title: Why victims of undermining at work become perpetrators of undermining: An integrative model.
abstract: We develop and test an integrative model explaining why victims of workplace social undermining become perpetrators of undermining. Conceptualizing social undermining as a norm-violating and a resource-depleting experience, we theorize that undermining victimization lowers interpersonal justice perceptions and depletes self-regulatory resources, and these 2 mechanisms in tandem trigger a moral disengagement process that influences subsequent undermining behaviors. We further theorize that moral identity functions as a boundary condition: high moral identity attenuates whether interpersonal injustice and resource depletion shape moral disengagement and whether moral disengagement translates to subsequent undermining. A field study of bank employees provides empirical support for the mediating mechanisms, and shows that employees who have high moral identity are less likely to respond to interpersonal injustice by morally disengaging and to translate moral disengagement to undermining. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors: Department of Organization and Human Resources, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
authors: KiYoung
authors: K
authors: Lee
authors: College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology.
authors: Eugene
authors: E
authors: Kim
authors: Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University.
authors: Devasheesh P
authors: DP
authors: Bhave
authors: Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.
authors: Michelle K
authors: MK
authors: Duffy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals