Citation

Yagil D. Aggress. Violent Behav. 2008; 13(2): 141-152.

Affiliation

Department of Human Services, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.avb.2008.03.002

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Early theory and research on workplace aggression and sexual harassment generally focused on workers as both the source and the target of these behaviors. More recently, however, there has been a recognition that such behaviors are also exhibited by customers. This paper reviews research on customer aggression and sexual harassment in service contexts along the following lines: 1) Antecedents of customer misbehavior as reflected in organizational perceptions (e.g., denial of customer misbehavior, structure of service roles), customer motives (e.g., low level of perceived risk) and role-related risk factors (e.g., dependence on customer, working outside the organization, climate of informality); 2) The effect of customer aggression and sexual harassment on service provider well-being, work-related attitudes and behavior; 3) Coping strategies used by service providers in response to customer aggression and sexual harassment (i.e., problem-solving, escape-avoidance, support-seeking); and 4) A comparison between the main characteristics of aggression and sexual harassment by customers and by insiders.