Paradoxical Relationships of Workplace Mistreatment

Abstract

Past research has primarily focused on the negative impact of workplace mistreatment or aggression on the individuals involved, workgroups, and organizations. Certain circumstances, however, create paradoxical effects in which mistreatment positively relates to desirable workplace outcomes and characteristics at the individual and/or organizational level. Reviewing the theoretical and empirical evidence of beneficial outcomes provides researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding of the progression of workplace mistreatment, allowing them to target specific mechanisms to mitigate detrimental effects and potentially discover important avenues that lead to desired outcomes. A qualitative review of 13 articles demonstrated that different forms of aggression such as bullying, abusive supervision, incivility, and ostracism have positive relationships with paradoxical outcomes and characteristics such as resilience, prosocial behaviors, socially desirable behaviors, job performance, job satisfaction, and creativity. The authors caution against leveraging mistreatment as a method for producing these desired outcomes; instead, the authors encourage researchers and practitioners to utilize the information to further their understanding of the nomological network of workplace mistreatment and its underlying mechanisms, such as cognitive reappraisal and social learning.

Citation

McMahon, K., Pockrandt, J., Fox, S., Zike, N. and Yang, L.-Q. (2022), "Paradoxical Relationships of Workplace Mistreatment", Perrewé, P.L., Harms, P.D. and Chang, C.-H.(D). (Ed.) Examining the Paradox of Occupational Stressors: Building Resilience or Creating Depletion (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 20), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520220000020010