Beware of Those Left Behind: Counterproductive Work Behaviors Among Nonpromoted Employees and the Moderating Effect of Integrity

Promotion decisions focus primarily on the successes of those selected, with surprisingly little attention given to the outcomes of those rejected. Negative emotional reactions among rejected candidates, for example, may motivate retaliations against the organization in the form of counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Indeed, in a sample of 568 military officer training candidates, we found a greater incidence of CWB among rejected versus accepted candidates, which peaked within 6 months after promotion decisions were made (d = .44) and gradually decreased thereafter. We also found that overt integrity moderated the relationship between promotion decisions and CWB, whereby rejected candidates with high levels of integrity engaged in less CWB than did rejected candidates with low integrity. Practical implications for mitigating CWB in cases of nonpromotion and considerations for more accurately evaluating the utility of promotion decisions are discussed.