Interpersonal Injustice and Workplace Deviance: The Role of Esteem Threat

an article by D. Lance Ferris (Singapore Management University), Jeffrey R. Spence (University of Guelph), Douglas J. Brown (University of Waterloo) and Daniel Heller (Tel Aviv University) published in Journal of Management Volume 28 Number 6 (November 2012)

Abstract

The authors integrated predictions from the group value model of justice with an esteem threat framework of deviance to examine the within-person relation between interpersonal justice and workplace deviance.

Using a moderated-mediation approach, they predicted that daily interpersonal injustice would lower daily self-esteem; daily self-esteem would in turn mediate the effect of daily interpersonal injustice and interact with trait self-esteem in predicting daily workplace deviance.

Using 1,088 daily diary recordings from 100 employees from various industries, the results generally support the hypothesised model linking daily interpersonal justice and daily workplace deviance, even when the effects of previously established mediators (i.e., affect and job satisfaction) were controlled for.

Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

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