Examining the Relationship Between Workplace Victimization, the Dark Triad, and Workplace Behavior

Abstract

The first purpose of this study was to examine how workplace victimization, defined as an employee’s perception of being the target or recipient of injurious behavior, affects an employee’s likelihood of committing counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. The second purpose of this study was to see how workplace victimization interacts with the Dark Triad of personality – subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and subclinical psychopathy. This study used path analysis to test a moderation model, testing whether or not the Dark Triad moderated the relationship between workplace victimization and workplace behavior. Self-report information on perceived workplace victimization, workplace behavior, and the Dark Triad was collected using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Findings showed a moderated model demonstrated poor model fit, but a mediated model showed a partially mediated relationship between Machiavellianism and interpersonal and organizational counterproductive workplace behavior, as well as Machiavellianism and organization-directed organizational citizenship behavior. Practical implications and future research direction are discussed.