VOICING DISCONTENT - WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GRIEVANCE FILER AFTER THE GRIEVANCE

Previous research has suggested that managers punish grievance filers by giving them lower performance ratings and terminating their employm ent. A 2-factor between-subjects design (N = 157) was used to examine to what extent these ''punishment'' effects reflect an actual change i n grievants' behavior. Consistent with procedural justice literature, participants who had access to a grievance system were more willing to continue working for the organization. Consistent with a motivation t heory, participants who had a basis for dispute had lower objective jo b performance and were less willing to continue working for the organi zation. In contrast to previous research, the results provide some sup port for the exit-voice model. In addition, the results suggest that p art of the punishment effects reported in earlier field studies may be due to an actual decrease in the grievants' objective job performance .