Workplace Ostracism, Emotional Exhaustion, and Deviant Behavior: The Moderating Role of Workplace Spirituality

Deviant behavior poses great risk to the long-term viability of an organization. Nonetheless, available literature in higher education institutions have paid more attention to positive behaviors rather than the negative. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the external factor of workplace ostracism, and the internal factor of emotional exhaustion, to provide a comprehensive view of the causes of such behavior. Additionally, this study tested workplace spirituality as a moderator of the relationship between emotional exhaustion and deviant behavior and between workplace ostracism and deviant behavior. The social exchange theory served as the foundation for the development of the research model. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 194 teachers in Central Java, Indonesia, while PLS-SEM was employed to examine the structural equation model analysis. The results showed that workplace ostracism significantly affects emotional exhaustion (beta=.55, p <.00) and deviant behavior (beta=.14, p <.01). On the other hand, emotional exhaustion affects deviant behavior (beta=.11, p <.05). Workplace spirituality was found to moderate the relationship between workplace ostracism and deviant behavior (beta= -.10, p <.05), and between emotional exhaustion and deviant behavior (beta= -.14, p <.01). This research contributes to the advancement of social exchange theory in the context of employees' workplace behavior by exploring the negative side of the exchange between the individual and environment at workplace and how to mitigate it. These findings indicate that universities could support workplace spirituality support and to reduce deviant behavior.