Coworker Responses to Observed Mistreatment: Understanding Schadenfreude in the Response to Supervisor Abuse

Abstract

One particular egregious type of workplace mistreatment is supervisor abuse, which has received extensive attention due to its heavy cost to organizations including up to 23 billion dollars in annual loss resulting from increases in absenteeism, health care costs, and productivity loss. Employees attribute causes to abusive supervision, and these attributions impact subsequent reactions. In some cases, employees may feel that abusive supervision is justified, leading to the reaction of Schadenfreude, or pleasure in another’s pain. In this chapter, we discuss antecedents to Schadenfreude, its role in observed mistreatment, and propose a conceptual model based on attribution theory.

Citation

Leon, M.R. and Halbesleben, J.R.B. (2015), "Coworker Responses to Observed Mistreatment: Understanding Schadenfreude in the Response to Supervisor Abuse", Mistreatment in Organizations (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 167-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520150000013006