The pernicious effects of malicious versus benign envyPerceived injustice, emotional hostility and counterproductive behaviors in the workplace

  1. Ginés Navarro-Carrillo 1
  2. Ana M. Beltrán-Morillas 1
  3. Inmaculada Valor-Segura 1
  4. Francisca Expósito 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Granada
    info

    Universidad de Granada

    Granada, España

    ROR https://ror.org/04njjy449

Revista:
The Spanish Journal of Psychology

ISSN: 1138-7416

Año de publicación: 2018

Número: 21

Páginas: 1-9

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1017/SJP.2018.49 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: The Spanish Journal of Psychology

Resumen

Despite the fact that literature regarding the implications of envy in the work environment has generated growing interest in recent years, the role of malicious and benign envy in the workplace has scarcely been studied. Therefore, the present study, using an experimental design, N = 213 (140 female and 73 male; Mage = 31.05, SD = 10.01; range from 18 to 68), aims to examine the effects of malicious (vs. benign) envy on perceived injustice, negative emotions, and the individual tendency to express counterproductive work behaviors. The results obtained showed that the mere activation of malicious envy (vs. benign envy) leads to an increased perceived injustice (p < .001, ηp 2 = .15), and to higher levels of negative emotions (p < .001, ηp 2 = .18) and counterproductive (harmful) behaviors toward the envied co-worker (p < .001, ηp 2 = .16). Additionally, we found that perceptions of injustice and negative emotions mediated the effect of malicious (vs. benign) envy on the inclination to express counterproductive work behaviors (Indirect Effect (IE) = .227, SE = .064, 95% CI [.127, .386]. Finally, these findings and their possible implications are discussed.

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Fuente de los datos: Dialnet