Counterproductive Work Behavior Among White‐Collar Employees: A study from Turkey

Abstract

The current study was designed to evaluate the magnitude and types of counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) among a group of white-collar employees from different firms. A total of 766 employees voluntarily participated in our study. We focused especially on employees' perceptions of their work environment and on their affective responses to those perceptions. Data were dependent on self-reporting and privacy, and anonymity measures were taken into account. The five different instruments used to evaluate job satisfaction were, organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, quantitative workload and CWB. We found a high degree of job satisfaction, a minimal quantitative workload and a limited exhibition of CWBs among our sample. Organizational constraints were found to be the most strongly correlated to exhibited CWBs, followed by interpersonal conflict and quantitative workload. Job satisfaction had a diminishing effect on CWBs. Among the five dimensions of CWBs, abuse and withdrawal were found to be the most important. The most frequently reported CWB was 'came to work late without permission.' Except for income we found no statistically significant relationship between demographic characteristics and the exhibition of CWBs. We concluded that by abolishing pre-existing organizational constraints there may be a reduction in CWBs.

Work locus of control as a moderator of the relationship between work stressors and counterproductive work behavior.

“…This diverges from previous findings that have found a significant relationship between the two variables (e.g. Chen & Spector, 1992;Bayram, Gursakal, & Bilgel, 2009), but is not as surprising as the result for organizational justice. The lack of a significant result may be due to the fact that this study investigated overall CWB, rather than separating CWB into separate dimensions.…”

Counterproductive Work Behavior Among Chinese Knowledge Workers

“…Our results also indicated that the percentages of CWB among Chinese knowledge workers were relatively high. Compared with CWB among white‐collar workers in Turkey (Bayram, Gursakal, & Bilgel, ), the frequencies of CWB among knowledge workers in China were higher. The mean frequency of production deviance was 13.5% in Bayram et al.…”

“…Our results also indicated that the percentages of CWB among Chinese knowledge workers were relatively high. Compared with CWB among white-collar workers in Turkey (Bayram, Gursakal, & Bilgel, 2009), the frequencies of CWB among knowledge workers in China were higher.The mean frequency of production deviance was 13.5% in Bayram et al's study, while in our study the mean frequency of loophole seeking, which was similar to production deviance, was 44.0%. Our study provides strong empirical evidence for the argument that CWBs among knowledge workers in China are very prevalent.Thus, Chinese managers should pay attention to the most frequently reported CWB.…”

Counterproductive work behaviors within academic institutions: A myth or a reality

“…Noting the positive role of OCB within educational institutions (Belogolovsky & Somech, 2010;Oplatka, 2009), however, with the pressure involved within the academic career (Fox & Stallworth, 2010), CWB would seem to be a type of normal response for teachers under such circumstances (Fox, Spector, & Miles, 2001). In essence, teachers are also normal individuals, hence exhibits similar behaviors as of the typical employees (Bayram, Gursakal, & Bilgel, 2009). Nevertheless, CWB is still considered quite harmful to both the people working within and to the organization itself (Gruys & Sackett, 2003;Robinson & Bennett, 1995;Sackett, 2002).…”