Access Type

Open Access Embargo

Date of Award

5-1-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Management and Information Systems

First Advisor

James Martin

Abstract

Mistreatment of service employees by customers who are demanding and aggressive has become a problem for service organizations. However, it has been the subject of very little research in the organizational behavior literature (Bedi & Schat, 2007). The few studies that have examined service employees’ reactions to such mistreatment (e.g., Doorman & Zapf, 2004, Grandey et al., 2004; Skarlicki, van Jaarsveld, & Walker, 2008; Yagil, 2008, Wang et al., 2014) found that that when service employees believe they have been mistreated, they become angry and upset, and reciprocate the unfair treatment in order to punish unpleasant customers. However, these researchers treat retaliation against customers as a unidimensional construct, even though there is some evidence that such retaliation can be overt or covert. In my dissertation I examine whether retaliation against customers can be split into overt and covert and how personality affects overt and covert retaliation.

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