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Leaders in Isolation: A Dual-Path Model of Workplace Ostracism of Leaders
Abstract
Since its inception in 2008 by Ferris and colleagues, workplace ostracism has become a solid research topic, with numerous reviews highlighting its prevalence and impact. In this vast literature, leaders have been seen as “domineering perpetrators” of ostracism. However, recent evidence suggests that leaders may also be ostracized by employees. Despite the empirical evidence and theoretical rationales behind ostracizing of leaders, scholars are yet to take a leader-centric view to ostracism and examine how ostracized leaders would feel and manage this hurtful experience. The result is not only a stagnant scholarship with a (potentially) outdated view of a victim-perpetrator relation but also a missed opportunity to break new theoretical ground by integrating the unique power-dynamics between ostracizing employees and ostracized leaders. I thus aim to advance ostracism literature by developing a leader-centric model that elucidates the consequences, mechanisms, and boundary condition of leader experience of ostracism. Drawing from a dual-motive perspective, I propose a dual-path model in which workplace ostracism threatens leaders’ two important goals—getting along and getting ahead—and leads to its downstream consequences. Specifically, I theorize that leader experience of ostracism represents belongingness threat and status threat, each of which prompts divergent behavioral strategies to manage the threatening situation. I further explore the moderating role of leader gender by developing competing hypotheses for how being ostracized may yield differential effects on male leaders vs. female leaders. This model was tested through episodic, between-person, and within-person approaches.
Citation
Yoon, Seoin (2023). Leaders in Isolation: A Dual-Path Model of Workplace Ostracism of Leaders. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /199138.