The Shame of It All: A Review of Shame in Organizational Life

Daniels, Michael; Robinson, Sandra L.

doi:10.1177/0149206318817604

Cited by 71 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 142 publications

(180 reference statements)

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“…We used three complementary contexts to evaluate people's relative acceptance of human costs and examine the generalizability of our findings. Context A (social cost ) examined tolerance for shaming and harassment, psychologically harmful behaviors ( Daniels & Robinson, 2019 ) that are currently highly prevalent ( Tait, 2020 ). Context B ( health cost ) assessed tolerance for deaths and illnesses resulting from a C19-related statistical modeling error that either under - or over -estimated the spread of C19 (see Ioannidis, Cripps, & Tanner, 2020 ; Kutikov et al, 2020 ; Niforatos, Melnick, & Faust, 2020 ; Rajgor et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moralization of Covid-19 health response: Asymmetry in tolerance for human costs

Graso

Chen

Reynolds

2021

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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We hypothesized that because Covid-19 (C19) remains an urgent and visible threat, efforts to combat its negative health consequences have become moralized. This moralization of health-based efforts may generate asymmetries in judgement, whereby harmful by-products of those efforts (i.e., instrumental harm) are perceived as more acceptable than harm resulting from non-C19 efforts, such as prioritizing the economy or non-C19 issues. We tested our predictions in two experimental studies. In Study 1, American participants evaluated the same costs (public shaming, deaths and illnesses, and police abuse of power) as more acceptable when they resulted from efforts to minimize C19's health impacts, than when they resulted from non-health C19 efforts (e.g., prioritizing economic costs) or efforts unrelated to C19 (e.g., reducing traffic deaths). In Study 2, New Zealand participants less favorably evaluated the quality of a research proposal empirically questioning continuing a C19 elimination strategy in NZ than one questioning abandoning an elimination strategy, although both proposals contained the same amount of methodology information. This finding suggests questioning elimination approaches is morally condemned, a similar response to that found when sacred values are questioned. In both studies, condition effects were mediated by lowered moral outrage in response to costs resulting from pursuing health-minded C19 efforts. Follow-up analyses revealed that both heightened personal concern over contracting C19 and liberal ideology were associated with greater asymmetries in human cost evaluation. Altogether, results suggest reducing or eliminating C19 have become moralized, generating asymmetries in evaluations of human suffering.

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Section: Theoretical Foundationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moralization of Covid-19 health response: Asymmetry in tolerance for human costs

Graso

Chen

Reynolds

2021

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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“…However, situational constraints (e.g., bad job markets) may often prevent employees from avoiding the source of shame (Pfeffer & Fong, 2005). Concomitantly, scholars have suggested that employees may also adopt approach tendencies to cope with shame (Daniels & Robinson, 2019;Yun, Takeuchi, & Liu, 2007). That is, employees engage in behaviours to deal with the source of shame and protect one's self-concept.…”

Section: The Effect Of Abusive Supervision On Shamementioning

confidence: 99%

Rising above: Investigating employee exemplification as a response to the experience of shame induced by abusive supervision

Kim

Holtz

2020

J Occupat & Organ Psyc

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Scholars have clearly demonstrated that abusive supervision can precipitate a variety of destructive reactions from employees. Employees, however, do not universally reciprocate mistreatment with their own destructive behaviour and yet our current understanding of how victims of abusive supervision might choose to react less destructively, or potentially constructively, is still limited. Further, we lack a sufficient understanding of the psychological mechanisms that help explain why employees may react less destructively to abusive supervision. Drawing from appraisal theories of emotions, this research investigates whether the emotion of shame helps to explain why employees might engage in exemplification as a relatively constructive coping strategy in response to abusive supervision. An experimental (Study 1) and a field study (Study 2) found that shame mediated the effect of abusive supervision on employee exemplification. We further examined locus of control as a moderator of the indirect relationship between abusive supervision and exemplification and found individuals with internal (compared to external) locus of control were more likely to experience shame from abusive supervision and cope with shame by engaging in exemplification. In turn, the positive relationship between abusive supervision and exemplification, via shame, was strengthened for individuals with internal locus of control. Practitioner points Practicing managers should help guide employees to make more informed judgements about how to react to abuse in ways that are most suitable for their well‐being and career. Common reactions such as leaving the organization or retaliating against the abusive supervisor may not be a good personal and professional choice for employees. As such, employees should know that there are other viable avenues, such as engaging in exemplification, that can help cope with shame induced by abusive supervision. Organizations should identify formal procedures and practices that reward and celebrate employees that go above and beyond. If employees perceive that their exemplification has gone unnoticed, they may feel that their self‐concept is not being restored at their desired rate, consequently driving employees to cope with the feeling of shame through withdrawal (e.g., turnover).

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“…Episodic underperformance can be associated with a loss in self-esteem as well as a loss of regard by others (Brown et al, 2005;Sirriyeh et al, 2010). This loss of reputation and external judgments of incompetency is associated with shame (Wu, 2000;Delbanco and Bell, 2007;Daniels and Robinson, 2019). Guilt can therefore be an immediate reaction to a mistake that caused harm to another (e.g., a patient), and accompanying shame will be felt, particularly when this mistake is known to others.…”

Section: Acute/episodic Underperformance: Proximal Employee Reactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Failing Is Derailing: The Underperformance as a Stressor Model

Pindek

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Job performance and job stress are widely studied phenomena in occupational research. However, most literatures on the relationship between work stress and job performance conceptualize job stress as an antecedent of performance, in line with the stressperformance framework, and do not examine what happens to the well-being of the employees after the performance was appraised as poor. In the current theoretical paper, I argue that task underperformance is a source of stress (i.e., stressor) for the employee and, as such, can affect a wide range of employee outcomes. Task underperformance is conceptualized as comprised of two main types: acute/episodic underperformance, such as a mistake or an accident (e.g., medical error and service failure), and chronic task underperformance, such as not achieving the expected work products over time, with an interplay between these types. The source of the appraisal (objective, supervisor-rated, and self-rated underperformance) is also considered. Several disjoint literatures are then integrated in order to explain how underperformance is expected to result in subsequent decrements to employee well-being. At the chronic underperformance level, the following literatures are included: self-efficacy, negative effects of performance feedback, and stress experienced when the basic need for competency is frustrated or when underperformance presents a threat to the self-image. At the acute/episodic level, affective and cognitive outcomes are explored, and examples are drawn from several industries including service failures and medical errors. The interplay between the two types of underperformance, acute/episodic and chronic, is discussed, and then relevant moderators are offered. One notable moderator is the occupation-level consequences of error, which likely affects most if not all outcomes. Finally, the discussion includes potential theoretical and practical implications for this conceptualization, as well as some methodological considerations for future research in this area.

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The Shame of It All: A Review of Shame in Organizational Life

Cited by 71 publications

References 142 publications

Moralization of Covid-19 health response: Asymmetry in tolerance for human costs

Moralization of Covid-19 health response: Asymmetry in tolerance for human costs

Rising above: Investigating employee exemplification as a response to the experience of shame induced by abusive supervision

Failing Is Derailing: The Underperformance as a Stressor Model

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