Dark sides of self-efficacy and task interdependence: victimization

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and test theoretical propositions explaining why and under what circumstances highly self-efficacious employees experience victimization at work and how task interdependence leads to the situation that employee victimization emerges.Design/methodology/approachTo test hypotheses, the authors collected the data from four organizations, which are private company, public enterprise, medical institution and government office in Gyungbuk province, South Korea. The final sample for analyses was 209 employees.FindingsContrary to the prediction, high self-efficacy did not show a statistically significant relationship with victimization. However, task interdependence is related to victimization and functions as an important situational contributor to exacerbate highly self-efficacious employees’ victimization.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings have research implications by exploring victimization of the employees with high self-efficacy, which is an underdeveloped area in the victimization literature and showing that task interdependence is the critical factor to trigger and aggravate employee victimization. Despite these implications, this study should be evaluated in light of several limitations such as the data from single source for all variables and the use of cross-sectional data.Practical implicationsManagers need to be aware that highly self-efficacious employees can be vulnerable to victimization at work, where there is high task interdependence. The evidence suggests that managers may take safeguards to deter employee victimization, when tasks are closely related among members.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to expand the understanding of employee victimization by examining the roles of self-efficacy and task interdependence to crystalize antecedents and boundary conditions of victimization at workplace.