Abstract
Transgressions committed by employees of non-profit (vs. of for-profit) organizations seem to be judged more harshly by the public. This research studies the underlying process of this relationship. We show that organizational stereotypes of morality and warmth “rub-off” from organizations to individuals affiliated with them (Study 1, N = 297). We show that stereotypes of morality and warmth predict expected communal sharing and market pricing behaviour. (Study 2, N = 300). Next, we identify downstream effects of this stereotype rub-off effect in case of transgressions. We show that communal sharing expectations elicit greater perceived expectancy violation and consequently higher punishment when employees commit transgressions (Study 3, N = 402). In sum, as a result of high perceived morality and warmth and subsequent expectations of communal sharing, transgressions of employees affiliated with non-profit organizations prompt increased expectancy violation in observers, leading to harsher punishment. Our findings have important implications for public relations management of non-profit organizations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 127-138 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |
Volume | 165 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul-2021 |
Keywords
- Organizational stereotypes
- FOR-PROFIT
- non-profit
- organizational affiliation
- Relational models
- attribution
- TRANSGRESSIONS
- expectancy violation
- Punishment