Critical Factors Leading to Workplace Deviance: A Comprehensive Analysis First

PurposeThis study aims to develop a measurement scale to assess generation Y China hotel employees’ workplace deviance and then investigate the effect of generation Y employees’ deep acting on workplace deviance by focusing on the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion and the moderating effect of organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachThe study first adopts a mixed-methods approach to develop the scale of generation Y hotel employees’ workplace deviance, then multiple data is collected targeting 580 hotel employees by a three-stage survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and a hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsWorkplace deviance of generation Y hotel employees in China was divided into two dimensions, aggression and neglect. Deep acting was found to be negatively related to workplace deviance, and emotional exhaustion had a mediating effect on the relationship between deep acting and workplace deviance. Organizational identification strengthened the effect of deep acting on neglect and the effect of deep acting on emotional exhaustion, whereas it did not moderate the relationship between deep acting and aggression.Originality/valueFirst, this study provides a more powerful explanatory perspective on the conservation of resources theory to explore future research by especially targeting generation Y employees. Second, this study develops the elements of workplace deviance structure of generation Y hotel employees, especially in the Chinese cultural context. Third, it explores the inherent mechanism of how and why deep acting impacts workplace deviance.

The purpose of this research was to explore which variables facilitate Chinese SMEs employees’ workplace deviance and focused on uncovering the processes that lead to deviant behavior. Unlike previous studies, rather than simply focusing on variables exploration or main effect verification, we provided and verified the research model related to process by which workplace deviance occurs. Specifically, this research verified exploitative leadership influences workplace deviance through negative emotions and examined the moderated mediation role of fear of negative evaluation. Therefore, this study conducted a data survey on adult employees in SMEs from 25 provinces, municipalities, and regions in China. Ultimately, 305 valid samples were used in the empirical analysis and utilized SPSS 26.0, AMOS 23.0, and PROCESS Macro 3.4.1 to analyze the results. As expected in this study, all hypotheses were supported except hypothesis 6. In addition, based on research results, expected effects are provided in terms of theory and practice. Theoretically, it discloses the mediating role of negative emotions between exploitative leadership and workplace deviance, as well as the moderated mediating role of fear of negative evaluation, broadens the comprehension of the relationships. In practice, it facilitates organizations in identifying and managing exploitative leadership, mitigates workplace deviance, and simultaneously alerts managers to pay attention to the employees’ negative emotions and fear of negative evaluation. Overall, the causal relationship between exploitative leadership and workplace deviance through a process, which can be seen as an expansion of the research field and is considered a contribution of this study.

This study investigates the intricate relationships among workplace deviance, employee engagement, and research quality within the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Nigeria, specifically in Sokoto State.Grounded in dynamic capability theory, the normative perspective, and employee engagement theory, this study posits that workplace deviance detrimentally influences employee engagement, which in turn adversely impacts research quality.A moderated-mediation model was proposed, suggesting that employee engagement mediates the relationship between workplace deviance and research quality, while also being moderated by institutional support mechanisms.The analysis, conducted using SmartPLS 4, includes an examination of response rates, preliminary data assessment, validation of measurement instruments, and hypothesis testing.The findings reveal a complex dynamic where workplace deviance, when moderated by a supportive institutional environment, indirectly enhances research quality through increased employee engagement.This paradoxical outcome underscores the significance of fostering a positive work culture that can mitigate the adverse effects of deviant behavior, thereby promoting research excellence.The study's theoretical and practical implications suggest that mitigating workplace deviance, enhancing employee engagement, and encouraging participatory decision-making are crucial for improving research outcomes.Future research is encouraged to further explore the interplay between workplace deviance and employee engagement and to assess the generalizability of these findings across diverse institutional contexts.

Deviant workplace behaviors have become an important area of research due to the recent revelation of high-profile corporate scandals. Scholars view that deviant workplace behaviors can be controlled when the factors that affect workplace deviance are properly understood. Therefore, this study is having two sections. Section one identifies the level of workplace deviance prevailing in the public sector hospitals of Pakistan, for which data was collected from 219 respondents in the understudy sector. Findings of this study show that workplace deviance exists in the understudy sector at a moderate level. Section two describes the factors that have the ability to influence the emergence of deviant workplace behaviors. Thus, this study searched for workplace deviance related articles available at the academic research databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. The keywords that were used for searching articles were “workplace deviance”, “organizational deviance”, “deviance” and “deviant behaviors”. This study outlines twenty-five factors that affect workplace deviance, thereby highlighting how workplace deviance can be minimized. Lastly, implications and suggestions for further research and practice are highlighted.

Despite the rise in research on leader behaviors and workplace deviance, a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude of associations between the different forms of leader behaviors and workplace deviance is lacking. Drawing on Social Learning Theory and Banks and colleagues’) framework of leader behaviors, our meta-analysis provides a rank ordering of leader behaviors (i.e., moral, inspirational, task-oriented, relational, and passive) based on their importance in predicting workplace deviance using 104 independent samples (N = 42,968). Additionally, we consolidate the literatures on perpetrated and experienced deviance to investigate the association between leader behaviors and deviance from both perspectives. We also assess three boundary conditions that could moderate the leader behavior – workplace deviance relationship. Our findings suggest that passive leader behaviors explain the greatest variance in workplace deviance, followed by moral, relational, inspirational, and task-oriented leader behaviors. We also find support for the moderating effects of deviance target, study design, and rater in(dependence) on the association between leader behaviors and workplace deviance. We highlight that passive leader behaviors exhibit a greater influence on workplace deviance relative to the influence of positive leader behaviors. We discuss the implications of our results for both research and practice.

The study investigated the relationship between organisational justice (OJ: distributive, interactive, and procedural) and work-place deviance (WPD) behaviours and the role of perceived organisational support (POS) in that relationship. Participants were bank workers from South-east Nigeria (n = 482; male = 54%, female = 46%; mean age = 31.72 years, SD = 6.88 years). The bank workers completed the organisational justice scale, work-place deviance scale, and perceived organisational support scale. Following hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the results showed that high distributive justice was associated with minor work-place deviance among bank workers. Perceived organisational support was associated with high work-place deviance (major) positively and (minor) negatively. Also, perceived organisational support moderated the relationship between interactive justice and major work-place deviance. These findings suggest more sensitisation among bank management on the need for equity in the distribution of organisational resources to enhance the reduction in deviant behaviours among bank workers.

This study investigated the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance with feelings of violation. The participants were 232 employees of a Nigerian public sector organisation (125 males and 107 females). The employees completed measures of workplace deviance, psychological contract breach, feelings of violation, and emotional intelligence. Results of the moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that psychological contract breach was positively related to feelings of violation and workplace deviance. Emotional intelligence significantly buffered the negative effect of psychological contract breach on feelings of violation and workplace deviance. This implies that emotionally intelligent employees who perceived contract breach are less likely to experience feelings of violation and engage in workplace deviance. Emotional regulation appears to reliably moderate between breach-outcome relationships.

The authors tested a model, inspired by affective events theory (H. M. Weiss & R. Cropanzano, 1996), that examines the dynamic nature of emotions at work, work attitudes, and workplace deviance. Sixty-four employees completed daily surveys over 3 weeks, reporting their mood, job satisfaction, perceived interpersonal treatment, and deviance. Supervisors and significant others also evaluated employees' workplace deviance and trait hostility, respectively. Over half of the total variance in workplace deviance was within-individual, and this intraindividual variance was predicted by momentary hostility, interpersonal justice, and job satisfaction. Moreover, trait hostility moderated the interpersonal justice-state hostility relation such that perceived injustice was more strongly related to state hostility for individuals high in trait hostility.

Workplace deviance can have negative effects on the employee, organisation, profession, and larger society. Thus, it is important to better understand the nature of workplace deviance in the hopes of implementing policies and practices to reduce its prevalence and harmful effects. In order to better understand workplace deviance, the theoretical framework of Akers’ social learning theory may be particularly useful. Following a growing body of scholarship in this area, the main goal of this research study was to examine the predictive utility of social learning theory in explaining workplace deviance. Utilising survey data from a sample of 585 hotel employees in Iran, we tested both direct and indirect effects of social learning on workplace deviance. Overall, the findings demonstrate that differential associations, definitions favourable to crime, differential reinforcement, and imitation all had predictive utility in explaining workplace deviance. Specific results, policy implications, and study limitations are discussed.

Using a crossover model, we examined the relationships among family undermining by their partner and the psychological strain and workplace deviance of employees, and also investigated the moderating effect of employees' emotional exhaustion on their psychological strain, leading to workplace deviance. Analysis of 3-wave data obtained from 332 employee–partner dyads (246 male employees, 86 female employees) at a large industry in southern Taiwan demonstrated a significant positive relationship between family undermining and employees' workplace deviance, mediated by psychological strain. The results show that when employees' emotional exhaustion level was high this increased the relationship between psychological strain and workplace deviance. These findings confirm that the crossover model can be used to examine the direction of the effect of family undermining on workplace issues. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

The study investigated workplace deviance:A predictive study of Occupational stress and Emotional intelligence among secondary school teachers. A total number of 198 teachers from Nigeria served as participants with the mean age of 32.98,standarddeviation 0f 9.26 and age range of 22 to 54years. Three instruments were used in the study: Workplace deviance scale, Occupational stress inventory and Emotional intelligence scale. The study adopted a correlational design with Pearson Product Moment correlation as statistical tool for data analysis. The findings indicated a significant relationship between occupational stress and workplace deviance of secondary school teachers at p<.05 level of significance. This indicated that teachers’ occupational stress was related to their workplace deviance. Furthermore, the findings also indicated a significant correlation between emotional intelligence and workplace deviance at P<.05 level of significance. Hence, findings were discussed and recommendations were made accordingly based on the findings.

The study investigated organizational commitment, occupational stress, and core self-evaluation as predictors of workplace deviance in the Nigerian civil service. Two hundred and eighty four (284) adults drawn from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka campus participated in the study. Questionnaires were used to elicit information from the participants. Results of regression analyses show that there was a significant negative relationship between organizational commitment and workplace deviance. Also, core self-evaluation was negatively correlated to workplace deviance. This implies that individuals with positive core self-evaluation are less likely to engage in workplace deviance, while individuals with negative core self-evaluation are more likely to engage in workplace deviance.

Job insecurity has been widely associated with reduced constructive work behaviors; however, few researchers have taken counterproductive work behaviors into consideration when investigating job insecurity. From a retaliation perspective, we investigated whether qualitative and quantitative job insecurity increase or reduce employees' workplace deviance and how locus of control moderates these relationships. A survey was carried out with 263 participants from 40 firms in China, who completed mature, established scales, and hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression modeling. The empirical results showed that quantitative job insecurity reduced organizational deviance and increased interpersonal deviance, whereas qualitative job insecurity increased both organizational and interpersonal deviance. Moreover, internal locus of control weakened the positive relationship between job insecurity and workplace deviance. Therefore, qualitative job insecurity was more detrimental than quantitative job insecurity in terms of workplace deviance, and both were more detrimental to those who are of an external locus of control.

The topic of employment relationship has acquired great importance in the last 25 years (Coyle-Shapiro and Shore, 2007). From a conceptual point of view, it describes in a wide sense the relationship between the employee and its organization, and includes many concepts like psychological contract, perceived organizational support, commitment, organizational citizenship behaviours, leader-member exchange, etc. All of these phenomena are generally related to desirable and positive organizational out- comes, while there are other phenomena, as workplace deviance, that can characterize the employment relationship and that can lead to less desirable outcomes. This paper aims to understand the main causes of workplace deviance behaviours, with a specific focus on the abuse of hierarchical power. This kind of behaviours could be a form of resistance or reaction to a source of frustrating organizational stressors (Robinson and Bennett, 1995), and the abuse of hierarchical power can be one of them (Mitchell and Ambrose, 2007). In brief: (1) the abuse of hierarchical power on employees can cause a feeling of injustice; (2) perceived injustice can lead to a need for revenge, and so to act behaviours against the supervisor or the organization which can motivate employees to seek for revenge (Aquino, Tripp and Bies, 2006; Bradfield and Aquino, 1999); (3) these acts of revenge can take the form of workplace deviant behaviours (Lawrence and Robin- son, 2007). The main contribution of the present study is to show that the relationship between perceived injustice and the need for revenge is not univocal, but it needs the mediation of a specific kind of reciprocity, namely negative reciprocity. Moreover, negative reciprocity may be distinguished in direct (an actor who suffered a negative action will reciprocate toward the actor who performed this action) and indirect or generalized (an actor who suffered a negative action will reciprocate toward someone else, or even toward the organization) (Alexander, 1987; Nowak and Sigmund, 1998; Stanca, 2009). Also workplace deviance can be distinguished in interpersonal (when it is directed toward other individuals) and organizational (when it is directed toward the organization). So the present study argues that when a norm of direct negative reciprocity is present, the revenge will be directed toward the actor who performed the negative action, so interpersonal deviant behaviours will be carried out. When a norm of generalized negative reciprocity is present, the revenge will be directed toward the organization, so organizational deviant behaviours will be carried out. Integrating literature on power and injustice with the field of revenge and deviant behaviours, this paper gives a contribution to organization and management studies, because these streams of research have developed in relative isolation from one another. In this sense, this paper tries to develop a theoretical contribution to understand the relationship between the kind of employment relationship and workplace deviance, considering deviant behaviours as signals of a need for revenge under a negative kind of reciprocity.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effect of workplace sexual harassment (WSH) on hospitality employees’ workplace deviance and family undermining behaviors by focusing on the mediating effect of depression.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a three-phase field survey to collect data from hotels in China with a final sample of 266 hospitality employees. Data analysis techniques include descriptive statistics, confirmative factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression.FindingsThis research finds that WSH is positively related to workplace deviance; WSH positively affects family undermining; depression is a mediator in the relationship between WSH and workplace deviance; and depression mediates the relationship between WSH and family undermining.Originality/valueFirst, this research goes beyond the existing WSH literature by extending outcome variables to workplace deviance. Second, it is among the first to investigate the relationship between WSH and hospitality employees’ family life. Third, the examination of depression as a mediator advances the literature by unraveling the mediating mechanism underlying the effects of WSH on hospitality employees.