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Most studies of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) assess it as one or two overall dimensions that might obscure relationships of potential antecedents with more specific forms of behavior. A finer-grained analysis of the relationship between counterproductive work behavior and antecedents was conducted with the five-subscales (abuse toward others, production deviance, sabotage, theft, and withdrawal) taken from the 45-item Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist, a measure that has been used in a number of prior studies. Described is the rationale for each of the five dimensions, which have been discussed individually in the literature. Data from three combined studies provide evidence for differential relationships with potential antecedents that suggest the use of more specific subscales to assess CWB. Most notably, abuse and sabotage were most strongly related to anger and stress, theft was unrelated to emotion, and withdrawal was associated with boredom and being upset. Finally, the distinct forms of CWB may suggest distinct underlying dynamics, that vary in their balance of hostile and instrumental motivational systems.

This discussion is divided into four parts: (1) the definition of frustration; (2) general behavioral reactions to frustration which have implications for organizations; (3) integration of the individual behavioral reactions into a model of organizational frustration; and (4) a review of the supporting evidence for the model. (Author)

Despite converging theoretical arguments regarding non-linear relationships between workload and employee attitudes (i.e. job satisfaction) and mental well-being outcomes, prior empirical support for these curvilinear effects has been mixed. In this study we offer and test two potential explanations that may help to reconcile this discrepancy. First, existing workload scales do not assess the full range of workload, thereby making it difficult to detect curvilinear relationships. Second, outcomes typically examined are too distal and there are different mediators (i.e. boredom and frustration) that explain effects at the low and high ends of the workload continuum, respectively, which also serves to obscure curvilinear effects. We examined these possibilities in two North American samples (N = 499 and 493) that employed different designs (i.e. cross-sectional versus multi-wave surveys). Overall, we find support for our hypotheses; ability to detect curvilinear effects is enhanced when using too much/too little rating scales that capture the entire workload continuum. Furthermore, boredom mediated the impact of low workload on outcomes, whereas frustration mediated the impact of high workload on outcomes. Therefore, this study helps clarify why prior studies may have inconsistently observed non-linear relationships between workload and outcomes. We discuss the implications for both researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high workload has long been considered a harmful stressor that adversely affects employees. In the current study, we propose that work underload also has negative implications for employees, and that there is a curvilinear relationship between daily workload and rumination. These negative consequences can carry over to the next day. We collected data from a sample of 137 employees over the course of 9 days to examine how deviations from employees' average workload impacts their negative rumination at the conclusion of the workday and their negative emotions the following morning. Results of the multilevel analyses indicated that daily workload had a significant curvilinear, J-shaped association with subsequent evening negative rumination that carries over into the following day in the form of higher negative emotions. These effects were stronger for employees with high levels of trait negative affectivity. Our findings suggest that while the effect of upward deviation from the typical workload is worse for employee rumination and subsequent negative emotions than the effect of downward deviation, deviations in either direction have negative effects on employees, especially for individuals with high levels of trait negative affectivity. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of examining daily fluctuation in workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are your workdays created equal? Common wisdom suggests that employees experience Mondays differently from Fridays. However, few studies distinguish among workdays, inherently assuming that the employee experience is uniform across the workweek. In the current study, we examined the trajectories of employees' experiences of job satisfaction and job stressors across the workweek. We proposed two competing theoretical perspectives that result in opposite predictions as to whether job dissatisfaction and perceived job stressors will be higher ("Monday blues") or lower ("rested and recharged") at the beginning of the workweek rather than later in the week. Employing a daily diary design with 139 employees (681 matched daily observations) working the traditional workweek, we found that employees reported experiencing lower levels of job satisfaction and perceived more job stressors (i.e., incivility and organizational constraints) at the beginning of the workweek as opposed to later in the week. Additionally, the relationship between perceived incivility and job satisfaction was stronger at the beginning of the workweek. Our findings were consistent with the "Monday blues" perspective and suggest that workdays are not created equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2009, over 176 million patients in the United States have been adversely impacted by data breaches affecting Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–covered institutions. While the popular press often attributes data breaches to external hackers, most breaches are the result of employee carelessness and/or failure to comply with information security policies and procedures. To change employee behavior, we borrow from the organizational climate literature and introduce the Information Security Climate Index, developed and validated using two pilot samples. In this study, four categories of healthcare professionals (certified nursing assistants, dentists, pharmacists, and physician assistants) were surveyed. Likert-type items were used to assess the Information Security Climate Index, information security motivation, and information security behaviors. Study results indicated that the Information Security Climate Index was related to better employee information security motivation and information security behaviors. In addition, there were observed differences between occupational groups with pharmacists reporting a more favorable climate and behaviors than physician assistants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers from 24 geopolitical entities provided data on work locus of control, job satisfaction, psychological strain, physical strain, and individualism/collectivism. The hypothesis that the salutary effects of perceived control on well-being are universal was supported because relations of work locus of control with well-being at work were similar in almost all the sampled areas. Furthermore, the individualism/collectivism level of each sample did not moderate the magnitude of correlations of work locus of control with measures of well-being. Findings indicate that control beliefs contribute to well-being universally, but we suggest that how control is manifested can still differ. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using survey data from 459 employed individuals, the conditional indirect effects of three types of interpersonal conflict at work on strains and performance through surface acting were tested. Results indicated that task, relationship and non-task organizational conflict were positively related to depressive and physical symptoms and negatively related to performance. Task conflict had a significantly weaker association with employee outcomes than either relationship or non-task organizational conflict. Surface acting negatively related to all types of conflict, although it had a weaker association with relationship conflict than task or non-task organizational conflict. Support was found for moderated mediation relationships whereby surface acting mediated the associations between all types of conflict with depressive symptoms, as well as the association between relationship and non-task organizational conflict with physical symptoms, when conflict was infrequent. Surface acting also mediated the associations between all types of conflict and performance when conflict was frequent. Future research directions are discussed that can advance our theoretical understanding of how emotional labour and interpersonal conflict interact to affect employees, as well as further our ability to improve employee well-being and organizational functioning. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes two studies of a new relational variable social burden and its implications for employees' well‐being, job attitudes and counterproductive work behaviours. Social burden is defined as behaviours from colleagues that elicit the focal employees' social support. Across two separate samples (540 nurses and 172 university employees), we found that social burden differentiated from psychological aggression and incivility, respectively. A separate cross‐sectional sample of 273 nurses from Study 1 revealed that social burden from colleagues was positively associated with focal employees' anxiety, irritation, depressive mood, physical symptoms, job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions. Study 2 used a time‐lagged design with a separate sample of 383 university employees and 160 of their coworkers. In this study, social burden from supervisors and from coworkers were together predictive of employees' subsequent emotional strains and job attitudes, as measured 6 months later. With respect to sources of social burden, social burden from supervisors more strongly predicted job attitudes and counterproductive work behaviours directed at others, and social burden from coworkers more strongly predicted emotional strains. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the roles of three types of conflict at work – task, relationship and non-task organizational – in predicting employee strain. These conflict types refer to disputes over issues that are, respectively, work-task specific, driven by emotionally charged interpersonal animosity or rooted in more broad organizationally relevant issues. Findings from a sample of 260 working adults from various organizations in the United States supported the notion that the three types of conflict function as social stressors and are related to a variety of psychological, behavioural and physical strains. They extend previous research based primarily on relationship conflict. Non-task organizational conflict emerged as a key predictor across strain criteria, thus highlighting the importance of including a more complete conceptualization of the conflict construct in social stress research. The results for task conflict are at variance with findings that it can be beneficial, and suggest that its negative relationship with well-being may be due to its co-occurrence with the other forms of conflict. These findings provide support for an expanded typology of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This survey study of 2201 employees from a large mobile phone company investigated how perceived organizational support (POS) and gender moderate the impact of emotional labor strategies on employee strain. Emotional labor strategies were related to employee strain, including turnover intentions, job satisfaction, burnout, and mental well-being in the expected directions. POS moderated these relationships such that POS was related to more positive outcomes for employees who engaged in deep acting but exacerbated negative outcomes for employees who engaged in surface acting. Gender moderated these relationships such that women were more likely than men to report positive consequences when engaging in deep acting. POS and gender interacted with deep acting in predicting cynicism such that POS was related to reduced cynicism in response to deep acting for women but not for men. These results indicate that organizational policies and training opportunities aimed at improving POS and use of deep acting over surface acting could be valuable for organizations. Results also illuminate the important and complicated moderating role of POS and gender in the emotional labor process. Future research directions for scholars investigating the emotional labor process, its consequences, moderators and its cross-cultural relevance are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using samples of managers drawn from five Western countries, we tested a theoretical model linking employees’ perceptions of their work environment’s family-supportiveness to six different dimensions of work–family conflict (WFC), and to their job satisfaction, family satisfaction, and life satisfaction. Our results are consistent with a causal process whereby employees working in an environment viewed as more family-supportive experience lower levels of WFC. Reduced WFC then translates into greater job and family satisfaction, followed by greater overall life satisfaction. These findings were generalizable across the five samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigated the direct and moderating effect of general self-efficacy on the relationship between stressors and well-being in Chinese societies. Survey data were collected from 386 and 306 employees in Hong Kong and Beijing, respectively. The results consistently showed that general self-efficacy was positively related to mental well-being and physical well-being. A series of hierarchical regressions revealed that general self-efficacy moderated the relationship between stressors and mental well-being, yet did not moderate the relationship between stressors and physical well-being. Results verified that general self-efficacy plays an important role in employees’ well-being in the collectivist society of China. Cette recherche porte sur l’effet direct et régulateur de l’auto-efficience générale sur la relation entre les facteurs de stress et le bien-être dans les sociétés chinoises. Les données d’enquête ont été obtenues auprès de 386 salariés de Hong-Kong et 306 de Pékin. Les résultats montrent régulièrement que l’auto-efficience générale est positivement corrélée avec le bien-être physique et mental. Une succession de régressions hiérarchiques a révélé que l’auto-efficience générale régulait la relation entre les facteurs de stress et le bien-être mental, mais pas celle entre les facteurs de stress et le bien-être physique. Les résultats vérifient l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’auto-efficience générale joue un rôle important pour le bien-être des salariés dans la société collectiviste chinoise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A three-phase study was conducted among Chinese employees in Greater China to develop and validate the Chinese coping strategies that were most common and frequently used. By adopting a qualitative open-ended methodology and quantitative surveys (using both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis), the internal consistency and factor structure of the developed 12-item Chinese coping strategies has been demonstrated, and some evidence for construct validity has been provided. The structures of Chinese coping strategies include four factors: active positive coping, passive adaptive coping, social support and hobbies/relaxation. The results also show that active positive coping, social support, and hobbies/relaxation have a beneficial role on work well-being (job satisfaction, physical and behavioral symptoms), whereas passive adaptive coping relatively has a maladaptive effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The current study was designed to replicate findings from previous research regarding the relationships between job stressors, negative affectivity, and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) using peer-reported data and to assess the effects of workplace incivility on employee satisfaction and CWB. Results indicate that incivility, organizational constraints, and interpersonal conflict were negatively related to job satisfaction and positively related to CWB. Support was also found for the role of negative affectivity as a moderator of the relationship between job stressors and CWB, although only one significant moderator was found using peer-reported CWB. In general, the relationships between job stressors and CWB were stronger for individuals high in negative affectivity than for individuals low in negative affectivity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors tested the direct and moderating effects of self-efficacy and Chinese work values on relationships between job stressors and work well- being among employees in Hong Kong and Beijing. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from 105 and 129 employees in Hong Kong and Beijing, respectively. The results revealed that self-efficacy was positively related to job satisfaction in both samples. Self- efficacy was found to be a stress moderator in some of the stressor-work well-being relationships for both samples. The direct effect of Chinese work values on work well-being was minimal, and its moderating effects were partially demonstrated in some of the stressor-job satisfaction relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-report measures of job stressors have been criticized for being too subjective, rendering relations with other variables inconclusive. The Factual Autonomy Scale (FAS) was developed to reduce subjectivity by careful choice of fact-based items. Results of two studies showed that when compared to the Job Diagnostic Survey autonomy scale, the FAS demonstrated superior convergent validity with alternate sources (supervisors in Study 1 and coworkers in Study 2), and discriminant validity when correlated with the remaining JDS core characteristics subscales. In addition, the FAS was correlated to a lesser extent than the JDS autonomy scale with job satisfaction. Incumbent FAS scores and not JDS scores correlated significantly with job performance as assessed by supervisors. It is suggested that it is feasible to develop fact-based items for scales of the work environment that reduce the degree of subjectivity of responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesized role of the personality trait negative affectivity (NA) in employee reactions to jobs has been debated in recent years. Some researchers have argued that this dispositional variable biases self-reports of job-related variables, whereas others have argued that its role is substantive in that NA might affect or be affected by job variables. This study tested competing hypotheses concerning relations of two measures of NA with both incumbent and non-incumbent measures. Results supported the substantive and not the bias hypothesis: NA correlated significantly with non-incumbent, but not with incumbent, measures of job characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Success in the postmodern, post-industrial organization is in part a function of employees' behavioral role choices. The current study was designed to investigate the situational, dispositional, and affective antecedents of counterproductive work behaviors. A model based on the organizational frustration-aggression work of Spector and colleagues was tested using structural equation modeling and zero-order correlational analysis. As expected, a positive relationship was found between employees' experience of situational constraints such as events frustrating their achievement of organizational and personal goals and counterproductive behavioral responses to frustration i.e. personal and organizational aggression, mediated by affective reactions to frustration. In addition, personality, trait anger and trait anxiety, control beliefs, and estimation of likelihood of punishment were strongly associated with affective and behavioral responses. In particular, strong direct relationships were found between affective response variables and anxiety and locus of control, while direct relationships were found between behavioral response variables and anger and punishment. Finally, differentiated relationships between two facets of trait anger namely angry temperament and angry reaction and four categories of counterproductive behaviors i.e. serious and minor deviance directed at organizational and personal targets were explored.

Stressful incidents at work were examined using an open-ended technique for three different occupations: clerical workers, university professors and sales associates. The study revealed both similarities and differences in stressors and coping techniques reported across occupations. Interpersonal conflict, work overload and time wasters were common across all occupations. The open-ended responses relating to the general context of the event, the reasons for the incident being a problem (sources of stress), the affective reactions (psychological strain) and the coping mechanisms were subjected to a content analysis. Anger, annoyance and frustration were the predominant responses to incidents of acute stress. Stressors such as lower control and autonomy and gender differences could be related to broader issues of power, emotion and politics surrounding the gendered nature of organizations.

The development of the Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS), a 16-item measure of generalized control beliefs in work settings, is described. Included is a discussion of item selection, norms, reliability and initial validation. Criterion-related validity is provided by correlations with other theoretically meaningful variables from six samples. The WLCS was found to correlate significantly with job satisfaction, intention of quitting, perceived influence at work, role stress and perceptions of supervisory style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factor analyses of scales that contain items written in opposite directions sometimes show two factors, each of which contains items written in only one direction. Such item direction factors have been found in scales of affect and personality that have been used in organizational research. We discuss how patterns of subject responses to items that vary in direction and extremity can produce an artifactual two factor structure in the absence of multiple constructs. Response patterns are demonstrated in Study 1 with job satisfaction data gathered from employed subjects. The production of two factors is illustrated in Study 2 with simulated data based on item response characteristic equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace cyberloafing (personal use of the internet during working hours) has been recognized as a form of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) that can harm organizations. In this study, we take an opposing view and argue that cyberloafing can serve a potentially positive function in that it can help employees cope with workplace boredom. We describe a study of the cyberloafing behavior and the experienced underload and boredom of 463 university employees with diverse occupations. Results supported the direct relationships between underload and boredom, and boredom and cyberloafing. The indirect underload-boredom-cyberloafing relationship was also significant. Underload was not correlated with CWB, and the boredom-cyberloafing relationship was significantly stronger than the boredom-CWB relationship. Moreover, comparing competing models supported the suggested direction of the underload-boredom-cyberloafing process, as alternative directions did not fit the data. Together, these findings support the conceptualization of cyberloafing as a boredom coping mechanism rather than a form of CWB and highlight the importance of investigating the impact of underload and boredom on employee behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the availability of flexible work arrangements (FWA) and their relationship with manager outcomes of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and work-to-family conflict (WFC) across country clusters. We used individualism and collectivism to explain differences in FWA availability across Latin American, Anglo, and Asian clusters. Managers from the Anglo cluster were more likely to report working in organisations that offer FWA compared to managers from other clusters. For Anglo managers, flextime was the only FWA that had significant favorable relationships with the outcome variables. For Latin Americans, part-time work negatively related with turnover intentions and strain-based WFC. For Asians, flextime was unrelated to time-based WFC, and telecommuting was positively associated with strain-based WFC. The clusters did not moderate the compressed work week and outcome relationships. Implications for practitioners adopting FWA practices across cultures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One procedure for increasing correlations among variables is to create composites, which is the underlying rationale for multiple item scales. Just such an approach has been advocated in the employee withdrawal area in the research of scholar Kathy A. Hanisch and her colleagues. They have developed two withdrawal constructs-job and work withdrawal, which are composites of individual variables, such as absence and turnover. Their approach is criticized here by two withdrawal scholars, Gary Blau and Gary Johns. Economist Gary Bau begins the discussion with a critique of the prior work by Hanisch and her colleagues. He notes conceptual and methodological issues with their approach and research. Although he is not opposed to aggregation, he questions which specific variables should be included. He concludes with specific recommendations for future research with aggregated measures in the withdrawal area. Gary Johns agrees with most of Blau's methodological criticisms, but goes further in his concern about aggregation. Although he is not against creating composites in principle, he demands far more empirical and theoretical justification than has been provided to date for the withdrawal constructs.

Employees spend approximately 2 h per day engaging in cyberloafing (i.e., using the internet at work for nonwork purposes) behaviors, costing organizations almost $85 billion dollars per year. As a result, cyberloafing is often considered a counterproductive type of withdrawal behavior. However, recent research suggests that cyberloafing may have some unexpected positive workplace outcomes. Therefore, we argue that the role of workplace cyberloafing is more complex than previously assumed and posit that cyberloafing may provide employees with a way to cope with workplace stress such as exposure to workplace aggression. To examine this proposition, we used a heterogeneous sample of 258 employees to test whether cyberloafing buffers the detrimental effects of workplace aggression exposure on two outcome variables: employees' turnover intentions and job satisfaction. Overall, results supported the notion that employees use cyberloafing as a workplace coping mechanism, which runs counter to the majority of research that conceptualizes cyberloafing as a counterproductive workplace behavior. These findings suggest that managers may consider allowing some degree of cyberloafing so that employees can better cope with work stress. Moreover, managers should directly target stressful workplace conditions (e.g., aggression) that serve as the impetus for cyberloafing behaviors. • Aggression exposure at work relates to turnover intentions and job dissatisfaction. • Employees use cyberloafing to cope with work stressors, such as aggression exposure. • Cyberloafing buffers some of the negative effects of workplace aggression exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]