It’s the Reoccurring Thoughts that Matter: Rumination over Workplace Ostracism

Abstract

As workplace ostracism detrimentally impacts employees’ job-related outcomes, it is important to understand why exclusion causes these negative outcomes to potentially mitigate its negative effects. A potential explanatory mechanism for these effects is rumination – persistent and recurring thinking that can focus on both negative and positive events. Using climate survey data with a sample of 1428 employees, we examined the extent to which rumination explains the relationship between workplace ostracism and three job-related outcomes: job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intentions. The results indicated that two forms of ostracism (information exclusion and social ostracism) were associated with lower job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, as well as greater burnout. The effects of social ostracism were mediated by both positive and negative rumination. The findings suggest potential interventions to mitigate the negative effects of ostracism in the workplace.