Crab Basket Syndrome: Envy and Undermining Tendencies Towards Success

People tend to compare themselves with others in social life. Within the context of the "crab basket syndrome" based on Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory, individuals can recognize their own shortcomings and strive to overcome them. However, when individuals realize that they cannot catch up with more successful individuals, the crab basket syndrome emerges, where they start making efforts to hinder the success of those individuals. This concept, referred to as the "crab in barrel syndrome" and commonly known as the "crab basket syndrome" in Turkish, is used as a metaphor to describe the mindset and behavior of individuals who hinder the career success of others despite the presence of social norms established for help and support in an organization (Miller, 2016). This phenomenon is attributed to individuals who prefer to denigrate and pull others down based on the understanding of "if I can't do it, neither can you" (Soubhari and Kumar, 2014). The crab basket syndrome can be considered as an intrinsic feeling specific to the individual, often stemming from negative aspects related to self-identity, self-confidence, jealousy, and concepts within human psychology such as fear, narcissism, and anxiety. Its organizational causes include the culture, structure, and managerial behaviors and attitudes of the organization that enable individuals to exhibit such behaviors within the organization. The crab basket syndrome leads to various negative consequences for organizations, such as low morale and productivity, and conflicts. Some measures that can be taken against the crab basket syndrome include embracing merit, minimizing role ambiguity, and adopting values that promote equal opportunities. Concepts such as long weasel syndrome, glass ceiling syndrome, queen bee syndrome, social undermining and workplace incivility, which have similar results with the crab basket, differ from the concept of the crab basket with minor differences. Within the framework of this study, the concept of the crab basket syndrome was examined by reviewing the limited existing studies in the literature, and a theoretical study was conducted to contribute to the literature in this regard.