Impact of workplace ostracism on unethical pro-organizational behaviors

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of workplace ostracism on unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), by focusing on the moderating role of value alignment of WPS.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical model was tested using data collected from 434 employees in different companies from Shanxi provinces in China. Analysis of lagged data is used to empirically test the relationship between workplace ostracism and UPB.FindingsThe study found that ostracized individuals are more likely to engage in UPB when they embrace high value alignment with the organization.Originality/valueThis study examines the moderating effect of WPS, providing boundary condition for the relationship between workplace ostracism and UPB. So far, most of the empirical work has identified moderators that only buffer the relationship between ostracism and negative outcomes, and the result for moderators that actually determine pro-social responses has not yet to be discovered.