No Herd for Black Sheep: A Meta‐Analytic Review of the Predictors and Outcomes of Workplace Ostracism

Abstract

Ostracism is a ubiquitous and inevitable part of human personal and professional lives. Despite its prevalence, organizational scholars have yet to provide a comprehensive review of the empirical literature on workplace ostracism. In this study, I use belongingness theory, conservation of resources theory, and need‐threat/need fortification theory to conduct a meta‐analysis of the relationships between the predictors and outcomes of workplace ostracism. My results suggest that experiences of workplace incivility and victim personality traits have a significant influence on the perceptions of workplace ostracism. I also found that self‐esteem partially mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and work outcomes. In addition, workplace ostracism was related negatively to numerous health and work outcomes. Furthermore, national culture (collectivistic vs. individualistic cultures) of study samples moderated some of the proposed relationships. Finally, results from relative weight analyses revealed a unique contribution of workplace ostracism in the prediction of job satisfaction, although abusive supervision and interpersonal deviance were important predictors of OCBs and deviant work behaviors. I conclude with a discussion of these findings.

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction in Hospitality Industry

“…A study by Gjerald and Øgaard (2010) demonstrated positive correlations between job satisfaction and the competence of colleagues, as shown by their flexibility and use of initiative. However, exclusion by colleagues leads to lower satisfaction and emotional exhaustion, according to Bedi (2019). This emotional exhaustion is, in turn, negatively correlated with job satisfaction, according to Karatepe et al (2009).…”

İş Yeri̇ Dişlamasi Ve Ki̇şi̇li̇k Özelli̇kleri̇: Bi̇r Derleme Çalişmasi

“…İş yeri dışlamasını etkileyen pek çok değişken olduğu gibi, onun etkilediği de pek çok değişken vardır. Ancak meta-analiz ve derleme çalışmaları bu değişkenler arasında kişilik özellikleri üzerinde özellikle durmuştur (Bedi, 2019;Howard, Cogwell, & Smith, 2019).…”

Does organizational cronyism undermine social capital? Testing the mediating role of workplace ostracism and the moderating role of workplace incivility

“…While most studies based on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) have focused on positive reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), our results indicate strong support for negative reciprocity (Bedi, 2021), such that cronyism leads to feelings of ostracism among non-cronies, and non-cronies reciprocate for these negative feelings by withholding information leading to a decline in social capital. While our results are consistent with the norm of negative reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), future research should measure the mediating link, the extent to which respondents withheld information, between ostracism and social capital.…”

“…Second, based on the norm of negative reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), ostracized employees will retaliate, either actively, such as engaging in counterproductive behaviors (e.g. Bedi, 2021; Peng and Zeng, 2017) or passively, such as by withholding information or effort (Greco et al , 2019). Such withholding of knowledge or information, referred to as knowledge hoarding, allows a target to negatively reciprocate less visibly, a tactic reflective of peoples' tendencies to avoid confrontation and conflict when possible (e.g.…”

“…In a recent study, Schilpzand and Huang (2018) reported that experienced workplace incivility was positively related to felt ostracism. In fact, meta-analytic investigations (Howard et al , 2020) indicate experiences of mistreatment ( ρ = 0.69, K = 18, N = 9,263) and various forms of workplace incivility ( ρ = 0.64, K = 16, N = 6,915) were related to felt ostracism (see also Bedi, 2021). Workplace incivility, we argue, will not only directly affect ostracism, but it will also moderate the effect of cronyism on ostracism, such that the relationship is stronger when workplace incivility is high than low.…”