Meaningful Work and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: A Serial Mediation

Abstract

Counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) are a set of volitional actions that stem from an intention to harm organizations and their stakeholders (e.g., employees, clients, investors). While, increasingly, more research has been conducted with the aim to explain, predict and prevent CWB from occurring, very little research has investigated the role of motivational constructs such as meaningful work in mitigating the emergence of CWB. The present study draws on The Theory of Purposeful Work Behavior to argue that meaningful work can play a significant role in preventing CWB, and that job satisfaction and organizational commitment serve as mediating factors in the link between meaningful work and CWB. A total of 237 participants participated in a serial mediation, cross-sectional study. The results support the indirect effect of meaningful work on CWB, via job satisfaction and organizational commitment. We conclude that meaningful work is an important factor that is capable of deterring CWB by triggering relevant job attitudes.