What causes leaders to punish subordinates unjustly? And why might leaders keep punishing subordinates unjustly, even when this increases workplace misconduct? In the current paper we address these questions by suggesting that power and status cause leaders to punish unjustly. We review evidence on the effects of power and status on punishment, review how unjust punishments foster misconduct, and highlight how this creates a self-perpetuating feedback loop—leaders are more likely to punish in an unjust manner when subordinates engage in misconduct, but subordinates’ misconduct is partly caused by unjust punishments. We also discuss how leader-subordinate distrust may be at the heart of this phenomenon and how organizations may counteract unjust punishments. We draw attention to research areas that have received little attention and draw up an agenda for future research. Taken together, we integrate the literatures on power, status, punishment and trust, review evidence on when unjust punishments become perpetuating, challenge research suggesting that leaders are cautious when punishing, and guide future research on the topic of punishment in organizations.

是什么导致领导者不公正地惩罚下属？为什么领导者可能会继续不公正地惩罚下属，即使这加剧了工作场所的不当行为呢？在本文中，我们通过提出权力和地位导致领导人不公正地惩罚来解决这些问题。我们回顾了有关权力和地位对惩罚的影响的证据，回顾了不公正的惩罚如何助长了不当行为，并着重强调了这如何形成一个自我延续的反馈回路-领导者在下属进行不当行为时更有可能以不公正的方式进行惩罚，行为不端的部分原因是不公正的惩罚。我们还将讨论下级领导者之间的不信任可能是这种现象的核心，以及组织如何应对不公正的惩罚。我们提请关注很少受到关注的研究领域，并为将来的研究制定议程。总而言之，我们整合了有关权力，地位，惩罚和信任的文献，回顾了不公正惩罚何时会长期存在的证据，挑战表明领导者在惩罚时要谨慎的研究，并指导有关组织中惩罚主题的未来研究。