Organizational Behaviour in the COVID-19 Context: Effects of Supervisor-Directed Deviance on Retaliation against Subordinates

Maria Kakarika, T. Lianidou, Y. Qu and M.C. Bligh
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Maria Kakarika: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School

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Abstract: Previous research mostly examines supervisor-directed deviance as a subordinate's reaction to the supervisor's abusive behaviour while ignoring the perspective of supervisors as potential victims of deviant behaviour. Additionally, COVID-19 has deeply affected organizational climate and workplace behaviour. Therefore, drawing on the affective events theory, we examined the COVID-19 pandemic as a context shaping the effects of supervisor-directed deviance on retaliation against subordinates in the United States. We conducted two quasi-experiments with pre- and post-COVID-19 (Study 1, n = 97) and Wave 1\textendashWave 3 pandemic study designs (Study 2, n = 94), respectively, and found that supervisor-directed deviance triggered felt leader identity threat, consequently leading to retaliation against subordinates; this indirect effect strengthened as the pandemic progressed. We replicated these findings using a field study during the third wave of the pandemic (Study 3, n = 190), which established external validity by expanding the types of deviant and retaliatory behaviours examined. The results further showed that low COVID-19-induced empathic concern strengthened the effect of felt leader identity threat on retaliatory responses. Overall, our paper contributes to the literatures on retaliation and supervisor-directed deviance and opens avenues for research on the pandemic's impact on organizational behaviour. \textcopyright 2021 British Academy of Management and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Date: 2022
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Published in British Journal of Management, 2022, 33 (1), pp.435-454. ⟨10.1111/1467-8551.12579⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04435624

DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12579

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