Vicarious or direct? Testing experiences of interpersonal deviance and employees’ defensive strategies at work

The interpersonal deviance (ID) literature has mainly relied upon the conservation of resource (COR) theory that explains the dissemination of stressful cues. While literature concerning resource investment decisions at work exists, how and when individuals enter defensive mode is a relatively less researched area. We investigate the effects of two forms of interpersonal deviant experiences, namely, vicarious ID and direct ID that results in self-serving behavior—a defensive withdrawal. We analyzed two waves of 346 subordinate– supervisor pairs. Multilevel path modeling exhibited an indirect effect from direct ID to self-serving behavior via communion striving. On the other hand, there was no indirect effect of vicarious ID on self-serving behavior via communion striving. The results reveal that direct ID is a crucial factor in explaining defensive strategies at work, whereas the effects of vicarious ID are contingent upon certain boundary conditions. Given that, findings show vicarious ID was positively related to communion striving for employees with low relational identification and high susceptibility to emotional contagion. We offer new insights into ID and COR literature by providing important implications for theory and practice.