Does employee envy trigger the positive outcomes at workplace? A study of upward social comparison, envy and employee performance

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the outcomes of envy in the workplace and the moderating role of perceived organizational support. Data was collected from 270 employees of the telecom industry. The cross-sectional research was conducted, and the data was collected through survey questionnaires from employees hailing from private Telecom companies in Pakistan. Results showed that upward social comparison initiates benign and malicious envy which, in turn, affects employee performance. Benign envy results in enhancing the employee performance whereas malicious envy shows no relationship with employee performance. By paying attention to supporting the employees, malicious envy can enhance employee performance.

Keywords

• social comparison
• negative emotions
• performance
• organizational support