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Work and Quality of Life pp 307–324Cite as

Blame and Credit Attributions and Quality of Work Life: The Effect of Organizational Structure and Culture

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Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life ((IHQL))

Abstract

Employees’ affective responses to their work have increasingly been linked to their subjective well-being and their quality of life (QOL) overall. One source of subjective well-being for individuals is the credit they receive for organizational successes and the blame they receive for failures. This chapter presents two ethical dilemmas involving blame and credit attributions. In determining how to address these dilemmas, we review the research literature on responsibility assignments, integrate recent research on blame contagion, describe how this process can affect employees’ willingness to take risks and report errors, and examines how these processes can impact an organization’s capacity to learn. We finally integrate these findings in a model of blame assignment in organizations, proposing structural and cultural interventions that may help to address some of the problematic outcomes of blame and credit attributions for QWL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Charles F. Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 06824, USA

    Donald E. Gibson MBA, Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 06824, USA

    Kelly McCann

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  1. Donald E. Gibson MBA, Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Donald E. Gibson MBA, Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, Radford University, Radford, 24142, Virgin Islands, USA

    Nora P. Reilly

  2. Pamlin College of Business, Dept. Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Pamplin Hall 2025, Blacksburg, 24061-0236, Virginia, USA

    M. Joseph Sirgy

  3. , Psychology, Radford University, Russell Hall 444, Radford, 24142, Virginia, USA

    C. Allen Gorman

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Gibson, D.E., McCann, K. (2012). Blame and Credit Attributions and Quality of Work Life: The Effect of Organizational Structure and Culture. In: Reilly, N., Sirgy, M., Gorman, C. (eds) Work and Quality of Life. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4059-4_17

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