Victims' reactions to social undermining

The present study examined relationships between victims' personality traits, organizational status, and perceptions of offender motives with their subsequent reactions to being socially undermined at work. Specifically, this study examined whether victims' revenge, reconciliation, or avoidance responses were associated with (1) individual differences in vengeance, agreeableness, and self-esteem, (2) victim's job-level, and relative status to the offender, and (3) victims' attributions of offender selfishness and malevolence. A critical incident technique was used wherein 110 full-time faculty at Bowling Green State University anonymously described a time when they were undermined by a colleague at work and how they responded toward their offender. Although patterns of bivariate correlations were in generally expected directions, more conservative regression analyses largely failed to support hypotheses. These results offer grounds for further thought, as well as direction for future research.