Abstract: The term “negative workplace gossip” refers to informal and negative talk from one member of an organization to one or more members of the same organization about another member of the organization who is not present to hear what is said. Most previous studies on negative workplace gossip argue that negative workplace gossip can trigger targets’ deviant behaviors. Drawing on social cognitive theory of self-regulation, we attempt to explore the mechanisms of how negative workplace gossip affects targets’ behaviors by developing a model inking perceived negative workplace gossip about the self to self-defense behaviors (i.e., workplace ostracism) and self-presentation behaviors (i.e., impression management) via shame, with perceived negative workplace gossip about coworkers as a first-stage moderator. To test the hypotheses in our model, we conducted a survey on 214 employee-supervisor dyads from several companies. The survey was conducted in three waves. In the first wave, employees were asked to complete a questionnaire, including demographic information, perceived negative workplace gossip about the self, and perceived negative workplace gossip about coworkers. In the second wave, employees reported their feeling of shame. In the third wave, employees reported their impression management behavior, and their supervisors were required to rate the employees’ workplace ostracism. We examined our hypotheses with MPLUS 8.0. Empirical results showed that: (1) perceived negative gossip about coworkers moderates the positive relationship between perceived negative gossip about the self and targets’ feeling of shame. Specifically, the positive relation between perceived negative gossip about the self and targets’ feeling of shame is stronger when perceived negative gossip about coworkers is low. (2) targets’ feeling of shame has positive effects on their impression management and workplace ostracism, and (3) perceived negative gossip about coworkers moderates the positive and indirect effect of perceived negative gossip about the self on their impression management and workplace ostracism. This study contributes to the literature in the following ways. First, we extend previous studies on negative workplace gossip by demonstrating that negative workplace gossip can trigger both self-defense behaviors and self-presentation behaviors. The verification of the emotion mechanism for targets’ negative workplace gossip significantly extends our understanding of the unique features of their behaviors. Second, our findings deepen our understanding of the emotion mechanism by integrating the target perspective and bystander perspective under a general theoretical framework. Finally, our work uses social cognitive theory of self-regulation to build a comprehensive frame work for understanding the consequences of negative workplace gossip, thus providing a uniquely generative frame work for future research.

Key words: negative workplace gossip, shame, impression management, workplace ostracism

摘要： 基于社会认知自我调节理论，本研究探讨了职场负面八卦影响八卦目标行为的内在机理及边界条件，研究结果表明：八卦目标感知的关于同事的职场负面八卦弱化了八卦目标感知的关于自身的职场负面八卦对羞愧的积极影响；八卦目标羞愧对其印象管理行为和职场排斥行为均具有显著的积极影响；八卦目标感知的关于同事的职场负面八卦弱化了八卦目标感知的关于自身的职场负面八卦通过羞愧影响其印象管理行为和职场排斥行为的间接效应。

关键词: 职场负面八卦, 羞愧, 印象管理, 职场排斥