Do you only have yourself to blame? A meta‐analytic test of the victim precipitation model

Abstract

The current meta-analysis sought to evaluate the empirical evidence for the victim precipitation model, which has become an increasingly popular yet controversial theory in the organizational sciences. We did so by testing the prediction that some victim dispositional traits contribute to or provoke experiences of mistreatment. We

A meta‐analysis integrating 20 years of workplace incivility research: Antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions

“…With respect to the perpetrator-predation paradigm, our research found that while victim characteristics were related to experienced incivility, environmental factors (i.e., lack of civility norms and incivility climate) played a relatively stronger role in influencing experienced incivility. These findings are aligned with findings of recent research to examine antecedents of incivility and mistreatment behaviors in general (e.g., Dhanani et al, 2020;Yao et al, 2021). Though we did not examine this possibility in the present study due to an insufficient number of primary studies, future scholarship might consider the interaction between individual differences and environmental factors, consistent with the social-interactionist perspective outlined by Andersson and Pearson (1999).…”

“…To this end, a primary goal of this study is to employ metaanalytic methods to examine the relationships between workplace incivility and a set of comprehensive, theoretically grounded antecedents, and consequences, as well as examine boundary conditions that might influence the magnitude of these relationships. 1 We recognize the existence of valuable narrative reviews (e.g., Cortina et al, 2017;Schilpzand et al, 2016) and recent meta-analytic reviews primarily focused on delineating incivility's antecedents (Dhanani et al, 2020;Yao et al, 2021). Yet, in our research, we undertake the most comprehensive meta-analytic investigation of incivility by including the largest number of antecedents and outcomes.…”

“…First, the perpetrator-predation model helps explain why perpetrators are likely to target individuals with certain characteristics (Cortina, 2017;Cortina et al, 2018). Importantly, unlike predominant models that blame victims for the mistreatment they experience (i.e., the victim precipitation model; Aquino et al, 1999;Von Hentig, 1940), the perpetrator-predation framework (Cortina et al, 2018) explains the experience of mistreatment while holding perpetrators accountable for their behavior (see also Dhanani et al, 2020;Yao et al, 2021). Second, with respect to the consequences of incivility, the literature reveals that incivility's victims suffer both direct adverse effects to themselves (e.g., emotional, health, and behavioral) and effects how victims relate to their workplace (e.g., their organization, supervisors, and coworkers).…”

Social and situational dynamics surrounding workplace mistreatment: Context matters

“…The victim precipitation model has gained traction in the field of workplace mistreatment over the last two decades (e.g., Milam, Spitzmueller, & Penney, 2009; Sliter, Withrow, & Jex, 2015) despite the critiques leveled against it (see Cortina, 2017 for a review). Dhanani, Main, & Pueschel (2020) set out to investigate meta‐analytically the empirical evidence that supports (or fails to support) the victim precipitation model. They examine the extent to which negative affectivity, Big Five personality traits, and situational factors predict workplace mistreatment.…”

Exposure to negative acts at work and self-labelling as a victim of workplace bullying: The role of prior victimization from bullying

“…In light of recent meta-analyses emphasizing that individual differences have low predictive power in explaining mistreatment at work compared to situational factors (e.g., Dhanani et al, 2020), our findings suggest that future studies examining individual differences as antecedents of workplace bullying will do wise to adopt a person-environment fit perspective by simultaneously considering situational factors. Taking such an approach, Reknes et al (2019) found that dispositional affect, trait anger and trait anxiety predicted exposure to bullying behaviours especially when the employee faced high levels of role conflict at work, whereas the impact of these traits diminished substantially at lower levels of role conflict.…”