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience aversive emotional states. Psychological Bulletin, 96(3), 465490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 10631070.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. In Staw, B. M. & Cummings, L. L. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior: An annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews (pp. 174). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Williams, K. D. (2001). Ostracism: The power of silence. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 425452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, K. D., & Nida, S. A. (2011). Ostracism: Consequences and coping. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(2), 7175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, K. D., & Zadro, L. (2001). Ostracism: On being ignored, excluded, and rejected. In Leary, M. R. (Ed.), Interpersonal rejection (pp. 2153). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woo, B., & Chelladurai, P. (2012). Dynamics of perceived support and work attitudes: The case of fitness club employees. Human Resource Management Research, 2(1), 618.Google Scholar
Wu, C. H., Liu, J., Kwan, H. K., & Lee, C. (2016). Why and when workplace ostracism inhibits organizational citizenship behaviors: An organizational identification perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(3), 362378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wu, L. Z., Yim, F. H., Kwan, H. K., & Zhang, X. (2012). Coping with workplace ostracism: The roles of ingratiation and political skill in employee psychological distress. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1), 178199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeo, G. B., & Neal, A. (2004). A multilevel analysis of effort, practice, and performance: Effects of ability, conscientiousness, and goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 231247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35(2), 151175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zheng, X., Yang, J., Ngo, H.-Y., Liu, X.-Y., & Jiao, W. (2016). Workplace ostracism and its negative outcomes: Psychological capital as a moderator. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 15(4), 143151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, C. A., Carter-Sowell, A. R., & Xu, X. (2016). Examining workplace ostracism experiences in academia: Understanding how differences in the faculty ranks influence inclusive climates on campus. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 19CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed