Title

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

Authors

Authors

G. Markova;R. Folger

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

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

Share

COinS