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Deviance, Self-Typicality, and Group Cohesion

The Corrosive Effects of the Bad Apples on the Barrel

Matthew Neale

Queensland University of Technology

This study investigated the effect of a single work group deviant on other group members' perceptions of the deviant, and their perceptions of the cohesiveness of the group as a whole. Group members, particularly those high in perceived self-typicality, were expected to downgrade the deviant, and view groups containing a deviant as less cohesive. Undergraduate management students were placed in a simulated organizational context in which deviance was manipulated so that the participant's work group contained either a single negative deviant or no deviant. Results showed that the deviant colleague was judged less favorably than the normative colleague, particularly by those high in perceived self-typicality. Groups that contained a deviant were perceived as having lower levels of task cohesion, but ratings of social cohesion varied depending on perceivers' self-typicality. The findings suggest that as well as attracting negative evaluations, deviant group members can adversely affect group cohesion.

Key Words: workplace deviance • self-typicality • task cohesion • social cohesion

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