Can't Get It Out of My Mind: Employee Rumination after Customer Mistreatment and Negative Mood in the Next Morning

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2013, Vol. 98, No. 6, 989-1004

16 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2015

See all articles by Mo Wang

Mo Wang

University of Florida - Department of Management

Hui Liao

University of Maryland

John Kammeyer-Mueller

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration

Songqi Liu

Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business

Yaping Gong

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST)

Junqi Shi

Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) - Lingnan (University) College

Date Written: November 1, 2013

Abstract

Drawing on cognitive rumination theories and conceptualizing customer service interaction as a goal attainment situation for service employees, the current study examined employee rumination about negative service encounters as an intermediate cognitive process that explains the within-person fluctuations in negative emotional reactions resulting from customer mistreatment. Multilevel analyses of 149 call-center employees’ 1,189 daily surveys revealed that on days that a service employee received more (vs. less) customer mistreatment, he or she ruminated more (vs. less) at night about negative encounters with customers, which in turn led to higher (vs. lower) levels of negative mood experienced in the next morning. In addition, service rule commitment and perceived organizational support moderated the within-person effect of customer mistreatment on rumination, such that this effect was stronger among those who had higher (vs. lower) levels of service rule commitment but weaker among those who had higher (vs. lower) levels of perceived organizational support. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: customer mistreatment, customer service, goal attainment, mood, rumination, employees

Suggested Citation

Wang, Mo and Liao, Hui and Kammeyer-Mueller, John and Liu, Songqi and Gong, Yaping and Shi, Junqi, Can't Get It Out of My Mind: Employee Rumination after Customer Mistreatment and Negative Mood in the Next Morning (November 1, 2013). Journal of Applied Psychology, 2013, Vol. 98, No. 6, 989-1004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2631229

Mo Wang (Contact Author)

University of Florida - Department of Management ( email )

United States

Hui Liao

University of Maryland ( email )

College Park
College Park, MD 20742
United States

John Kammeyer-Mueller

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration ( email )

Department of Management
Gainesville, FL 32611
United States

Songqi Liu

Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 4050
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

Yaping Gong

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) ( email )

Clearwater Bay
Kowloon, 999999
Hong Kong

Junqi Shi

Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) - Lingnan (University) College ( email )

135 Xingang Xi Road
Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275
China

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
85
Abstract Views
868
Rank
531,415
PlumX Metrics