Why Should I Be Left Behind? Employees’ Perceived Relative Deprivation and Participation in Development Activities

Research on participation in development activities (PDA) has traditionally been examined from an advantage perspective: Employees engage in development activities out of a desire to enhance current and future advantages. In this study, the author examined PDA from a disadvantage perspective, which suggests that employees participate in development activities out of a desire to redress perceived disadvantages. Perceived individual relative deprivation was hypothesized to relate to PDA through intention to participate and counterfactual beliefs, and perceived behavioral control was proposed to interact with intention to participate in relating to development behaviors. In a sample of 144 employees from 27 companies in Ghana, an emerging economy, moderated structural equation modeling results confirm some of the hypotheses. Implications for PDA research and human resource management are discussed.