Keeping silent or playing good citizen? Differential mechanisms of negative workplace gossip on targets reactions
| Date | 27 November 2024 |
| Pages | 150-173 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2023-0618 |
| Published date | 27 November 2024 |
| Author | Xiaochen Wang,Bingnan Xia,Weilong Bi |
Keeping silent or playing good citizen?
Differential mechanisms of negative
workplace gossip on targets reactions
Xiaochen Wang
Modern Business Research Center, Zhejiang Gongshang University,
Hangzhou, China and
School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University,
Hangzhou, China
Bingnan Xia
School of Management, Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou, China, and
Weilong Bi
School of Business, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, China and
Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology (BEST),
Brisbane, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –Based on the Sociometer Theory, this study aims to develop a comprehensive framework explaining
how and when negative workplace gossip triggers distinct responses, including employee silence and
compulsory citizenship behavior (CCB).
Design/methodology/approach –Two scenario-based experiments and a field survey were conducted to
examine hypotheses. Study 1 (N5149) manipulated workplace negative gossip and assessed the mediating
effects of state self-esteem. Study 2 (N5217) manipulated workplace negative gossip and consideration of
future consequences (CFC) to verify the stability of the mediating mechanism and test the moderating effect of
CFC. Study 3 (N5321) tested the whole research model.
Findings –The findings indicate that negative workplace gossip decreases state self-esteem, resulting in silence
among employees with low levels of CFC, while inducing CCB through state self-esteem among employees
with high levels of CFC.
Originality/value –This study not only extends the research of negative workplace gossip by exploring its
multifaceted impact on employee responses but also highlights the role of personality traits in shaping
individuals’ response strategies.
Keywords Negative workplace gossip, State self-esteem, Employee silence, Compulsory citizenship behavior,
Consideration of future consequences
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Gossip is primarily defined as the subjective, evaluative transmission of private information
concerning a third party who is absent from the conversation (Foster, 2004). Within work
environments, gossip functions as a pivotal informal communication tool. Studies have shown
that over 90% of the workforce engages in gossip as part of their daily interactions (Lian et al.,
2023), making it a prevalent phenomenon in the workplace (Grosser et al., 2012). Regarding
the nature of workplace gossip, it can be either positive or negative (Brady et al., 2017).
Existing literature suggests that the prevalence of negative gossip significantly surpasses that
of positive gossip (Wu et al., 2018a). Furthermore, individuals are generally more sensitive to
negative workplace events compared to positive ones (Baumeister et al., 2001), which implies
that negative gossip can exert a more substantial impact on employees than positive gossip
PR
54,1
150
Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0048-3486.htm
Received 27 July 2023
Revised 5 July 2024
29 September 2024
Accepted 10 October 2024
PersonnelReview
Vol.54 No. 1, 2025
pp.150-173
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI10.1108/PR-07-2023-0618
(Martinescu et al., 2021;Zhou et al., 2021;Babalola et al., 2019;Liu et al., 2020;Cheng et al.,
2022a). As a result, negative workplace gossip has garnered increasing research attention and
is progressively emerging as a critical concern (Sun et al., 2023). Typically, negative
workplace gossip refers to negative, informal, and derogatory discussions among
organizational members (supervisors or colleagues) regarding the personal information of
absent individuals (Chandra and Robinson, 2009), including cussing about their work or
private matters (Mu et al., 2022). Such gossip occurs in the absence of the targets, rendering it
inherently covert and indirect (Dores Cruz et al., 2021;Brady et al., 2017), often preventing
the target from identifying the specific source of the gossip (Ye et al., 2019). It permeates
interpersonal dynamics within the workplace and can significantly affect employee behavior
(Wax et al., 2022).
It is a common occurrence for individuals to become the subject of gossip (Cheng et al.,
2020). Negative gossip conveys detrimental information about the target, which can be
harmful to them (Martinescu et al., 2021). Previous research has explored the consequences of
workplace negative gossip on its targets from various theoretical perspectives, primarily
focusing on conservation of resources (Cheng et al., 2020,2022a,b;Yaoet al., 2020;Liu et al.,
2020), affective events (Babalola et al., 2019;Naeem et al., 2020;Zong et al., 2021), appraisal
coping (Zong et al., 2024;Xie et al., 2019), and social identity theory (Lu et al., 2024;Yeet al.,
2019). The findings indicate that workplace negative gossip can diminish employee
satisfaction (Xie et al., 2024) and well-being (Cheng et al., 2022b), decrease creativity (Liu
et al., 2020), reduce helping (Cheng et al., 2022a), voice (Lu et al., 2024), proactive behavior
(Xie et al., 2019;Wu et al., 2018b), and organizational citizenship behavior (Wu etal., 2018a;
Martinescu et al., 2021;Xie et al., 2019). It can also engender various dysfunctional behaviors,
such as increased knowledge hiding (Khan et al., 2023;Yao et al., 2020) and political
behaviors (Cheng et al., 2020), retaliatory engagement in negative gossip (Zong et al., 2021),
and even the implementation of social undermining (Zong et al., 2024). While negative
workplace gossip has received considerable attention from the perspective of the target group,
such research has primarily categorized negative gossip as a form of workplace deviance,
focusing mainly on its negative consequences. Indeed, gossip is an evolutionary adaptation
that has evolved to foster group cohesion and overall development (Brady et al., 2017;Dunbar,
2004;Kniffin and Sloan Wilson, 2010). This suggests that negative workplace gossip, in
addition to triggering dysfunctional behaviors, could spur targeted employees to exhibit
functional behaviors that benefit the group and mitigate its negative impact on themselves.
Nevertheless, few studies have explored whether and when workplace negative gossip elicits
different response mechanisms in its targets (Zong et al., 2024). Thus, there is an urgent need
for more holistic research to explore the theoretical underpinnings of negative
workplace gossip and to seek preventive measures against its negative consequences in
practice.
To address the research issue, we propose a theoretical framework based on sociometer
theory to elucidate the potential mechanisms through which negative gossip elicits diverse
reactions among employees. According to the sociometer theory, state self-esteem serves as a
subjective indicator of individuals’ acceptance status within the immediate social context,
reflecting a dynamic perception of one’s current interpersonal value (Leary et al., 1995). This
perception is generally regarded as one of the primary evaluative mechanisms used to gauge
one’s acceptance or value by others (Leary et al., 1995). Negative workplace gossip, which
may involve malicious content that devalues the interpersonal worth of the individual
(Wu et al., 2018a;Cheng et al., 2022a), can trigger a decrease in state self-esteem. Through the
state self-esteem system, individuals continuously monitor and evaluate their social
surroundings for adverse occurrences that may threaten their sense of self-worth and social
status, and then react accordingly to retain social acceptance (Leary, 2005;Leary et al., 1998).
This process offers a potential explanation for the variations in employee reactions.
Specifically, the sociometer theory emphasizes that a decline in interpersonal value weakens
state self-esteem (Leary and Baumeister, 2000), which impacts individual self-worth and
Personnel Review
151
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