Title
Delivering Bad News: How Procedural Unfairness Affects Messengers’ Distancing And Refusals
Keywords
Delivering bad news; Distancing behavior; Honesty predicament; Organizational justice; Refusals
Abstract
Drawing from a social predicament and identity management framework, we argue that procedural unfairness on the part of decision makers places messengers in a dilemma where they attempt to protect their professional image or legitimacy by engaging in refusals (e.g., curbing explanations) and exhibiting distancing behaviors (e.g., minimizing contact with victims) when delivering bad news. Such behaviors however, violate key tenets of fair interpersonal treatment. The results of two experiments supported our hypotheses in samples of experienced managers. Specifically, we found that levels of messengers’ distancing and refusals were greater when the procedures used by decision makers were unfair rather than fair. Additionally, messengers’ perceptions of a predicament (honesty versus disclosure) mediated these relationships. Implications and future research directions regarding the ethical delivery of bad news in the workplace are discussed.
Publication Date
6-1-2016
Publication Title
Journal of Business Ethics
Volume
136
Issue
1
Number of Pages
43-55
Document Type
Article
Personal Identifier
scopus
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2500-5
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
84919363607 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84919363607
STARS Citation
Lavelle, James J.; Folger, Robert; and Manegold, Jennifer G., "Delivering Bad News: How Procedural Unfairness Affects Messengers’ Distancing And Refusals" (2016). Scopus Export 2015-2019. 3247.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2015/3247