The complaint handler’s bind: How organisational constraints lead to defensive responses to criticism

Alex Gillespie; Tom Reader

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0325185

Loading metrics

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

The complaint handler’s bind: How organisational constraints lead to defensive responses to criticism

Alex Gillespie ,

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: a.t.gillespie@lse.ac.uk

Affiliations Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom, Department of Psychology, Oslo New University, Oslo, Norway

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0162-1269

⨯
Tom Reader

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom
⨯

The complaint handler’s bind: How organisational constraints lead to defensive responses to criticism

Alex Gillespie,
Tom Reader

Published: June 2, 2025
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325185

About the Authors

Alex Gillespie

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: a.t.gillespie@lse.ac.uk

Affiliations Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom, Department of Psychology, Oslo New University, Oslo, Norway

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0162-1269

Tom Reader

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Subject Areas
?

For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here.
We want your feedback. Do these Subject Areas make sense for this article? Click the target next to the incorrect Subject Area and let us know. Thanks for your help!

Learning
Is the Subject Area "Learning" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Human learning
Is the Subject Area "Human learning" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Social communication
Is the Subject Area "Social communication" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Behavior
Is the Subject Area "Behavior" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Chi square tests
Is the Subject Area "Chi square tests" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Clinical psychology
Is the Subject Area "Clinical psychology" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Metadata
Is the Subject Area "Metadata" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Research design
Is the Subject Area "Research design" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.