Rhythm of the Week: Weekly Change Trajectory of Workplace Ostracism and the Role of Monday Interpersonal Responses
Prof. Lucy Xiaowan LIN
Associate Professor
of Management
FBA, UM
Date: 28/04/2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00
Venue: FBA Lobby
Abstract
Prior research has largely treated workplace ostracism as a static experience, yet emerging evidence suggests that it unfolds over time. Drawing on entrainment theory, we theorize that workplace ostracism generally declines across the workweek. Integrating this temporal perspective with the anchoring model of social exchange, we further argue that victims’ Monday behavioral responses to Monday ostracism—organizational citizenship behavior toward individuals (OCBI) and interpersonal deviance—serve as anchoring signals that shape this weekly change trajectory. Moreover, we propose that epistemic motivation moderates victims’ behavioral responses to Monday ostracism, thereby influencing the weekly trajectory of workplace ostracism. Two daily studies conducted in different cultural contexts supported most of the hypotheses. Workplace ostracism decreased across the week, and this decline was reduced when victims engaged in interpersonal deviance on Monday. High epistemic motivation weakened the effects of Monday ostracism on both Monday OCBI (Study 1) and Monday interpersonal deviance (Studies 1 and 2), although moderated mediation was supported only via Monday interpersonal deviance. By adopting a weekly temporal lens, this research advances a dynamic perspective on workplace mistreatment and highlights how victims’ early responses play an important role in shaping the trajectory of workplace ostracism.
Speaker
Lucy Lin is an Associate Professor of Management at Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Macau. Her research interests include organizational justice, interpersonal mistreatment, employee motivation, employee voice behavior and other proactive behaviors, knowledge sharing, creativity, and innovation. She has published papers in Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Relations, etc. She is currently serving as co-editor-in-chief of the Asian Journal of Social Psychology and as a member of the editorial board of Human Relations.
All are welcome!
