Counterproductive behavior at work : a comparison of blue collar and white collar workers

Counterproductive behavior at workplace has emerged as a major area of concern for researchers, theorists and managers in organizations due to its heavy cost and disruptive nature. Every organization thus endeavors to limit the effects and pervasiveness of these detrimental behaviors. This research investigates the magnitude of counterproductive work behaviors in a group of 400 blue collar and white collar workers. Three selfreported instruments used in this study are, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale, the Interpersonal Conflict Scale (ICAW) and the Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist (CWB-C). Results are deduced by applying several techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean rank analysis, independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation and regression. Results show that a statistically significant difference exists in the magnitude of counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) in blue and white collar workers. A high degree of job satisfaction and minimal degrees of interpersonal conflicts and counterproductive work behaviors are found in white collar workers. While, low level of job satisfaction and high degrees of interpersonal conflicts and counterproductive work behaviors are reported in blue collar workers. The results of the study also bring forward the predictability of CWB on the basis of the magnitude of interpersonal conflicts and job satisfaction. It is concluded that the job satisfaction has a diminishing effect on counterproductive behaviors.