Investigation of the relationship between organizational cynicism and counterproductive work behaviors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction The aim of the research is to examine the effect size between organizational cynicism and counterproductive work behaviors, which are within the scope of negative employee attitudes and behaviors in working life, with the systematic review method. Methods The systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. EBSCO, Google Scholar, SAGE, Scopus, WILEY and WoS databases were searched by the authors with the keywords “Organizational cynicism, employee cynicism, deviant work behaviors, workplace deviant behavior,” “Counterproductive work behaviors,” “employee’s misbehavior” in English between 2010 and 2024. Results The data set of the research consists of 22 empirical studies conducted in 9 different countries with 7,331 participants. According to the random effects model, the effect size was found 0.482 between organizational cynicism and counterproductive work behaviors. According to this result, a medium and significant effect size and a positive relationship ( r = 0.448) between organizational cynicism and counterproductive work behaviors were found. Discussion Organizations should consider that each employee is negatively affected by negative leadership behaviors, unfair and unequal organizational decisions and practices. Therefore, it can be said that equal, fair, supportive attitudes and organizational practices will reduce employees’ organizational cynicism and counterproductive work behaviors and also positively affect their organizational commitment, job performance and organizational citizenship behaviors.