An Investigation of Behavioral Contagion in Groups

From Bad to Worse: A Social Contagion Model of Organizational Misbehavior

“…This is consistent with both theory and empirical research on social contagion (Crandall, 1988;Levy et al, 1993;Polansky et al, 1950;Redl, 1949;Wheeler, 1966;Wheeler et al, 1966 …”

“…The observing manager then begins to use similar tactics with his or her subordinates in order to increase their performance and earn the manager a promotion. Contagion theories suggest that both external and internal factors trigger the spread of behavior among individuals (Polansky, Lippitt, & Redl, 1950;Wheeler, Smith, & Murphy, 1964). In social contagion, the imitating manager would be motivated by an internal factor, such as low justice perceptions or work frustration, and also by an external factor, such as observing an imitator's abusive behavior which goes unpunished or earning rewards for mistreating subordinates.…”

“…First, evidence suggests that contagion is more likely to occur, other things being equal, if the initiator is a high rather than low status group member (Lippitt, Polansky, & Rosen, 1952;Polansky et al, 1950;Redl, 1949). Two studies found that children often imitated the behavior of the high power children in their play group.…”

“…Polansky, Lippitt and Redl (1950) also emphasized the importance of group psychological factors. Theorizing that group influence is a function of prestige, they found that subjects higher in prestige were more likely to be the initiators of contagion and were also more susceptible themselves to influence via contagion.…”

“…The pervasiveness of such behavior increases the likelihood that the misbehavior will be picked up by additional members throughout the organization. A primary tenet of contagion theory is that the spread of behavior is conditional on the actions of a model or referent other (Burt, 1987;Crandall, 1988;Levy et al, 1993;Lippitt et al, 1952;Polansky et al, 1950;Redl, 1949;Turner et al, 1957;Wheeler, 1966). In other words, for contagion to occur an imitator or focal individual must have awareness of another individual's behavior.…”