Understanding the Impact of Witnessed Workplace Mistreatment: A Meta-Analysis of Observer Deontic Reactions and Employee Outcomes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lyubykh, Zhanna; Zhong, Rui; Vuong, The Ton; Robinson, Sandra L.; Hershcovis, M. Sandy
• 署名单位: Simon Fraser University; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park; University of Calgary; University of British Columbia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0001239
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 381-403
• 关键词: witnessed mistreatment; observers; Meta-analysis; deontic reactions

摘要

This meta-analysis aims to understand the impact of witnessed workplace mistreatment. Bringing together two streams of research, it examines (a) the boundary conditions of observer reactions that reflect a principled moral disapproval of violations of interpersonal justice (i.e., deontic reactions) and (b) the extent to which witnessed mistreatment explains incremental variance in a range of employee outcomes beyond the effects of experienced mistreatment. The results demonstrate that observer psychological and behavioral deontic reactions are not straightforward. For example, while observers have negative reactions toward perpetrators, they fail to intervene and have mixed reactions toward targets. Findings from a series of moderator analyses illuminate the role of perpetrator rank, mistreatment severity, and study context in explaining these disparate observer deontic reactions. Further, although experienced mistreatment explains more variance in most employee outcomes than witnessed mistreatment, witnessed mistreatment still has a unique and sizable contribution. The implications of these findings and future directions for research on witnessed mistreatment are discussed.