Mountains Out of Molehills? Tests of the Mediating Effects of Self-Esteem in Predicting Workplace Complaining1

Abstract

This study explores the possibility that the effects of various work-related antecedents on complaining behavior are transmitted through the beliefs that employees hold about themselves. Data obtained from 317 schoolteachers and their principals provide strong support for the proposition that organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) is an intervening mechanism between the antecedents of job satisfaction, affective commitment, procedural justice, distributive justice, and leader-member exchange quality and workplace complaining. The relationships that emerged were fully mediated, suggesting that OBSE is a central feature in how employees think, feet, and interact with others in the workplace. Avenues for future research and study limitations are discussed.