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Despite wide-ranging negative consequences of interpersonal mistreatment, research offers few practical solutions to reduce such behavior in organizations. Given that interpersonal relationships are strengthened and desired employee behaviors are more frequent when individuals purposefully cultivate feelings of gratitude, the present study tests the effectiveness of a 10-day gratitude journaling intervention in reducing workplace incivility, gossip, and ostracism. Because research has not examined the mechanisms by which gratitude interventions influence outcomes, we draw on theory and research from the gratitude literature to propose and test a multiple mediator model. Specifically, we examine the moral affect theory of gratitude, find-remind-and-bind theory, self-regulation theory, and social exchange theory as possible explanations for the effects of the intervention. Two field experiments involving 147 (Study 1) and 204 (Study 2) employees demonstrated that the intervention decreased mistreatment (as reported by coworkers) by enhancing self-control resources. We also found that the effects of the intervention were stronger for individuals who perceive higher norms for gratitude in their workplace. The findings support the resource-building nature of gratitude interventions and demonstrate that a gratitude intervention is one effective way to decrease interpersonal mistreatment in organizations. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

In this study we make a shift from research examining factors that influence supervisors’ resource depletion to exploring how supervisors’ energy may be increased. Building from work on appreciation in interpersonal relationships, we examine if feeling appreciated by subordinates positively influences supervisors’ energy resources. We complement research on the supervisor-subordinate dyad that focuses on subordinates’ outcomes by making supervisors’ work experiences our central focus. Using Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we hypothesize feeling appreciated is positively related to supervisors’ energy and positively affects their personal and work-related outcomes. Further, we predict supervisors’ core self-evaluations (CSE) will moderate this indirect relationship. In a daily diary study of supervisors, we find support for these hypotheses. Supervisors’ felt appreciation was resource enhancing and an indirect influence on supervisors’ life satisfaction, optimism, job satisfaction, withdrawal, and helping behavior. Further, supervisors’ CSE moderated this indirect relationship.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 103(1) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2017-44052-001). In the article, the fit statistics in Study 3 were reported in error. The fit of the measurement model is: Χ²(362) = 563.66, p = .001; CFI = .94; SRMR = .05; RMSEA = .04. The fit of the SEM model is: Χ²(362) = 563.66, p = .001; CFI = .94; SRMR = .05; RMSEA = .04.] Workplace cheating behavior is unethical behavior that seeks to create an unfair advantage and enhance benefits for the actor. Although cheating is clearly unwanted behavior within organizations, organizations may unknowingly increase cheating as a byproduct of their pursuit of high performance. We theorize that as organizations place a strong emphasis on high levels of performance, they may also enhance employees' self-interested motives and need for self-protection. We suggest that demands for high performance may elicit performance pressure-the subjective experience that employees must raise their performance efforts or face significant consequences. Employees' perception of the need to raise performance paired with the potential for negative consequences is threatening and heightens self-protection needs. Driven by self-protection, employees experience anger and heightened self-serving cognitions, which motivate cheating behavior. A multistudy approach was used to test our predictions. Study 1 developed and provided validity evidence for a measure of cheating behavior. Studies 2 and 3 tested our predictions in time-separated field studies. Results from Study 2 demonstrated that anger mediates the effects of performance pressure on cheating behavior. Study 3 replicated the Study 2 findings, and extended them to show that self-serving cognitions also mediate the effects of performance pressure on cheating behavior. Implications of our findings for theory and practice are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record

Building on fairness heuristic theory and dual-process theories of cognition, we examine individuals’ perceptions of phase shifting. We define phase shifting as an individual perception that trigge...

Drawing on Bandwidth Fidelity Theory (Cronbach, 1970; Cronbach & Gleser, 1965), this chapter argues for more specificity with regard to conceptualizing and measuring variables in the field of behavioral ethics. We provide an example of how this might be accomplished, by building on recent work on organizational support that emphasizes more specific facets of perceived organizational support (POS). We introduce the concept of perceived organizational support for ethics (POS-E) and test its predictive power on a sample of 4,315 employees from manufacturing and technology firms. We find support for our assertions that ethics-specific support is a better predictor of ethics-related outcomes (e.g., pressure to violate ethical standards, preparedness to handle ethical violations) and general support (POS) is a better predictor of more general organizational outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction). Theoretical and practical implications of these results and the importance of moving toward more specific versus general constructs in the field of behavioral ethics are discussed.

Organizational research has established the existence of trickle-down effects, wherein the perceptions, attitudes, or behavior of one person in an organization affects those of another person at a ...

The chapter by Rupp, Bashur, and Liao (in this volume) is rich with ideas for the study of a justice climate. This comment on their chapter focuses on three areas that flow from their presentation: issues in modeling climate strength, complexity and simplicity in conceptualizing a justice climate, and an alternative conceptualization of a justice climate. Specifically, it describes how polynomial regression and response surface methodology may assist researchers in examining climate fit. The comment also describes the benefits of a simplified view of a justice climate – one focusing on the overall justice climate. Finally, it develops a framework for examining a climate for justice – a climate that promotes fair behavior in organizations.

This chapter reviews research and theory pertaining to the effect of temporal characteristics of events on perceptions of and reactions to organizational justice. In order to set the context for empirical findings, we first review dynamic aspects of classical and more recent justice theories. We then review findings on several temporal aspects of justice events, including dynamic features (timing, duration of event, and frequency) and temporal perspective (distance, orientation, and scale). Maintaining our focus on specific events, we conclude the chapter by proposing theoretical and empirical avenues for including time in future investigation of organizational justice.

In this chapter, we examine employee prosocial rule breaking as a response to organizations’ unfair treatment of customers. Drawing on the deontic perspective and research on third-party reactions to unfairness, we suggest employees engage in customer-directed prosocial rule breaking when they believe their organizations’ policies treat customers unfairly. Additionally, we consider employee, customer, and situational characteristics that enhance or inhibit the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational policy unfairness and customer-directed prosocial rule breaking.

The Internet is a fast growing mechanism for providing workplace monitoring. We examined how its implementation affects employees' trust in the organization. We hypothesized that giving employees advance notice of monitoring and providing them a justification for it would enhance their trust. We investigated how employees' perceptions of organizational support prior to monitoring moderated these relationships by conducting a longitudinal field experiment. We found that advance notice and perceived organizational support exerted significant main and interactive effects on post-implementation trust. In turn, trust significantly affected employees' job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions.

Considerable discussion stresses the importance of implementing employee monitoring systems in ways that enhance perceived fairness. Less attention focuses on the organizational context in which such systems are implemented. A longitudinal field experiment examined the effects of advance notice, justification, and trust on employee reactions to Internet monitoring. Results indicate that formal characteristics of monitoring implementation were less important than organizational climate in determining employee reactions. Neither advance notice nor justification significantly affected perceptions of monitoring fairness. In contrast, trust significantly influenced these perceptions, which in turn positively affected employees' job attitudes.

Research has examined how the design and implementation of computerized performance monitoring (CPM) systems affects individuals’ performance and attitudes. In this study, we examine how the attributes of the feedback received in a CPM context affects individuals’ reactions to monitoring. One hundred and sixty-five individuals participated in an experiment that examined the effect of three feedback attributes (feedback control, feedback constructiveness, and feedback medium) on monitoring fairness judgments, performance, and satisfaction. Results demonstrate feedback constructiveness significantly predicted monitoring fairness. Additionally, supervisor-mediated feedback was associated with higher levels of monitoring fairness than was computer-mediated feedback. Moreover, monitoring fairness mediated the relationship between these feedback attributes and performance and satisfaction. However, contrary to expectations, feedback control did not affect perceptions of monitoring fairness. Implications for future research on the design of CPM systems are discussed.

Research in selection examines how organizational justice principles may influence applicants’ reactions to selection procedures. This article extends this research by examining how two aspects of procedures—interpersonal treatment and social comparison information—affect reactions to a personality testing. The results of two studies demonstrate that interpersonal treatment (expression of concern for applicants’ feelings) and social comparison information (description of testing as either typical or experimental) interact to affect test-takers’ reactions. When concern was expressed and personality testing was described as typical, individuals responded less positively. However, when no concern was expressed, evaluations were more positive when testing was described as typical. The implications for organizational justice research and selection research are discussed.

In this article we explore how differences in gender and setting affect individuals' perceptions of others' ethics. We examine 4 hypotheses: first, that men would be perceived as more utilitarian in their ethics and women would be perceived as more formalist; second, individuals would be perceived to be more utilitarian in work settings than in nonwork settings; third, women would be more accurate in their perceptions of others' ethics; fourth, both men and women would be more accurate in their perceptions of women's ethics. Results strongly support the first, refute the second, modestly support the third, and support the fourth. Overall, the data suggest that men and women share very similar perceptions of own-gender and other-gender ethics. However, these shared perceptions are often quite inaccurate.

Research on organizational justice has flourished in the last 30 years. During that time, researchers have generally sought to answer three questions: (1) Why do people care about justice? (2) What affects justice judgments? and (3) What outcomes are associated with justice judgments? The papers in this special issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes on organizational justice reflect how these three questions are explored in contemporary justice research. This introduction to the special issue considers how the papers represent trends and developments in current justice research. Several themes are identified: the role of justice in a broader model of group engagement, the empirical examination of justice as a moral virtue, the effect of social context on justice judgments, and the darker reactions to injustice. Thus, the special issue provides insight not only to familiar justice questions but also to the evolution of the field and its future direction.

In recent years, scholarly interest in unethical behavior in the workplace has been rapidly increasing. Recent research in this area has highlighted that unethical behavior is routinely committed b...

This study examines the effect of four variables (i.e., interpersonal treatment, organizational reputation, testing context, and consequence of testing) on perceptions of the procedural fairness of a drug-testing program. Main effects for each of these variables on perceptions of procedural fairness were expected. In addition, interactions were predicted between interpersonal treatment and organizational reputation, testing context and consequence, and testing context and interpersonal treatment. Results generally supported the hypotheses, revealing main effects for the four variables and two significant interactions. The implications of these findings for justice research and the design and implementation of drug-testing programs are discussed.

This article reports the principal findings of over 200 studies of work motivation published between January 1990 and December 1997. We examined research relevant to seven traditional motivational theories (Motives and Needs, Expectancy Theory, Equity Theory, Goal-Setting, Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Work Design, and Reinforcement Theory) and three emerging topic areas (Creativity, Groups, and Culture). For each area, we summarize the research, identify trends and discuss issues that deserve further research attention. We conclude by examining trends in research in the field overall and considering the implications of these trends for the future role of motivation in organizational behavior research.

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' gender and their ethical decision models. The study seeks to identify asymmetries in men's and women's approaches to ethical decision making and differences in their perceptions of how same-sex and other-sex managers would likely act in business and nonbusiness situations that present an ethical dilemma. Results indicate that the models employed by men and women differ in both business and nonbusiness settings, that both sexes report changing models when leaving business settings, and that women were better predictors of both sex's likely ethical models.

Recently, both the popular press and the broader psychology literature has acknowledged the importance of gratitude. Despite this evidence on the significance of gratitude, the organizational liter...

It seems obvious that perceptions of organizational politics and perceptions of organizational fairness should be related. Organizational politics involves informal behaviors that are self-serving, aimed at in¤uencing another party, and designed to promote individual goals that are not sanctioned by the organization (Drory & Romm, 1990). Politicking involves activities such as working around formal organizational rules, in¤uencing decision makers, and obtaining special favors-that is, activities that seem to ¤y in the face of conventional beliefs about fairness in organizations. Both organizational politics and organizational fairness play a central role in organizational life, yet remarkably few researchers explicitly have examined the relationship between them.

Most organizational justice research takes a cross-sectional approach to examining the relationship between perceived fairness and individuals' attitudes. This study examines the effect of procedural and distributive justice over time. It is suggested that individuals acquire more information and experience with procedures and outcomes over time. These changes in information and experience affect the influence of procedural and distributive justice on organizational attitudes. Faculty perceptions of tenure and promotion decisions were assessed 3 times (preallocation, short-term postallocation, long-term postallocation) over a 2-year period. Results generally supported the hypotheses. Procedural justice was most influential prior to and soon after outcome decisions were made. Distributive justice was most influential 1 year later.

This study explored the relationship between 3 dimensions of organizational structure--centralization, formalization, and size--and perceptions of procedural and interactional fairness. Data from 11 organizations (N = 209) indicated that, as predicted, centralization was negatively related to perceptions of procedural fairness, and organizational size was negatively related to interactional fairness. However, contrary to predictions, formalization was not related to perceptions of procedural fairness. Results suggest that organizational structure and design should play a more prominent role in our thinking about organizational fairness.

This study examines the impact of workgroup membership on individuals' perceptions of equity and choice of referent. Subjects indicated who they compared themselves to on four job facets (compensation, job complexity, supervisory behavior, and security) and whether or not they felt equitably treated relative to their referent. For security comparisons, results show that workgroup membership is related to perceptions of equity and referent choice. For compensation comparisons, workgroup membership is related to referent choice. Workgroup membership does not influence either equity evaluations or referent choice for job complexity or supervisory behavior. Implications of these results for future research on comparative referents are discussed.