Abstract
We examined workplace gossip recipients’ inferences of the sender’s morality and their subsequent behavioral responses in three studies with experimental and observational methods. Study 1 provided experimental evidence that gossip recipients perceive the senders as low in morality, with female recipients rating the sender’s morality more negatively than male. In a follow-up experiment (Study 2), we replicated these results and found that, in turn, perceived morality translates into behavioral responses in the form of career-related sanctions to the gossip sender. A critical incident study (Study 3) enhanced the external validity of our findings and extended the moderated mediation model by showing that gossip recipients also penalize senders with social exclusion. We discuss implications for practice and research on workplace gossip and understanding gender differences in attributions of morality and behavioral responses of gossip recipients.
Published Version
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