This study investigated the relationship between workplace gossip (positive gossip and
negative gossip) and employee cynicism and explored the moderating role of dispositional
envy through the social information processing approach. Data were collected via a threestage survey in 24 companies with 307 employees across a range of industries in Taiwan and
analyzed through hierarchical liner modeling regression analysis. The results showed that
negative workplace gossip engendered employee cynicism, whereas the effect of positive
workplace gossip was not significant, and that these relationships were moderated by
dispositional envy. This demonstrates that individual differences are an important factor
affecting employee cynicism within organizations
