Customer mistreatment involves verbal abuse, unreasonable demands, and disrespectful actions that negatively affect service employees. This study explores the extended target similarity effect, proposing that mistreatment leads to negative emotional spillover and subsequent sabotage toward subsequent customers, supported by the trickle-down effect. A survey of 177 call center employees reveals that negative emotional spillover mediates the relationship between customer mistreatment and sabotage toward subsequent customers. Perceived control over mistreatment (PCM) and leader-member exchange (LMX) serve as moderators, with a three-way moderated mediation effect indicating increased sabotage when PCM and LMX are both low. Findings emphasize the importance of emotional resources and managerial relationships in mitigating workplace deviance.
