You are an outsider! How and when observed leader incivility affect hospitality employees’ social categorization and deviant behavior

When holding responsibility attribution constant, observers' justification attributions for abusive supervision will be positively associated with the frequency and severity of victim-directed deviant behaviors.

“When holding responsibility attribution constant, observers’ justification attributions for abusive supervision will be positively associated with the frequency and severity of victim-directed deviant behaviors.”

The deontic justice perspective is insufficient as a theoretical explanation of observer aggression, particularly because it fails to explain antisocial behaviors directed at the victim.

“That is, while the deontic justice approach explains observers’ aggression toward agents who are perceived as distorting justice, it fails to explain the antisocial behaviors directed at the victim.”

Observers of mistreatment can also develop destructive behaviors directed at the victim.

“However, some studies’ results indicate that observers of mistreatment can also develop destructive behaviors directed at the victim (e.g., Xu et al., 2020; Bai et al., 2022; P. Liu et al., 2022; Hill et al., 2025)”