Reduced self-worth : an investigation of why and when coworker undermining facilitates employee interpersonal deviance

Purpose: This study investigates why and when undermined employees exhibit deviant behavior toward coworkers. Drawing upon social exchange theory, coworker undermining reduces employee organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), which in turn, fosters employee negative reciprocal behavior in the form of interpersonal deviance. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) in affecting the indirect effect. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a two-wave survey. Participants were 316 employees of a service company in western China. Ordinary least squares regressions were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: Coworker undermining is positively related to employee interpersonal deviance, mediated by decreased employee OBSE. In addition, this indirect relationship is more salient for employees with a higher than lower RISC. Originality/value: This study suggests that employee OBSE serves as an explanation for why coworker undermining leads to employees’ antagonistic consequences. Furthermore, this study highlights the boundary-condition role of RISC in the influence process.