Social Comparison Processes and Leadership in Organizations
Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Final Report Abstract
In Project 1, we conducted 3 independent studies investigating the turnover intentions of employees who perceive that they are being treated with more or less abusive supervision than their coworkers. We call this incongruent abusive supervision. Our findings support our theory that employees associate incongruent abusive supervision with concerns of social exclusion from their coworkers. Furthermore, this appraisal of social exclusion threat is associated with feelings of shame, which, in turn, increase turnover intentions. These findings demonstrate the curvilinear effect that incongruent abusive supervision has on employees’ reactions to abusive supervision and demonstrate shame as an emotional mechanism important for understanding employee responses to supervisor. In Project 3, we conducted 3 studies investigating whether downward social comparisons of LMX (LMXSC) can motivate negative coworker-directed behaviors (i.e. social undermining). Utilizing an array of research methodologies, we offer robust support for our theory that LMXSC (i.e. the perception of having a better relationship with one’s leader relative to the relationships fellow coworkers have with the leader) triggers feelings of hubristic pride in employees. Hubristic pride, in turn, promotes coworker-directed undermining. Together, our studies help to explain inconsistencies in the LMX literature. The issues of replicability initially faced in Project 3 were unexpected and, unfortunately, cost time and resources. Due to these constraints, we were unable to investigate how social categories effect the processing of leadership social comparison information, as originally outlined in Project 2 of the DFG proposal.
Publications
- (2019). Die Konsequenzen sozialer Vergleichsprozesse im Kontext feindseliger Führung. 11th Colloquium of the Respect Research Group, Hamburg, Germany, January 11th – 13th
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., & Giessner, S.
- (2019). Preferential Leader Treatment and Employees Paradoxical Coworker-directed Behaviors. 2nd Interdisciplinary Conference on Morality and Immorality, Hamburg, Germany, December 5th – 6th
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., & Giessner, S.
- (2019). The Consequences of Incongruent Abusive Supervision. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, USA, August 9th – 13th
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., & Giessner, S.
- (2019). The Consequences of Incongruent Abusive Supervision. European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Conference, Turin, Italy, May 29th – June 1st
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., & Giessner, S.
- (2020). Wie Respekt zu „Disrespekt“ Führen kann. 12th Colloquium of the Respect Research Group, Hamburg, Germany, February 29th – May 1st
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., & Giessner, S.
- LMXSC and paradoxical coworkerdirected behaviors: A dual-path mediation model involving pride. Proceedings of the 2020 Academy of Management Meeting
Korman, B. A., Tröster, C., Giessner, S.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2020.75)
