Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

Pay-for-Performance and Interpersonal Deviance

Competitiveness as the Match That Lights the Fire

Published Online:June 29, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000181

Abstract

Abstract. Many organizations use pay-for-performance (PfP) programs in order to fuel employee motivation and performance. In the present article, we argue that PfP may also increase employees’ interpersonal deviance (i.e., active harming behavior toward coworkers) because it might induce social comparison and competition. In order to uncover the underlying process, we further argue that this effect should be particularly pronounced for employees who are high in individual competitiveness, that is, employees who have a strong desire for interpersonal comparison and aspire to be better than others. A cross-sectional field study (N = 250) and two experiments (N = 92; N = 192) provide support for our interaction hypothesis. We discuss the theoretical implications regarding PfP and competitiveness, and offer suggestions concerning the practical implementation of PfP.

References

  • Aiken, L. S. & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. New York, NY: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Aquino, K. & Thau, S. (2009). Workplace victimization: Aggression from the target’s perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 717–741. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163703 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barling, J., Dupré, K. E. & Kelloway, E. K. (2009). Predicting workplace aggression and violence. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 671–692. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163629 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bennett, R. J. & Robinson, S. L. (2000). Development of a measure of workplace deviance. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 349–360. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.85.3.349 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berry, C. M., Carpenter, N. C. & Barratt, C. L. (2012). Do other-reports of counterproductive work behavior provide an incremental contribution over self-reports? A meta-analytic comparison. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 613–636. doi: 10.1037/a0026739 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bordia, P., Restubog, S. L. D. & Tang, R. L. (2008). When employees strike back: Investigating mediating mechanisms between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1104–1117. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1104 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brown, S., Cron, W. & Slocum, J. (1998). Effects of trait competitiveness and perceived intraorganizational competition on salesperson goal setting and performance. The Journal of Marketing, 62, 88–98. doi: 10.2307/1252289 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T. & Gosling, S. D. (2011). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3–5. doi: 10.1177/1745691610393980 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Burks, S., Carpenter, J. & Goette, L. (2009). Performance pay and worker cooperation: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 70, 458–469. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2008.02.012 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M. & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 980–1008. doi: 10.1037/a0035661 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Colbert, A. E., Mount, M. K., Harter, J. K., Witt, L. A. & Barrick, M. R. (2004). Interactive effects of personality and perceptions of the work situation on workplace deviance. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 599–609. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.89.4.599 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Derks, D., Fischer, A. H. & Bos, A. E. R. (2008). The role of emotion in computer-mediated communication: A review. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 766–785. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2007.04.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dorn, M., Messner, C. & Ouertani, J. (2015). Pay for performance does not always increase performance. Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O, 59, 85–94. doi: 10.1026/0932-4089/a000180 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Duffy, M. K., Scott, K. L., Shaw, J. D., Tepper, B. J. & Aquino, K. (2012). A social context model of envy and social undermining. Academy of Management Journal, 55, 643–666. doi: 10.5465/amj.2009.0804 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ferguson, M. & Barry, B. (2011). I know what you did: The effects of interpersonal deviance on bystanders. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16, 80–94. doi: 10.1037/a0021708 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140. doi: 10.1177/001872675400700202 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fletcher, T. D., Major, D. & Davis, D. (2008). The interactive relationship of competitive climate and trait competitiveness with workplace attitudes, stress, and performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 922, 899–922. doi: 10.1002/job.503 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Galinsky, A. D., Gruenfeld, D. H. & Magee, J. C. (2003). From power to action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 453–466. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.453 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Garbers, Y. & Konradt, U. (2014). The effect of financial incentives on performance: A quantitative review of individual and team-based financial incentives. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87, 102–137. doi: 10.1111/joop.12039 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Garcia, S. M., Tor, A. & Schiff, T. M. (2013). The psychology of competition: A social comparison perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 634–650. doi: 10.1177/1745691613504114 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • George, J. M. (2007). Creativity in organizations. The Academy of Management Annals, 1, 439–477. doi: 10.1080/19416521003654186 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gerhart, B. & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 489–521. doi: 10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111418 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gerhart, B. A., Milkovich, G. T. & Murray, B. (1992). Pay, performance, and participation (CAHRS Working Paper #92-28). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gerhart, B., Rynes, S. L. & Fulmer, I. S. (2009). Pay and performance: Individuals, groups, and executives. The Academy of Management Annals, 3, 251–315. doi: 10.1080/19416520903047269 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Helmreich, R. L. & Spence, J. T. (1978). The Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire: An objective instrument to assess components of achievement motivation and attitudes toward family and career. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 8, 21–35. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hershcovis, M. & Barling, J. (2010). Towards a multi-foci approach to workplace aggression: A meta-analytic review of outcomes from different perpetrators. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 24–44. doi: 10.1002/job.621 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Houston, J. M., McIntire, S. A., Kinnie, J. & Terry, C. (2002). A factorial analysis of scales measuring competitiveness. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62, 284–298. doi: 10.1177/0013164402062002006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hülsheger, U. R., Anderson, N. & Salgado, J. F. (2009). Team-level predictors of innovation at work: A comprehensive meta-analysis spanning three decades of research. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1128–1145. doi: 10.1037/a0015978 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jacoby, J. & Sassenberg, K. (2011). Interactions do not only tell us when, but can also tell us how: Testing process hypotheses by interaction. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 180–190. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.762 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jenkins, G. D. J., Mitra, A., Gupta, N. & Shaw, J. D. (1998). Are financial incentives related to performance? A meta-analytic review of empirical research. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 777–787. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.83.5.777 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Judge, T. A., Scott, B. A. & Ilies, R. (2006). Hostility, job attitudes, and workplace deviance: Test of a multilevel model. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 126–138. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.126 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., Simon, L. S. & Rich, B. L. (2012). The psychic cost of doing wrong: Ethical conflict, divestiture socialization, and emotional exhaustion. Journal of Management, 38, 784–808. doi: 10.1177/0149206310381133 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kerr, N. L. & Bruun, S. E. (1983). Dispensability of member effort and group motivation losses: Free-rider effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 78–94. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.78 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lazear, E. P. & Rosen, S. (1981). Rank-order tournaments as optimum labor contracts. Journal of Political Economy, 89, 841–864. doi: 10.1086/261010 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Locke, E. A. (2004). Linking goals to monetary incentives. Academy of Management Executive, 18, 130–133. doi: 10.5465/AME.2004.15268732 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • McClelland, G. H. & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376–390. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.114.2.376 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Morgenson, G. (2007, August). Inside the countrywide lending spree. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/business/yourmoney/26country.html? First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Mudrack, P. E., Bloodgood, J. M. & Turnley, W. H. (2011). Some ethical implications of individual competitiveness. Journal of Business Ethics, 108, 347–359. doi: 10.1007/s10551-011-1094-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nalebuff, B. J. & Stiglitz, J. E. (1983). Prizes and incentives: Towards a general theory of compensation and competition. The Bell Journal of Economics, 14, 21–43. doi: 10.2307/3003535 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nixon, A. E., Mazzola, J. J., Bauer, J., Krueger, J. R. & Spector, P. E. (2011). Can work make you sick? A meta-analysis of the relationships between job stressors and physical symptoms. Work & Stress, 25, 1–22. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2011.569175 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nyberg, A. J., Pieper, J. R. & Trevor, C. O. (2013). Pay-for-performance’s effect on future employee performance: Integrating psychological and economic principles toward a contingency perspective. Journal of Management, 42, 1753–1783. doi: 10.1177/0149206313515520 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Oppenheimer, D. M., Meyvis, T. & Davidenko, N. (2009). Instructional manipulation checks: Detecting satisficing to increase statistical power. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 867–872. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.03.009 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Peer, E., Vosgerau, J. & Acquisti, A. (2013). Reputation as a sufficient condition for data quality on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 1023–1031. doi: 10.3758/s13428-013-0434-y First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pelled, L. H. (1996). Demographic diversity, conflict, and work group outcomes: An intervening process theory. Organization Science, 7, 615–631. doi: 10.1287/orsc.7.6.615 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Piff, P. K., Stancato, D. M., Cote, S., Mendoza-Denton, R. & Keltner, D. (2012). Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 4086–4091. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1118373109 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y. & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Porath, C. L. & Pearson, C. M. (2010). The cost of bad behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 39, 64–71. doi: 10.1016/j.orgdyn.2009.10.006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Robinson, S. L. & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 555–572. doi: 10.2307/256693 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shaw, J. D. & Gupta, N. (2015). Let the evidence speak again! Financial incentives are more effective than we thought. Human Resource Management Journal, 25, 281–293. doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12080 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shepperd, J. A. & Taylor, K. M. (1999). Social loafing and expectancy-value theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1147–1158. doi: 10.1177/01461672992512008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sims, R. R. & Brinkmann, J. (2003). Enron ethics (or: Culture matters more than codes). Journal of Business Ethics, 45, 243–256. doi: 10.1023/A:1024194519384 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spence, J. T. & Helmreich, R. L. (1983). Achievement-related motives and behaviors. Achievement and achievement motives: Psychological and sociological approaches (pp. 7–74). San Francisco, CA: Freeman. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P. & Fong, G. T. (2005). Establishing a causal chain: Why experiments are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 845–851. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.845 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wright, P. M., George, J. M., Farnsworth, S. R. & McMahan, G. C. (1993). Productivity and extra-role behavior: The effects of goals and incentives on spontaneous helping. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 374–381. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.78.3.374 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar