Antecedents and Outcomes of Retaliation Against Whistleblowers: Gender Differences and Power Relationships

Abstract

Whistle-blowing represents an influence attempt in which organization member(s) try to persuade other members to cease wrongdoing; sometimes they fail; sometimes they succeed; sometimes they suffer reprisal. We investigated whether women experienced more retaliation than men, testing propositions derived from theories about gender differences and power variables, and using data from military and civilian employees of a large U.S. base. Being female was correlated with perceived retaliation. Results of structural equation modeling showed significant gender differences in antecedents and outcomes of retaliation. For men, lack of support from others and low whistleblower's power were significantly related to retaliation; for women, lack of support from others, serious wrongdoing, and the wrongdoing's direct effect on the whistleblower were significantly associated with retaliation. Retaliation in turn was negatively related to relationships with the supervisor for both men and women, and positively related to women's—but not men's—decisions to blow the whistle again, using external channels. We finish by discussing implications for theory and practice.

Mental Heath as a Weapon: Whistleblower Retaliation and Normative Violence

“…Organizational retaliation is a common response to whistleblowing (Bjør-kelo 2013;Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran 2005;Paul and Townsend 1996;Rehg et al 2008) and appears to be increasing (Miceli and Near 1992;Ethics Resource Centre 2014). Following Rehg et al, we define it as 'undesirable action taken against a whistleblower-in direct response to the whistle-blowing-who reported wrongdoing internally or externally, outside the organization.…”

“…The idea is that retaliation is proportional to the balance of power between whistleblower and wrongdoer, with power classified as a resource that can be accessed and deployed in the whistleblowing struggle Near 1992, 1994;Near and Miceli 1986). Potential sources of power for the whistleblower include their perceived legitimacy, e.g., through possessing a senior role, or a position in which whistleblowing is 'mandated' such as an audit or compliance function (Miceli et al 1999;Rehg et al 2008), and support from others within the organization (Miceli et al 1999). These decrease the likelihood of retaliation, while perceived threats to the power 'resource' of the wrongdoer are likely to increase it (Rehg et al 2008), for example where their actions involve potential harm to the public (Near and Jensen 1993), where the legitimacy (Miethe 1999) or future performance (Miceli and Near 2002) of the organization is being threatened or where an external reporting channel is used (Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran 2005;Rothschild 2013).…”

“…Potential sources of power for the whistleblower include their perceived legitimacy, e.g., through possessing a senior role, or a position in which whistleblowing is 'mandated' such as an audit or compliance function (Miceli et al 1999;Rehg et al 2008), and support from others within the organization (Miceli et al 1999). These decrease the likelihood of retaliation, while perceived threats to the power 'resource' of the wrongdoer are likely to increase it (Rehg et al 2008), for example where their actions involve potential harm to the public (Near and Jensen 1993), where the legitimacy (Miethe 1999) or future performance (Miceli and Near 2002) of the organization is being threatened or where an external reporting channel is used (Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran 2005;Rothschild 2013). If, on the other hand, the wrongdoing is such that it has become systemic to the organization (Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran 2005), for example as part of its culture or climate , retaliation is more likely to occur.…”

“…Hence, studies have focused on retaliation as a series of 'types' or tactics, or as a phenomenon whose likelihood is determined by the balance of power between whistleblower and wrongdoer, in which the control of critical organizational resources by each party is key (Rehg et al 2008). In recent years, however, whistleblowing has been shown to be a more complex process than previously assumed, involving a series of interactions between the discloser and members of the organization (Martin and Rifkin 2004a, b;Vandekerckhove et al 2014).…”

“…A key area that remains under-researched involves theoretical developments that capture the complexity of power as it operates in situations of whistleblower retaliation. Thus far, studies have tended to adopt a 'resource-based' approach to this issue inspired by Pfeffer (Miceli and Near 1994;Miceli 1985, 1986;Rehg et al 2008). This sees power as a zero-sum entity, something that an organizational actor either possesses or does not.…”