Workplace Ostracism and Antagonistic Work Behaviors: Moderating Effects of Conscientiousness

Abstract

Workplace Ostracism is a phenomenon of feeling ignored or excluded from social interactions of those around us at work. This seemingly harmless occurrence affects the employees’ positive outcomes at work. Research on other negative behaviors such as bullying harassment etc. at workplace is extensive while the number of people affected by ostracism is far greater as compared to other similar behaviors. The past decade of research has uncovered many aspects including antecedents and consequences of workplace ostracism; however the field remains immensely under researched especially as far as the Indian perspective is considered. In this study, the relationship between Workplace Ostracism and Antagonistic Work Behaviors and how the relationship varies in the presence of Conscientiousness is studied. The analysis of the primary data collected from managerial employees of tractor manufacturing organizations in northern states of India revealed that Conscientiousness moderated the relationship between Workplace Ostracism and Antagonistic Work Behaviors.