How group and perceiver characteristics affect collective blame following counterproductive work behavior

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12251
• Date: 01 January 2020
• Published date: 01 January 2020
• Author: Kurt Wurthmann

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  wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/beer Business Ethics: A Eur Rev. 2020;29:212–226.

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

1 | INTRODUCTION

Classical theories of responsibility attribution focus on individual

accountabilit y and emphasize the i mportance of dir ect causalit y

(Heider, 1958). In contrast, t heories of collective b lame contend that

perceivers sometimes assign blame to members of a group besides

the member(s) wh o directly caused a negat ive result (Cooper, 1968;

Denson, Lickel , Curtis, Stenst rom, & Ames, 20 06; Kwan & Chiu,

2014; Lickel, Schmade r, & Hamilton, 2003). Improved u nderstanding

of collective bl ame has implications for res earch in important issu es

addressed in the business ethics literature, including research in: (a)

general areas of i nquiry, such as moral i ntensity, decision mak ing,

responsibility attributions and philosophies, such as retributive jus‐

tice and consequ entialism and (b) spec ial areas of inquir y, such as

the fairness of s anctions again st workgroups or e ntire companies

for the wrongdoi ngs of one or a few employee s and the effect ive‐

ness of these outc omes as social control m echanisms for mainta ining

harmony within a nd between group s and in markets (e.g., B eekun,

Stedham, Westerm an, & Yamamura, 2010; Chao, Z hang, & Chiu,

2008; Chiu & Ha ckett, 2017; Lickel, Miller, Stens trom, Denson, &

Schmader, 2006; N ewheiser, Sawaoka, & Dov idio, 2012; Nicol, 2018;

Singh & Lin, 2011; Singh, S imons, Self, Tetlock, Bel l, et al., 2012;

Singh, Simons , Self, Tetlock, Zemba, et al., 2 012; Stenstrom, Licke l,

Denson, & Mille r, 2008; Tetlock, Self, & Singh , 2010; Tetlock et al.,

2007; Wiesenfeld, Wurthmann, & Hambrick, 2008; Wurthmann,

2014; Yacout & Vitell, 2018).

The primar y objective of the present res earch is to develop and

test a framewor k to improve understanding ab out collective bl ame

in the aftermat h of counterproduc tive work behavior (C WB). The

framework is bas ed on an integration of perspe ctives from multiple

theories. It is p roposed that highe r levels of perceived gro up enti‐

tativity, the ex tent to which a group is p erceived as an entit y, are

linked to higher leve ls of collective blam e through the media tors

of inferences about indirect causality and inferences about shared

traits, con ditional on perceivers’ i mplicit theories of peo ple's charac‐

ter. Perceivers who hold the incremental theory view that people's

Received: 30 Ja nuary 2018 

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  Revised: 26 August 2 019 

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  Accepted: 17 Octob er 2019

DOI: 10.1111/beer.12251

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

How group and perceiver characteristics affect collective

blame following counterproductive work behavior

Kurt Wurthmann

Huizenga Coll ege of Business and

Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern

University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Correspondence

Kurt Wurth mann, Huizenga Coll ege of

Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova

Southeast ern University, PO B ox 2054,

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33303.

Email: kurtwurthmann@yahoo.com

Abstract

Two experimental studies , based on a model using a novel inte gration of theories,

provide evidence that collective blame, the assignment of blame to members of a

group besides the m ember(s) who directly c aused a misdeed, in th e aftermath of

counterproduct ive work behavior (CWB) is higher when a group of cowor kers is per‐

ceived as a single entit y. Further, the studies consis tently show that this relationship

is mediated by inferences ab out both indirect ca usality and common b lameworthy

traits among gro up members. These f indings extend pr ior research, which has not

considered mediation in this relationship by dual inferences. Additionally, perceivers’

implicit theorie s about people's charac ter were found to moderate t he inferences

they favor, with inferences abou t indirect causality versus co mmon traits favored by

perceivers with imp licit theories that people's chara cter is malleable versus fixed, re‐

spectively. These f indings extend prior resear ch by empirically supporti ng the notion

that the nature of perceive rs’ implicit theories a bout people's charac ter is related to

why they perceive a group to be a si ngle entity. The findings , future directions a nd

implications of improve d understanding of the assig nment of collective blame follow‐

ing CWB are discussed.