When spoiled children become aggressive employees
A recent publication by Benjamin Korman, former Cluster-member, and postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories in Bamberg, examines how childhood experiences shape workplace behavior.
Korman’s paper, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, extends recent findings in organizational psychology. While previous work of his established that a person’s perception of being treated better by their superior compared to their coworkers motivates aggressive behavior towards colleagues, his newest study finds that childhood experiences can determine when these individuals are also motivated to demonstrate antisocial behavior toward their leaders. Why is this so?
Two explanations are hubristic pride and control. While the link between perceptions of better treatment and antisocial treatment of colleagues is hubristic pride, deviant behavior towards superiors is a control strategy learned in early childhood. The study provides important insights into theoretical discussions on when dominance strategies and deviance are rewarded, as well as practical implications for workplace ethics and leadership.
Benjamin Korman was a postdoctoral researcher at the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" where he worked in the project "Integration at Work". His research interests include social comparison processes and paradoxical behavior in the workplace, as well as the evolutionary basis of emotions.