Jealousy at Work: A Tripartite Model

Abstract

Jealousy has long been a topic of study in the relational psychology literature while remaining underexplored in the field of management, despite its potential for widespread consequences within the workplace. Relying on regulatory focus theory, we develop a tripartite model of jealousy based on the relationships between and characteristics of three parties: the actor, the target, and the rival. This article makes three contributions to the management literature. First, it explores how jealousy develops within the workplace through examining specific relational characteristics of the actor-target exchange, rival characteristics, and the moderating effects of the organizational environment that can influence the emergence of jealousy. It therefore opens new venues for research by explaining how jealousy emerges based on individual, contextual, and core psychological mechanisms. Second, it expands research on regulatory focus theory by exploring the role of regulatory focus in the interpersonal domain. Third, based on the alignment of jealousy to a prevention regulatory focus and benign envy to a promotion regulatory focus, it illustrates how these two emotions can be conceptualized as distinct constructs with distinct implications for workplace relationships.