A test of coworkers' influence on organizational cynicism, badmouthing, and organizational citizenship behavior

Basing hypotheses on social information processing theory, we tested for evidence of coworkers' social influence on employees' organizational cynicism, badmouthing, and supervisor assessments of employees' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). A significant positive relationship was found between (a) close coworkers' badmouthing behavior and focal employee organizational cynicism; and (b) focal employee organizational cynicism and focal employee badmouthing behavior. A hypothesized negative relationship between organizational cynicism and OCB was not supported. Future research directions are also considered.