Social psychology in Organizations specialization at Leiden University

Lecture 5: Trouble in Paradise

Workplace victimization

Workplace victimization: The harming of an employee's well-being by an act of aggression perpetrated by one or more members of the organisation (Aquino & Thau, 2009)

Harming: The thwarting of a fundamental psychological need, such as the need to belong, the ability to avoid pain, or the need for control.

Victims

Olweus (1978): Focus on victim personality Submissive and provocative victims

2 types of victims:

Submissive victims contribute passively to their victimisation as they are seen as easy targets of others' aggression

Provocative victims are hostile, uncompromising, and aggressive, and elicit aggression as a form of reprisal or control

Victim precipitation theory

Precipitation: to cause an (undesirable) event to happen

Elias (1986). Focus on the victim's actions and the perpetrator’s interpretation of these actions

Victims participate in the sequence of events that leads up to their victimization

Active precipitation: The victim knowingly provokes the offender by way of provocative clothing, vulgar language, provocative body language, use of threats and swear words, or by minor attacks.

Passive precipitation: The victim possesses behavioural, character, ethnic, or personality traits that motivate or threaten the attacker, or may have a competing interest. The victim is not conscious or aware of the provocation he/she provides to the offender

Symbolic interactionism

Felson (1992): Victims breach a social norm

-Focus on Interaction between victim and perpetrator

Aggressive behaviour is:

1. a means of social control

2. a form of retributive justice

3. a way to enhance social identity

A relational model of victimization

What can you do to prevent being victimized at work?

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB):

Sportsmanship: willingness to tolerate less than ideal situations by not complaining about minor issues

Courtesy: preventing workrelated problems

Altruism: help others with organisationallyrelevant tasks

How is OCB related to harrassment and bullying?

1. Norm of (positive) reciprocity: you do something good for the group, therefore the group should treat you well in return (=> more OCB, less bullying)

2. Low OCB can be construed as violation of group norms, which can actually enhance victimization (especially among low status group members; => less OCB, more bullying)

Status

High status individuals are less frequently victimized than low status individuals, because high status individuals are seen as more deserving (i.e. they are respected).

To the extent that high status is associated with more power, high status individuals are also victimized less frequently because they are less vulnerable due to their control over important resources

Revenge

Aquino, Tripp, & Bies (2001)

Revenge: An action to some perceived harm or wrongdoing by another party that is intended to inflict damage, injury, discomfort, or punishment on the party judged responsible

-revenge can also be constructive!

Procedural justice ---- - -----> desire for revenge ----- + ------> counterproductive work behavior

Counterproductive work behaviours

1: Directed at the organisation

• Taking an extra or longer break than is acceptable

• Trying to look busy while wasting time

• Putting little effort into work

• Wasting company materials

• Intentionally working slower than you could have worked

• Spending too much time fantasizing or daydreaming instead of working

• Spending time on personal matters while at work

• Taking property from work without permission...

2. Directed at the supervisor

• Purposely neglecting to follow your supervisor’s instructions

• Acting rudely towards your supervisor

• Spreading unconfirmed rumors about your supervisor

• Doing something to get your supervisor into trouble

• Encouraging your coworkers to get back at your supervisor

Status and revenge

High status people are less likely to take revenge than low status people, because high status people:

• are less affected by the threat because their high status position functions as a buffer

• experience normative pressure to 'take the moral high ground

Bullying and stress

Exposure to bullying can lead to:

- Depression

- Stress-related psychological complaints

- Stress

Stress related appraisals

Primary appraisals: evaluation of the significance of an event for one's well-being ("How stressful is it?")

-Social identity is an important determinant of primary appraisals. What is stressful to one identity need not be equally stressful to another identity.

Secondary appraisals: assessment of one's capacity to cope with a stressor ("Can I cope?")

Identification:

Identification influences the degree to which a (work-) environment is considered stressful:

• Identification indicates how important an identity is to you

• Ingroup information about the stressfulness of an event influences our own stress appraisals of that event (=> Haslam, Jetten, O’Brien, & Jacobs, 2005)

Social identity influences primary stress appraisals in two ways:

1. What is stressful to one identity need not be stressful to another identity (identity salience)

2. Ingroup information (more than outgroup information) about the stressfulness of an event influences our own stress appraisals

Social identity also influences secondary appraisals: coping.

When social identity is salient, people are more likely to:

1. Provide support to other ingroup members

2. Receive support from fellow ingroup members

3. Interpret support in the manner it was intended

Support and identity:

A sense of shared identity (a salient identity) helps to buffer group members from threat

Membership in low status groups is stressful, as low group status reflects poorly on one’s self-esteem.

Coping with low group status:

1. Individual mobility – (consider) leaving the group

2. Social creativity – change how you perceive the situation

3. Social competition/social change – change the situation

Social identity

Which strategy is chosen depends on:

1. Level of social identification

-low identifiers are more likely to pursue individual mobility

2. Permeability of group boundaries

-individual mobility is more likely when it is easy to leave the group

3. Security of the status relations (i.e., status stability and status legitimacy: how likely is it that the status relations will change?)

-social competition/change is more likely when low group status is unstable and illegitimate