Study finds negative employee behavior exerts greater influence than positive conduct

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have conducted an experiment examining how rule-breaking behavior spreads within social and professional groups. Their findings, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, indicate that individuals who ignore established protocols are more influential in setting workplace norms than high-performing, rule-abiding employees.

The study utilized a sample of 750 participants during the 2024 U.S. election cycle. The data revealed that participants were significantly more likely to emulate negative behavior after observing peers break rules, effectively creating a 'contagion' of misconduct. This suggests that poor culture can scale rapidly within organizations, often moving faster than management’s attempts to instill positive values.

For leaders, these findings highlight the difficulty of maintaining organizational culture in large firms. As direct oversight becomes impossible at scale, the behaviors exhibited by a small minority of employees can dominate the collective environment, requiring proactive management to prevent the normalization of dysfunctional habits.