An employee who feels unfairly passed over for a promotion begins arriving late, taking longer breaks, and doing the minimum work required. According to CWB research, this behavior pattern most likely reflects...
ALow cognitive ability preventing the employee from performing well
BA retaliatory response to perceived injustice — withdrawing effort as a form of restoring equity
CA personality disorder requiring clinical intervention
DNormal variation in day-to-day performance unrelated to the promotion decision
This pattern is consistent with stressor-emotion models of CWB: perceived injustice (unfair promotion denial) produces negative emotions (anger, frustration), which motivate behavioral responses aimed at restoring equity or expressing discontent. Withdrawal behaviors (lateness, minimal effort) are a common, relatively low-risk form of retaliation. The employee is reducing inputs to match what they perceive as reduced outcomes — a direct application of equity theory. The behavior is intentional and directed, not random performance variation.
Question 2 True / False
CWBs and OCBs are opposite ends of a single continuum — employees either engage in one or the other.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
While CWBs and OCBs are negatively correlated, they are empirically and conceptually distinct constructs with partially different antecedents. An employee can exhibit both OCBs and CWBs — helping colleagues (OCB) while also padding expense reports (CWB). They have different predictor profiles: OCBs are more strongly predicted by positive attitudes (satisfaction, commitment), while CWBs are more strongly predicted by negative states (perceived injustice, negative affect, frustration). Treating them as a single continuum oversimplifies the distinct psychological processes underlying each.
Question 3 Short Answer
Why is perceived injustice considered one of the strongest predictors of CWBs?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Perceived injustice triggers strong negative emotions — anger, resentment, and moral outrage — that motivate retaliatory action. Employees who perceive unfair treatment feel the psychological contract has been violated and respond by 'getting even' through behaviors that harm the source of injustice (the organization or a specific person). The stressor-emotion model explains this pathway: injustice → negative emotions → CWB. Both distributive and procedural injustice predict CWBs, with the combination being particularly powerful.
The injustice-CWB link is robust across cultures and organizational settings. It explains why theft increases when pay is cut without adequate explanation (Greenberg's classic field experiment), why sabotage clusters around layoff announcements perceived as unfair, and why interpersonal CWBs target the specific supervisors perceived as unjust. The practical implication is that organizations can reduce CWBs by ensuring fair processes and outcomes — prevention through justice is more effective than punishment after the fact.