In a study set in a Midwestern field office of a US financial services firm, high-performing employees were more likely than average workers to report that colleagues covertly victimised them through such behaviours as sabotage, withholding resources and avoidance, says a team led by Jaclyn M. Jensen of DePaul University. High performers’ average score on a 1-to-5 victimisation-frequency scale (from ‘never’ to ‘once a week or more’) was 3.37, with the greater the performance gap in the workgroup, the greater the victimisation.

The effect was most pronounced for high performers who were selfish and manipulative; those who were altruistic and cooperative suffered less victimisation as their performance increased, the researchers say.

(Source: Journal of Applied Psychology)