Counterproductive work behaviors: The role of employee support policies, envy, and narcissism

The current study was conducted to examine the extent to which organizational support policies and individual differences in narcissism motivate the propensity to engage in counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) as well as engender feelings of envy. Situational scenarios describing different levels of organizational support were developed in order to illustrate differential levels of support, potentially for multiple stakeholders simultaneously. In addition, individual differences in narcissism were measured to determine if these differences further provoked the inclination to engage in CWBs. Hypotheses were tested using data from 116 participants indicating that lower levels of organizational support did in fact lead to more CWBs in the current sample. Additionally, the current study found a significant relationship between narcissism and CWBs, but narcissism did not moderate the relationship between organizational support and CWBs. Finally, the current study did demonstrate that the presence of a referent stakeholder enhanced levels of envy.