RT Article
T1 Doing Bad to Feel Better? An Investigation of Within- and Between-Person Perceptions of Counterproductive Work Behavior as a Coping Tactic
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 137
IS 3
SP 571
OP 587
A1 Shoss, Mindy K.
A1 Jundt, Dustin K.
A1 Kobler, Allison
A1 Reynolds, Clair
A2 Jundt, Dustin K.
A2 Kobler, Allison
A2 Reynolds, Clair
LA English
YR 2016
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785658646
AB Employee counterproductive work behavior (CWB, e.g., theft, production deviance, interpersonal abuse) is costly to organizations and those who work within them. Evidence suggests that employees are motivated to engage in CWB because they believe that these behaviors will make them feel better in response to negative workplace events. However, research has yet to consider the situational and individual factors that shape the extent to which employees view CWB in such a manner. In order to provide insight into the decision-making process surrounding the use of CWB as a coping strategy, this study leverages coping theory to examine the factors (both situational/within-person and individual/between-person) that contribute to employees’ beliefs that CWBs will be instrumental for emotion regulation aims in response to workplace stressors. In a repeated measures scenario-based study of 297 employees, we found that individuals’ perceived coping instrumentalities for CWBs are a function of the controllability and source of the stressor as well as a more stable learned response to stressful situations at work.
K1 Workplace stressors
K1 Ethical decision making
K1 Counterproductive work behavior
K1 Coping
K1 Control
DO 10.1007/s10551-015-2573-9