BRU-Iscte researcher Sandra Costa published the research paper (ABS4*) Perceived Organizational Exploitation and Employee Health: An Examination of Processes and Boundary Conditions, co-authored by Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro and BRU-Iscte researchers Sara Corlett and Tiago Rôxo Aguiar on the work developed in the Project EWRI: Exploitative working relationships: Impact on employees’ health and behaviors.
The paper shows that when employees feel their organisation is taking advantage of them, it can harm their mental and physical health. The study found that these feelings lead to negative emotions, constant worrying about work, and frustration of basic psychological needs, which together damage well-being. Surprisingly, support from coworkers did not reduce these effects and sometimes even made them stronger, possibly because talking about the problem reinforces the feeling of being exploited. The authors suggest that organisations should focus on improving the relationship between employees and the organisation itself, rather than assuming good coworker relationships will solve the issue.
This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant Number: PTDC/09289/2022 and UIDB/00315/2020. Open access publication funding provided by FCT (b-on).
