Who speaks up when harassment is in the air? A within-person investigation of ambient harassment and voice behavior at work.

It is clear that sexual harassment has a profound impact on the victims who are targets of these egregious behaviors. Comparably less is known, however, about how other members of the organization react affectively and behaviorally when these acts transpire, and who has stronger reactions to such events. In the current research, we draw from the sexual harassment and vicarious mistreatment literatures to develop a theoretical model that considers how bystanders react behaviorally to ambient harassment-the experience of overhearing sexist and disparaging gender-related comments without necessarily being the direct target of such remarks-by enacting various types of voice behaviors at work via feelings of fear and anger. We also explore whether certain work conditions-namely an organization's tolerance for sexual harassment-attenuate such reactions, and how gender of the witness to ambient harassment may shape the effects. Across an experimental investigation (Study 1) and an experience sampling study (Study 2), we find that exposure to ambient harassment is positively related to feelings of fear and anger. In Study 2, we further unpack the differential behavioral consequences associated with ambient harassment, finding that while anger is positively related to voice after witnessing ambient harassment, fear negatively contributed to voice behaviors at work. Interestingly, these effects were further exacerbated for employees who worked in an organization tolerant of sexual harassment and for men (vs. women). Combined, our results shed light on how, and when, employees can feel empowered to enact voice behaviors after experiencing ambient harassment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sorry to ask but how is apology effectiveness dependent on apology content and gender?

While it is well understood that the content included in an apology matters, what constitutes an effective apology may differ depending on the gender of the person delivering it. In this article, we test competing theoretical perspectives (i.e., role congruity theory and expectancy violation theory [EVT]) about the relative effectiveness of apologies that include language that conforms (or not) with the gender stereotypes ascribed to the apologizer. Results of four studies supported an EVT perspective and showed that apologies were perceived to be relatively more effective when they contradicted gender stereotypes (i.e., communal [agentic] apologies by men [women]). Specifically, Study 1 provided an initial test of the competing hypotheses using celebrity apologies on Twitter. Then, results of three experiments (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b) built upon these initial findings and tested the psychological mechanisms proposed by EVT to explain why counterstereotypical apologies are beneficial (i.e., attributions of interpersonal sensitivity [assertiveness] and enhanced perceptions of benevolence [competence] for men [women]). Our contributions to theory and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding the impact of transformational leadership on nurse compassion provision through a time-lagged field study.

BACKGROUND: A large volume of literature identifies positive, rejuvenating benefits associated with giving compassion to others. However, the relationship between giving compassion and feelings of exhaustion remains underexplored. Understanding when giving compassion can potentially lead to feelings of emotional exhaustion is particularly important for nurses who are called upon to provide high levels of compassion to suffering patients in their daily work. We suggest that by engaging in transformational leadership behaviors, frontline supervisors can help nurses realize the positive benefits associated with giving compassion. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of nurses' perceptions of transformational leadership offered by their supervisors on the relationship between the levels of compassionate behaviors nurses report engaging in with patients and feelings of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A time-lagged field survey was conducted across two waves of 112 full-time employed inpatient nurses within the United States. RESULTS: Providing high levels of compassionate behavior to patients was associated with reduced (increased) perceptions of emotional exhaustion and increased (decreased) job satisfaction when supervisors engaged in higher (lower) levels of transformational leadership. DISCUSSION: Transformational leadership serves as an important resource to help caregivers such that nurses feel invigorated and satisfied, as opposed to drained or fatigued, when engaging in high levels of compassionate behaviors toward suffering patients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: For nurses to fully reap the established positive benefits associated with providing compassion to patients, frontline supervisors should be encouraged to engage in behaviors reflective of transformational leadership.

Challenging racism as a Black police officer: An emergent theory of employee anti-racism.

Organizations are key mechanisms by which racism is enacted and perpetuated. Although much of the management literature has focused on organizational efforts to combat racial discrimination, some of the most transformative changes come from the everyday actions of employees themselves. In this study, we develop grounded theory on racial minority employees who choose to challenge racism from within the organizational structures that perpetuate it most (i.e., highly racialized organizations). We present a theoretical model of employee anti-racism that emerged from our analysis of qualitative data-comprising 80.7 audio hours from 48 interviews with Black law enforcement officers. This model articulates anti-racism motivation as a key mechanism that motivates racial minority employees to join and stay within highly racialized organizations. Our analysis suggests that these employees enact anti-racism behaviors targeted at both the racialized organization and their racial community, with these behaviors playing a critical role in positively transforming the interface between the organization and the communities that are harmed by racism. Perceptions of transformation help sustain racial minority employees' anti-racism motivation, particularly as they experience continued racism and encounter backlash for their anti-racism efforts. In the absence of perceived transformation, we found that racial minority employees are likely to withdraw from the highly racialized organization. Altogether, our study provides a theoretical and practical roadmap highlighting how racial minority employees combat racism via organizational membership and sustain their positive impact on both their work organization and their racial communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Does psychological detachment benefit job seekers? A two study weekly investigation.

On a weekly basis, job seekers need to exert effort to successfully navigate their search. Yet, despite the notion that job seeking is likely depleting, there has been little research and discussion to date surrounding whether taking time to recover from job seeking can be restorative and helpful for job seekers. Applying theory from the effort-recovery model (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) and the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) to the job search context, we highlight the self-regulatory and job search-related benefits associated with psychologically detaching from the job search each week. Specifically, we theorize that weekly psychological detachment from the job search (at t) helps job seekers feel recovered (at t) and, in turn, more vigorous (at t + 1), prompting subsequent job search effort (at t + 1); further, weekly job search effort is expected to engender an increase in subsequent interviews (at t + 2). We also explore the cross-level moderating effect of implicit theories of depletion, considering whether the beneficial impact of weekly psychological detachment is contingent on how depleting job seekers perceive the search process to be. We tested our model with two weekly experience sampling studies of over 200 new labor market entrants. Across both studies, we found considerable support for our model, suggesting that taking time to psychologically detach from the job search can help job seekers maintain their well-being and obtain job search success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Risqué business? Interpersonal anxiety and humor in the #MeToo era.

Interpersonal anxiety (i.e., the fear of negative consequences from interacting with someone) may be more prominent in post-#MeToo organizations when interacting with someone of a different gender. Initial exchanges may particularly trigger this anxiety, obfuscating key organizational decisions such as hiring. Given humor's positive, intrapersonal stress-reduction effects, we propose that humor also reduces interpersonal anxiety. In three mixed-methods experiments with hiring managers, we examined the effects of applicant and evaluator gender (i.e., same-/mixed-gender dyad), positive applicant humor (i.e., a pun), and context (i.e., gender salience) in job interviews. Results showed that mixed-gender (vs. same-gender) interactions elicited more interpersonal anxiety, particularly when gender was more salient; mixed-gender interactions also predicted downstream attitudinal outcomes (e.g., social attraction and willingness to hire) and hiring decisions (e.g., selection and rejection) via interpersonal anxiety. Although humor reduced interpersonal anxiety and its consequences for female applicants, the opposite was true for male applicants when gender was salient, because it signaled some of the same expectations that initially triggered the interpersonal anxiety: the potential for harmful sexual behavior. In sum, we integrated diversity and humor theories to examine interpersonal anxiety in same- and mixed-gender interactions and then tested the extent to which humor relieved it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The fatiguing effects of camera use in virtual meetings: A within-person field experiment.

The COVID-19 pandemic propelled many employees into remote work arrangements, and face-to-face meetings were quickly replaced with virtual meetings. This rapid uptick in the use of virtual meetings led to much popular press discussion of virtual meeting fatigue (i.e., "Zoom fatigue"), described as a feeling of being drained and lacking energy following a day of virtual meetings. In this study, we aimed to better understand how one salient feature of virtual meetings-the camera-impacts fatigue, which may affect outcomes during meetings (e.g., participant voice and engagement). We did so through the use of a 4-week within-person experience sampling field experiment where camera use was manipulated. Drawing from theory related to self-presentation, we propose and test a model where study condition (camera on versus off) was linked to daily feelings of fatigue; daily fatigue, in turn, was presumed to relate negatively to voice and engagement during virtual meetings. We further predict that gender and organizational tenure will moderate this relationship such that using a camera during virtual meetings will be more fatiguing for women and newer members of the organization. Results of 1,408 daily observations from 103 employees supported our proposed model, with supplemental analyses suggesting that fatigue affects same-day and next-day meeting performance. Given the anticipated prevalence of remote work even after the pandemic subsides, our study offers key insights for ongoing organizational best practices surrounding virtual meetings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Working through an "infodemic": The impact of COVID-19 news consumption on employee uncertainty and work behaviors.

Uncertainty is a defining feature of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because uncertainty is an aversive state, uncertainty reduction theory (URT) holds that employees try to manage it by obtaining information. To date, most evidence for the effectiveness of obtaining information to reduce uncertainty stems from research conducted in relatively stable contexts wherein employees can acquire consistent information. Yet, research on crises and news consumption provides reasons to believe that the potential for information to mitigate uncertainty as specified by URT may break down during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Integrating URT with research on crises and news consumption, we predict that consuming news information during crises-which tends to be distressing, constantly evolving, and inconsistent-will be positively related to uncertainty. This in turn may have negative implications for employee goal progress and creativity; two work outcomes that take on substantial significance in times of uncertainty and the pandemic. We further predict that death anxiety will moderate this relationship, such that the link between employees' news consumption and uncertainty is stronger for those with lower levels of death anxiety, compared to those with higher levels. We test our theorizing via an experience-sampling study with 180 full-time employees, with results providing support for our conceptual model. Our study reveals important theoretical and practical implications regarding information consumption during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The self-sacrificial nature of leader identity: Understanding the costs and benefits at work and home.

The leader role carries several complexities, suggesting that identifying closely with one's role as a leader might be both beneficial and costly on a day-to-day basis. We integrate theories of leader identity, self-sacrificial leadership, and self-regulation to develop a conceptual model articulating the manner in which strongly identifying with one's leader role on a daily basis yields benefits (i.e., increased task performance and perceived prosocial impact) and costs (i.e., increased depletion and conflict at home) via increased self-sacrificial leader behavior. Further, we theorize and test whether work addiction moderates the indirect effects of leader identity on the aforementioned processes. Using an experience sampling investigation of 80 leaders who completed 3 surveys per day for 10 workdays (Level 1 n = 645), we found that daily leader identity was positively associated with self-sacrificial leader behavior which, in turn, was positively associated with task performance and perceived prosocial impact (leader benefits) and positively associated with resource depletion and conflict at home (leader costs). Moreover, these effects were stronger for leaders who reported higher (vs. lower) levels of work addiction. In an exploration considering the effects of leader identity on daily well-being, results indicated that leader identity also indirectly helped and hindered psychological detachment from work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Working in a pandemic: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 health anxiety on work, family, and health outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has unhinged the lives of employees across the globe, yet there is little understanding of how COVID-19 health anxiety (CovH anxiety)-that is, feelings of fear and apprehension about having or contracting COVID-19-impacts critical work, home, and health outcomes. In the current study, we integrate transactional stress theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) with self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) to advance and test a model predicting that CovH anxiety prompts individuals to suppress emotions, which has detrimental implications for their psychological need fulfillment. In turn, lack of psychological need fulfillment hinders employees' abilities to work effectively, engage with their family, and experience heightened well-being. Our model further predicts that handwashing frequency-a form of problem-focused coping-will mitigate the effects of CovH anxiety. We test our propositions using a longitudinal design that followed 503 employees across the first four weeks that stay-at-home and social distancing orders were enacted. Consistent with predictions, CovH anxiety was found to impair critical work (goal progress), home (family engagement) and health (somatic complaints) outcomes due to increased emotion suppression and lack of psychological need fulfillment. Further, individuals who frequently engage in handwashing behavior were buffered from the negative impact of CovH anxiety. Combined, our work integrates and extends existing theory and has a number of important practical implications. Our research represents a first step to understanding the work-, home-, and health-related implications of this unprecedented situation, highlighting the detrimental impact of the anxiety stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Unplugging or staying connected? Examining the nature, antecedents, and consequences of profiles of daily recovery experiences.

Research on workplace recovery recognizes that employees must restore lost resources after work to improve their subsequent well-being and performance. Scholars have noted that employees' recovery experiences-psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control-vary day-to-day, yielding crucial implications for the aforementioned outcomes. Yet, despite these important theoretical and empirical insights, researchers to date have not comprehensively examined multiple daily recovery experiences in conjunction, instead studying the unique effects of only 1 or 2 experiences in isolation. Using a person-centric view of employees' recovery experiences, the current study examines whether profiles of daily recovery experiences occur for employees, and how these profiles (a) vary in membership from one day to the next, (b) are differentiated by daily job demands and resources experienced at work, and (c) predict employee well-being and discretionary behaviors during the subsequent workday. Using experience sampling data from 207 full-time employees, results revealed 5 profiles of daily recovery experiences that exhibited distinct relations with within-person antecedents and outcomes. As such, the current investigation represents a necessary first step in understanding how employees jointly experience recovery in relation to their daily work and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

What predicts within-person variance in applied psychology constructs? An empirical examination.

The attention paid to intraindividual phenomena in applied psychology has rapidly increased during the last two decades. However, the design characteristics of studies using daily experience sampling methods and the proportion of within-person variance in the measures employed in these studies vary substantially. This raises a critical question yet to be addressed: are differences in the proportion of variance attributable to within- versus between-person factors dependent on construct-, measure-, design-, and/or sample-related characteristics? A multilevel analysis based on 1,051,808 within-person observations reported in 222 intraindividual empirical studies indicated that decisions about what to study (construct type), how to study it (measurement and design characteristics), and from whom to obtain the data (sample characteristics) predicted the proportion of variance attributable to within-person factors. We conclude with implications and recommendations for those conducting and reviewing applied intraindividual research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).