Vocational School of Justice
ENVY AT WORKPLACE
Success and personal happiness at workplace set off “jealousy”. Approval by managers, getting a promotion, skills, in addition to personal happiness, large social network, and popularity cause destructive emotions among colleagues at work.
Dr. Mert Günerergin, Lecturer, Faculty of Business, Izmir University of Economics, analyzed workplace envy and mapped it out. Dr. Günerergin searched answers for questions such as, “What sets off workplace envy?”, “What factors affect workplace envy?”, and “What are the outcomes of workplace envy?”
Dr. Günerergin, who wrote “İşyerinde Kıskançlık ve Sonuçları: Keşifçi Bir Çalışma (Envy at Workplace and Its Outcomes: An Exploratory Study)” titled doctoral thesis under the guidance of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burcu Güneri Çangarlı, Head of IUE Department of Business, found out that people were envious of others’ success and happiness the most in Turkish business life. Dr. Günerergin stated that personal happiness especially was the cause of envy at workplaces. He said, “Jealousy is sometimes triggered by image of a happy family, sometimes by a large social network, or by popularity. And its outcomes are experienced as behavioral changes at workplace”.
‘If supported, offensive competition is destructive’
Dr. Günerergin reported that envy at workplace is often accompanied by belittling, gossiping, keeping information, mobbing, violence, and sabotage, and when offensive and competitive behaviors are supported, it resulted in more destructive outcomes.
‘Having a higher sense of justice changes things’
Dr. Günerergin said, “Person subject to such destructive behavior may choose to retreat back into their shell. People isolate themselves and feel discouragement. In addition to negative effects of envy, we can also see some positive behaviors such as holding successful people as example and creating motivation.” Dr. Günerergin pointed that when higher sense of justice is present, possibility of negative feelings being experienced decreases.