A person-centered approach to behaving badly at work: An examination of workplace deviance patterns.

To investigate research questions surrounding workplace deviance, scholars have primarily applied variable-centered approaches, such as overall deviance measures or those that separate interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance. These approaches, however, ignore that individuals might employ more complex combinations of deviance behaviors that do not fit neatly within the existing variable frameworks. The present study explores whether person-centered deviance classes emerge in a comprehensive database of the prior studies. We then investigated whether these classes showed differences in antecedents and correlates in an independent sample of working adults from multiple industries. In Study 1, a multilevel latent class analysis of 20 independent samples and 6,218 individuals revealed five classes of workplace deviance, thus providing preliminary support for a person-centered approach. In Study 2, a time-lagged sample of 553 individuals showed the emergence of five classes that largely reflected the patterns found in Study 1. Study 2 points to meaningful differences between classes of deviance behaviors and antecedents, including abusive supervision, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and psychological entitlement; classes are also uniquely associated with correlates such as organizational citizenship behaviors, turnover intentions, job performance, and job satisfaction. Altogether, this work is an important first step toward understanding workplace deviance with a person-centered lens. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

It hurts me too! (or not?): Exploring the negative implications for abusive bosses.

Although most work on abusive supervision has focused on consequences for the victim, this paper extends a small yet growing stream of research that aims to understand transgressors' reactions to their own wrongdoing. Specifically, we seek to explain behavioral responses of abusive supervisors, including whether they adjust their performance behaviors, as well as whether they halt any future abuse toward subordinates. Building on theories and research on social worth, we propose that perpetrated abuse impacts these supervisor outcomes via a diminished sense of social worth that results from harming others. We further suggest that these indirect effects are stronger for managers who possess lower levels of psychopathy, whereas supervisors with higher levels of the trait are said to be shielded from social repercussions and therefore less responsive in this process. Results from two field studies largely support our assertions, indicating that abusive bosses generally experience a reduced sense of social worth and corresponding poorer performance outcomes. These effects are stronger for less psychopathic supervisors. Findings also indicate that supervisors who are low on psychopathy might stop enacting abuse entirely, while those high on psychopathy might be more likely to continue the abusive behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).