Justice, jealousy and performance: Evidence from neo-feudal Pakistan

Abstract

Although jealousy is one of the most frequent emotions felt by employees at workplace with far-reaching consequences, empirical research understanding this discrete emotion remains scant, especially in frontline services. Drawing on justice theory, this research investigates the unexplored mediating role of workplace jealousy in the relationship between perceived injustice and a key frontline employee outcome, job performance, in service-setting in Pakistan. The moderating role of employee self-efficacy is also examined in the jealousy – performance relationship. Multi-source and multi-level data collected across two studies in frontline settings demonstrate that, as an outcome of perceived injustice, jealously can be deleterious for frontline performance. The study further offers useful insights into regulating jealousy at workplace by demonstrating that self-efficacy attenuates the deleterious effect of jealousy on frontline job performance.