To act out, to withdraw, or to constructively resist? Employee reactions to supervisor abuse of customers and the moderating role of employee moral identity

We extend the deontic model of justice (Folger, 1998, 2001) by arguing that not all employees respond to third-party injustices by experiencing an eye-for-an-eye retributive response; rather, some employees respond in ways that are higher in moral acceptance (e.g. increasing turnover intentions, eng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human relations (New York) 2013-07, Vol.66 (7), p.925-950
Main Authors: Greenbaum, Rebecca L, Mawritz, Mary Bardes, Mayer, David M, Priesemuth, Manuela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Customer relations
Customers
Deviance
Economic behaviour
Employees
Justice
Morality
Morals
Organizational behavior
Organizational behaviour
Professional misconduct
Resistance
Social identity
Studies
Turnover
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Summary:We extend the deontic model of justice (Folger, 1998, 2001) by arguing that not all employees respond to third-party injustices by experiencing an eye-for-an-eye retributive response; rather, some employees respond in ways that are higher in moral acceptance (e.g. increasing turnover intentions, engaging in constructive resistance). We predict that the positive relationship between supervisor abuse of customers and organizational deviance is weaker when employees are high in moral identity. In contrast, we hypothesize that the relationships between supervisor abuse of customers and turnover intentions and constructive resistance are more strongly positive when employees are high in moral identity. Regression results from two field studies (N = 222 and N = 199, respectively) provide general support for our theoretical model.
ISSN:0018-7267
1741-282X
DOI:10.1177/0018726713482992