JDJCSET | Sigma Xi Poster Competition
We Should Have Seen It Coming: Predictors of Workplace Sabotage
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Psychology
Minor
Marketing
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Jana Hackathorn, PhD.
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
On April 13, 2016, Verizon announced that thousands of customers would receive diminished or potentially non-existent services due to the equipment sabotage in a wake of a worker’s strike (CNN.com). Unfortunately, sabotage conducted by employees is not uncommon. The current research investigated the relationship between likelihood to sabotage and other negative workplace behaviors such as organizational deviance and hostility. It was expected that organizational deviance and hostility would both positively predict sabotage. Participants (N = 91) were recruited through SONA, an online system recruitment management system maintained by the psychology department. Of the total sample participants were predominantly Caucasian (63.7%), female (71.4 %), and freshman (56.4 %). Additionally, the clear majority were currently employed (60%). To test our hypothesis, we first conducted a bivariate correlational analysis. Organizational deviance and hostility were both highly correlated with sabotage. As Judge and colleagues (2006) have shown that trait hostility is a predictor of organizational deviance, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate whether hostility mediates the relationship between organizational deviance and sabotage, using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2012-2016) for SPSS. The results indicated that the indirect effect (SE = .24, CI [.09 to .38]) was significant. That is, organizational deviance is only related to sabotage through hostility. Importantly, this finding replicates past findings (Judge, Scott, & Ilies, 2006), but also expands our ability to correctly identify the influence of personal traits on one’s willingness to sabotage. Implications will be discussed.
Affiliations
Sigma Xi Poster Competition--ONLY
We Should Have Seen It Coming: Predictors of Workplace Sabotage
On April 13, 2016, Verizon announced that thousands of customers would receive diminished or potentially non-existent services due to the equipment sabotage in a wake of a worker’s strike (CNN.com). Unfortunately, sabotage conducted by employees is not uncommon. The current research investigated the relationship between likelihood to sabotage and other negative workplace behaviors such as organizational deviance and hostility. It was expected that organizational deviance and hostility would both positively predict sabotage. Participants (N = 91) were recruited through SONA, an online system recruitment management system maintained by the psychology department. Of the total sample participants were predominantly Caucasian (63.7%), female (71.4 %), and freshman (56.4 %). Additionally, the clear majority were currently employed (60%). To test our hypothesis, we first conducted a bivariate correlational analysis. Organizational deviance and hostility were both highly correlated with sabotage. As Judge and colleagues (2006) have shown that trait hostility is a predictor of organizational deviance, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate whether hostility mediates the relationship between organizational deviance and sabotage, using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2012-2016) for SPSS. The results indicated that the indirect effect (SE = .24, CI [.09 to .38]) was significant. That is, organizational deviance is only related to sabotage through hostility. Importantly, this finding replicates past findings (Judge, Scott, & Ilies, 2006), but also expands our ability to correctly identify the influence of personal traits on one’s willingness to sabotage. Implications will be discussed.