Unbalanced, Unfair, Unhappy, or Unable? Theoretical Integration of Multiple Processes Underlying the Leader Mistreatment-Employee CWB Relationship with Meta-Analytic Methods

Abstract

Although a litany of theoretical accounts exists to explain why mistreated employees engage in counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), little is known about whether these mechanisms are complementary or mutually exclusive, or the effect of context on their explanatory strength. To address these gaps, this meta-analytic investigation tests four theoretically-derived mechanisms simultaneously to explain the robust relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWB: (1) a social exchange perspective, which argues that mistreated employees engage in negative reciprocal behaviors to counterbalance experienced mistreatment; (2) a justice perspective, whereby mistreated employees experience moral outrage and engage in retributive behaviors against the organization and its members; (3) a stressor-emotion perspective, which suggests that mistreated employees engage in CWBs to cope with their negative affect; and (4) a self-regulatory perspective, which proposes that mistreated employees are simply unable to inhibit undesirable behaviors. Moreover, we also examine whether the above model holds across cultures that vary on power distance. Our meta-analytic structural equation model demonstrated that all but the justice mechanism significantly mediated the relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWBs, with negative affect emerging as the strongest explanatory mechanism in both high and low power distance cultures. Given these surprising results, as the stressor-emotion perspective is less frequently invoked in the literature, this paper highlights not only the importance of investigating multiple mechanisms together when examining the leader mistreatment-employee CWB relationship, but also the need to develop more nuanced theorizing about these mechanisms, particularly for negative affect.

Keywords: counterproductive work behaviors; depleted self-regulatory capacity; justice; leader mistreatment; negative affect; social exchange.

Figure 1.

Flow chart of literature search and screening.

Figure 2.

Structural equation modeling results for main analysis. Note. Standardized estimates. CWB  =  counterproductive work behavior. *p < .05, ** p < .01.

Figure 3.

Structural equation modeling results for the serial mediation analysis. Note. Standardized estimates. CWB  =  counterproductive work behavior. *p < .05, ** p < .01.

Figure 4.

Structural equation modeling results for target-specific analysis. Note. Standardized estimates. S  =  Supervisor-directed, O  =  Organization-directed, CWB  =  counterproductive work behavior. *p < .05, ** p < .01.