When and how workplace ostracism leads to interpersonal deviance: The moderating effects of self-control and negative affect

Abstract

The negative effect of workplace ostracism on employees has attracted increasing attention. This research, drawing on the perspective of negative reciprocity belief, in combination with the self-regulation theory and the person-environment theory, proposes and tests the positive effect of workplace ostracism on interpersonal deviance, which is negatively moderated by self-control (two-way) and further negatively moderated by negative affect (three-way). Based on a three-wave survey of 233 employees in China, we find that workplace ostracism is positively related to interpersonal deviance. This positive relationship is stronger when employees are low in self-control. Furthermore, this moderating effect exits only when employees’ negative affect is high. Therefore, this research theoretically explicates the positive relationship between workplace ostracism and interpersonal deviance and the boundary conditions of this relationship, and also proposes a practical way to help managers reduce the occurrence of employees’ interpersonal deviation. The theoretical contributions and practical implication have also been discussed.