ABSTRACT
In organizations, people often disappoint, frustrate, or even anger others with whom they work. For example, a boss gives a lower-than-expected performance rating to a subordinate; a boss informs top management that sales figures continue to decline; top management informs the organization of layoffs and budget cuts in a restructuring of the organization; one subordinate spreads malicious rumors about another co-worker to “get ahead” in an upcoming promotion decision (Bies, 1987b). In each of these examples, and many others like them, such behavior represents a violation of social expectations or role requirements and thus creates a failure event (Cody & McLaughlin, 1985; Schonbach, 1980) that must be explained.
