Social undermining in the workplace : construct refinement and relationship to retaliatory behaviors
This research clarifies the dimensionality of social undermining in the workplace and examines the relationship between social undermining and a broad set of retaliatory behaviors. Social undermining is a form of interpersonal aggression that occurs covertly and over an extended period of time. Using a survey sample of 385 US employees from a diverse set of employment backgrounds, an exploratory factor analysis verified that social undermining consists of two factors : interpersonal hostility and interpersonal obstructionism. Relationships between social undermining and multiple forms of retaliation were found. Employees reported that they were more likely to retaliate when supervisor undermining consisted of high levels of interpersonal obstruction. Elevated levels of interpersonal hostility and interpersonal obstructionism from coworkers were also related to increases in retaliation. Implications of the research and future directions are discussed
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2007