Examining third parties’ momentary reactions to ambiguous workplace mistreatment

In addressing the "dark side" of behaviour in organisations, current research is acknowledging the role of third parties in workplace mistreatment, given its promising potential to further understanding of the mistreatment process and dynamic. Such instances, where negative interpersonal behaviour is directed at another person in the workplace, have adverse impact on all employees. Third parties are instrumental in rectifying mistreatment through intervention. For example, by defending the victim or speaking out against the perpetrator. However, third parties often do not intervene. Research has focused primarily on the circumstances that make third-party intervention more or less likely, leaving uncertainty regarding the preceding process. Intervention behaviour is preceded by several reactions, referred to as momentary reactions, that are shaped by the social information from the environment. This project addresses the aforementioned research gap by investigating the third party’s social information processing leading up to the decision whether to intervene. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, this research aims to provide further insight into the third party’s momentary reactions to ambiguous workplace mistreatment and how this shapes intervention behaviour.