Organization as the Abuser: Introducing & Operationalizing Organizational Mistreatment

Abstract

The present study conceptualizes and operationalizes organizational mistreatment, employee perceptions of receiving offensive, hostile, and demeaning treatment from their organization, thereby addressing a gap in the workplace mistreatment literature. Using qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and drawing upon three independent samples, we defined the domain of organizational mistreatment, developed a measure tapping this construct, showed the construct validity of the developed measure, and examined its criterion-related and incremental validity. The results show that employees across diverse industries and organizational types can identify harmful acts in which their organization is perceived as the perpetrator. This study is the first to delineate the domain of the organizational mistreatment construct. The results indicate that the newly developed scale is internally consistent and unidimensional, distinct from abusive supervision, and has criterion-related validity with respect to important outcome variables (i.e., counterproductive work behaviors, affective organizational commitment, job satisfaction, subjective well-being, and burnout). We discuss implications of the construct and the measure together with the limitations of the study. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd