"Justice Perceptions, Perceived Insider Status, and Gossip at Work: A Social Exchange Perspective"

Gossip is ubiquitous in organizational life but has been under-researched in the organizational literature. We extend justice research to identify antecedents of gossip at work and explore a moderator on the justice-gossip linkage. Our analysis of 329 nurses demonstrates that organization-directed (i.e., procedural and distributive) justice perceptions are related to gossip about the organization whereas supervisor-directed (i.e., interpersonal and informational) justice perceptions are related to gossip about the supervisor. Our work further indicates the moderating effects of perceived insider status on the positive linkages between supervisor-directed justice perceptions and positive gossip behavior about the supervisor. This research theoretically contributes to not only workplace gossip research but also organizational justice research.