University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States
Workplace transgressions have garnered increasing scholarly attention, yet the role of power dynamics in shaping victim interpretations and responses remains underexplored. This qualitative study explores how victims interpret and respond to power dynamics in workplace transgressions. Through critical discourse analysis of over 400 victim narratives, we develop a grounded theoretical framework based on several key findings. Victims’ narratives reveal two distinct transgressor types: “performers” who maintain professional competence while leveraging status for overt misconduct, and “predators” who subtly exploit opportunities to create power differential. Power asymmetries shape both transgressor behaviors and victim responses, with performers often protected by their perceived organizational value while predators exploit institutional blind spots. The organizational context critically influences these power dynamics, ultimately affecting how victims interpret their experiences and attempt to rebalance power. These findings inform a grounded model of transgressor behavior and victim responses, framing transgressions as complex, meaning-making experiences rather than objective events. We emphasize the need for future research into alternative contexts, methodologies, and underlying factors to further illuminate these dynamics.
