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807

There are still too many students and practitioners whose thumbnail
of this topic is limited to this: Conscientiousness always predicts performance. An intense day spent reading and considering Personality and
Work will add levels of subtlety and detail to this simplistic understanding of the personality-work behavior relationship. For those committed
to the science of 1-0 psychology or just plain curious about the role of
personality in organizations, this book is a must read.
REFERENCES
Barrick MR, Mount MR. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance.
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY,

44,1-26.

Weiss HM, Adler S. (1984). Personality and organizational behavior. In Staw BM,
Cummings LL (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, (Vol. 6, pp. 1-50).
Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Yoav Vardi and Ely Weitz. Misbehavior in Organizations: Theory, Research, and Management. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
2004, 337 pages, $34.50 softcover
Reviewed by Wayne Harrison, Associate Professor of Psychology,
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE.
Julie Andrews on management:
Production slowdowns and absenteeism.
Pilfering supplies and favoritism.
Sexual harassmentth' lawsuits it brings;
These are a few of my least fav'rite things.

In addition to these examples of organizational misbehavior (OMB),

Vardi and Weitz consider over 100 more forms of employee misconduct
in this book. The authors' stated purposes for the text are "constructing an
integrative model of misbehavior, measuring the variables, and deriving
relevant predictions as well as implications for management in dealing
with OMB." In the first two chapters, they offer a working definition of
misbehavior, consider its prevalence both in the workplace and as a topic
of the OB literature, and conclude with an orienting framework or model
of organizational misbehavior (OMB), which is subsequently modified
and elaborated upon.
The proposed framework offers a taxonomy of five types ("manifestations") of OMB, which are considered in detail in the next three chapters. These forms of OMB are intrapersonal misbehavior (e.g., substance
abuse), interpersonal misbehavior (e.g., sexual harassment), production
misbehavior (e.g., absenteeism), property misbehavior (e.g., theft), and

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political misbehavior (e.g., favoritism). The next section of three chapters

addresses the four proposed general antecedents of OMB: individual level
factors (e.g., attitudes), position/task level factors (e.g., job characteristics such as autonomy), group level factors (e.g., norms), and organizational and professional level factors (e.g., culture). Both the discussions
of manifestations and of antecedents include detailed reviews of empirical
findings, many from their own lab.
The final section of the book comprises three chapters: a timely consideration of managerial ethics viewed from an OMB perspective, measurement issues, and, lastly, a comprehensive, integrative model of OMB
that includes implications for management.
One of the strengths of the authors' writing is their clarity. Whether
or not one agrees with their assumptions, definitions, and conclusions, the
reader is not left uncertain about what is claimed or proposed. For example,
Vardi and Weitz characterize organizational misbehavior as "acts in the
workplace that are done intentionally and constitute a violation of rules
pertaining to such behaviors." In developing this definition of OMB, they
specifically exclude the consequences or costs to the organization of such
conduct: Misbehavior is not defined with reference to its impact. Instead,
consequences are treated as a dependent variable in their model.
The contributions of this work are numerous. The heuristic value of
a taxonomy of misbehavior is substantial. The authors classify manifestations of OMB both by the five-fold scheme described above and by a
three-category typology of intended targets (benefit the self, benefit the
organization, and damage the organization, respectively), which is actually more tightly tied to the theory of reasoned action variables comprising
the mediator section of their model. They allude to both representations
in their discussions of research findings.
The final version of the model is eminently testable. It is a systematic
integration of what is known about the causes, processes, manifestations,
and costs (both social and financial) of OMB. Researchers will benefit
greatly by referencing this model in their theory development and testing.
The proposed mediation process between antecedents and manifestations
is wholly cognitive, grounded in the reasoned action concepts of attitude,
subjective norm, and behavioral intention. Four action points are identified in the model, corresponding to the transitions between antecedents,
mediators, manifestations, and costs. The authors importantly note that
failure to intervene (and poorly designed interventions) will not dampen
what is otherwise an amplifying loop; that is, greater levels of OMB are
predicted to result if unchecked. The diagnostic utility of the model lies
in its explicit statement of antecedents and manifestations, for example,
possible manifestations of high levels of stress or possible antecedents of
workplace violence.

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809

The shortcomings of this text become apparent only when one backs
off their intense focus on misbehaviors and considers the "bigger picture."
I offer three comments in this regard. First, the authors claim that OMB has
been historically understudied. Some of the evidence the authors present
in support of this claim is a literature search for words associated with
misbehavior (e.g., misconduct, violence, job dissatisfaction, insensitivity). This examination reveals less research on such issues than on more
"positive" topics. This analysis seems to misunderstand the common use
of "marked" and "unmarked" words. For example, if a researcher has studied affect about one's job, the report is likely to include "job satisfaction"
in the title even if dissatisfaction is evident in the data or is the focus of
the discussion. As even the authors admit at one point, equity research has
focused largely on inequity, but is not so-named.
Their point is better made with regard to behaviors for which the positive and negative forms do not constitute poles of a single dimension. For
example, an employee who fails to help another employee is not acting
counterproductively (Sackett, 2004). Recent empirical studies show that
organizational citizenship and organizational misbehavior are not opposite ends of a single continuum (Dunlop & Lee, 2004; Rotundo & Sackett,
2002; Wiemann, Berry, Laczo, & Sackett, 2004). Thus, it seems more
reasonable to conclude that while some forms of misconduct are likely
underrepresented in the research literature, not all are. Interestingly, the
converse claim is made by proponents of the "positive psychology" movement (i.e., that insufficient attention has been paid to positive behavior in
the workplace; Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). Both schools of thought
were represented by symposia at the 2004 SIOP Conference in Chicago,
regrettably, in separate rooms. Do we need a model devoted solely to
misbehavior? The jury is still out on this question.
A second concern is the conceptualization of employee misconduct as
intentional behavior resulting from a cognitive appraisal. Although this
perspective perhaps properly emphasizes individual choice (and accountability), a less restrictive process model may ultimately prove worthwhile.
In particular, Spector and Fox (2002) propose an affect-centered model.
One might also consider less conscious processes such as modeling effects
or automaticity (Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001). The history of the development of models of turnover is suggestive: an evolution from intentional,
rational, and linear models to theories accounting for impulsive, reactive,
and nonlinear decision making. It should be noted, however, that the authors' emphasis on intentional action is shared by Sackett and DeVore's
(2001) characterization of counterproductive work behavior.
A third issue is the underlying model of management as controlling
employee behavior. This perspective may be contrasted with that of leadership as the ability to motivate and inspire employees (Kotter, 1990).

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Although dealing with misconduct is undoubtedly a critical issue to managers, the leadership and motivation literature suggests the potential of a
more positive, transcendent approach. To the extent that employees buy
into a vision of where their organization is going and are inspired to aid
in the accomplishment of this goal, their behavior may be self-directed
in ways antithetical to OMB. Transformational leadership theories argue
that individual level concerns (e.g., "what's in it for me" and "you can't do
that to me") become less salient in a purposeful organization. Higgins's
(1997) regulatory focus model, which distinguishes playing to win versus
playing not to lose, is also suggestive of the limits of focusing on the dark
side only.
Overall, the authors have accomplished their stated objectives. The
provision of a taxonomy of the many ways in which employees behave
badly merits considerable appreciation. Advances in understanding and
managing OMB are facilitated by this organization of the phenomenon.
Similarly, the detailed, integrative model proposed in the final chapter is
an excellent starting point for research initiatives and discussions regarding OMB. This is a material contribution to the study of behaviors that
may be on the rise (Callahan, 2004). I consider this text a must-read for
researchers concerned with these behaviors. This is perhaps less true for
practitioners, although numerous management implications are evident in
the model. Understanding antecedent conditions surely informs prevention of and response to misbehavior, yet, the authors emphasize that there
are no panaceas implied by the model. Instead, a case-by-case analysis
is recommended. Although I personally recommend a "bigger picture"
approach for both researchers and practitioners, this text is a significant
contribution to our understanding not only of OMB but also of OB.
REFERENCES
Callahan D. (2004). The cheating culture: Why more Americans are doing wrong to get
ahead. Orland, FL: Harcourt.
Cameron KS, Dutton JE, Quinn RE. (Eds.). (2003). Positive organizational scholarship:
Foundations of a new discipline. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Dijksterhuis A, Bargh JA. (2001). The perception-behavior expressway: Automatic effects
of social perception on social behavior. In Zanna MP (Ed.), Advances in experimental
social psychology (Vol. 33, pp. 1-40). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Dunlop PD, Lee K. (2004, April). Organizational citizenship and workplace deviant behavior: Are they distinct? Paper presented at the 19th Annual Conference of the Society
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.
Higgins ET. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280-1300.
Kotter JP. (1990). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 103-111.
Rotundo M, Sackett PR. (2002). The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: A policy-capturing
approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 66-80.

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Sackett PR. (2004, April). Measuring and modeling counterproductive work behavior.
Distinguished scientific contributions award address at the 19"' Annual Conference
of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.
Sackett PR, DeVore CJ. (2001). Counterproductive behaviors at work. In Anderson N,
Ones DS, Sinangil HK, Viswesvaran C (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work and
organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 145-164). London: Sage.
Spector PE, Fox S. (2002). An emotion-centered model of voluntary work behavior: Some
parallels between counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship
behavior. Human Resource Management Review, 12, 269-292.
Wiemann SA, Berry CM, Laczo RM, Sackett PR. (2004, April). Citizenship and counterproductive work behavior: Single continuum or distinct constructs? Paper presented at the 19"' Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Stephen Fineman. Understanding Emotion at Work. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage, 2003, 203 pages, $84.95 hardcover, $32.95 softcover.
Reviewed by Celeste M. Brotheridge, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Administration, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada.
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Fineman's (1993, 2000) earlier
books on the topic of emotions in the workplace, I was quite delighted to
be offered the opportunity to review his latest offering. Whereas his earlier
books were edited collections of research papers addressed to emotions
researchers, this book is written entirely by Fineman himself for the purpose of introducing students to the study of emotions in organizations.
Consequently, each chapter starts with learning objectives, continues with
an overview of a topical area that is peppered with anecdotes and written
in an exceedingly accessible manner, and concludes with suggestions for
further reading. The chapters deal with a variety of topics that are pertinent to today's organizations such as emotional intelligence, emotional
labor, leadership, bullying, and organizational change. The treatment of
each topic is best described as introductory rather than comprehensive,
as it should be, given the audience for which the book is intended. In
writing this book, Fineman drew from diverse sources including scholarly
writing and nonscholarly resources such as Web sites and popular press
and practitioner-oriented books. For the most part, the discussions are
reasonably up-to-date but not complete. This is to be expected given that
the book addresses numerous topics, which are themselves the subject of
entire books.
Undergraduate students would likely find that this book offers a good
overview of the various topics. Graduate students in business or industrial/occupational psychology would also benefit from reading this book
but would require supplemental reading that incorporates recent research.
Given this book's focus on introducing and applying the topic of emotions in the workplace, it is not geared toward researchers who are looking