Being sensitive to positives has its negatives: An approach/avoidance perspective on reactivity to ostracism

Abstract

Workplace mistreatment is typically conceptualized as being exposed to a negative stimulus – for example, a threat, verbal abuse, or other forms of harassment. Consequently, we expect workplace mistreatment will have the greatest effect on individuals who are sensitive to the presence and absence of negative stimuli – or those with a strong avoidance temperament. Although this may be the rule for most mistreatment constructs, we argue that ostracism may be the exception. Using an approach/avoidance framework to highlight unique elements of ostracism, we build on the definition of ostracism as being the absence of an expected positive stimulus (i.e., social interaction that is withheld) to argue ostracism should have the greatest impact on those who are sensitive to the presence and absence of positive stimuli – or those with a strong approach temperament. Across a scenario study, a study of student teams, and a field study, we found that a strong approach temperament exacerbated the effects of ostracism on citizenship behaviors, while a strong avoidance temperament did not. Implications for the ostracism and mistreatment literatures are discussed.