Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining: Positive Effects of Deviant Coworkers

    Authors

    G. Markova;R. Folger

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Soc. Psychol.

    Keywords

    deviant coworker; reactions to deviance; social comparison; social; construction; vicarious learning; BAD APPLES; NETWORK PERSPECTIVE; SOCIAL COMPARISONS; MODERATING ROLE; WORK GROUPS; BEHAVIOR; OTHERS; WORKPLACE; PERCEPTIONS; PERFORMANCE; Psychology, Social

    Abstract

    Drawing on the labeling perspective of deviance, we investigate employee reactions to coworkers perceived as deviants. We look at two positive effects for employees in the presence of a deviant coworker. First, in comparison to a deviant individual, other employees can draw more positive conclusions about themselves; and second, a deviant can be informative about organizational norms, thereby improving employee role clarity. We also examine individual and situational moderators. For the purpose of the study, we developed a measure of the presence of a deviant. The hypothesized relationships were tested in two large samples using multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that in the presence of a deviant coworker, employees reported enhanced self-evaluation. The presence of a deviant coworker was associated with better role clarity only for employees with more interdependent jobs. We also discuss practical implications of the findings and future research directions.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Social Psychology

    Volume

    152

    Issue/Number

    5

    Publication Date

    1-1-2012

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    586

    Last Page

    612

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000306684200005

    ISSN

    0022-4545

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