Getting Even for Interpersonal Mistreatment in the Workplace: Triggers of Revenge Motives and Behavior

For many people, the term workplace revenge conjures up images of industrial sabotage and of workers “going postal.” Indeed, a growing number of researchers have sought to understand the more extreme forms of “misbehavior” in organizations (Vardi & Weitz, 2004), such as violence (Folger & Baron, 1996), theft (Greenberg, 1990a; Shapiro, Treviño, & Victor, 1995), vandalism (DeMore, Fisher, & Baron, 1988), and sabotage (Analoui, 1995). However, these highly dramatic behaviors represent only the tip of the iceberg and are relatively infrequent. Some of the less extreme forms of interpersonal behavior in the workplace that violate norms of social conduct are much more common (e.g., public humiliation, belittling comments; Baron & Neuman, 1996, 1998). Moreover, individuals who experience interpersonal mistreatment can experience an intense desire to strike back, and they often do.