In this review, we distill existing research on gratitude and its role in organizations. We begin by examining how gratitude is conceptualized and defined, considering its manifestations as an emotion, an expression, and a feature of a collective. We next develop a model arguing that gratitude is best understood as a phenomenon that begins within the self but has the potential to cascade beyond the self and emerge at higher levels of analysis. After reviewing the key theories that underpin gratitude scholarship, we explore existing research on gratitude's functions. We follow with a consideration of gratitude's antecedents. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of promising trajectories for future research, emphasizing important directions for both theory and practice.

Gratitude expressions have received growing attention from scholars, with research emphasizing its many positive effects on expressers, recipients, and witnesses. Although our knowledge of gratitude expressions' benefits is accumulating, our understanding of its limits is less developed. In this article, we ask when employees' expressions of gratitude toward their leaders positively influence witnesses' perceptions of them, and when they do not. Across three studies including two multiwave surveys and an experiment, we find that expressed gratitude strengthens witnesses' perceptions of expressers' prosocial identities, especially when the leader is believed to be deserving of gratitude. Study 1 examines leader competence as an indicator of deservingness in a sample of leaders and employees in a manufacturing context. Studies 2 and 3 use survey and experimental methods to directly establish leader deservingness as a mechanism of the competence moderator and explore warmth as an additional component of employees' deservingness perceptions. All three studies show how gratitude expression ultimately shapes witnesses' tendencies to help expressers and seek feedback from them.

Over the last decade, research on positive psychology has skyrocketed. One area in particular that has gained attraction is compassion. In short, compassion is the desire to alleviate suffering, a common yet detrimental aspect to an individual’s personal and professional life. Suffering can take on a variety of forms – from feeling undervalued by your supervisor and organization to grieving the death of a family member. This experience can happen inside the walls of the workplace or spillover from an individual’s personal life. Regardless of where, when, and how an individual suffers, an increasingly important question that is asked is “should businesses care?” (Worline & Dutton, 2017). Many would argue yes, as compassion helps from both a strategic level – increasing an organization’s overall bottom line (Worline & Dutton, 2017) – and an individual level – protecting an employee from negative experiences (Reizer, 2019; Schabram & Heng, 2021) and improving their overall well-being (Zessin, Dickhauser, & Garbade, 2015). Despite that the topic is both “timely and timeless,” it is surprising that there is a lack of attention given to compassion in the workforce. A recent review illustrates that the healthcare industry dominates the majority of research on compassion (Dodson & Heng, 2021). While research in that setting may be important, it is also useful to explore compassion from a business lens. For instance, encouraging compassion in the workplace may appear beneficial, but research on helping professions demonstrates that it can lead to compassion fatigue (Boyatzis, Smith, & Blaize, 2006; Figley, 2002). Thus, an important question to consider is what does compassion mean in the workplace? Does it result in positive organizational outcomes, but come at cost to the individual? Further, the literature on compassion has shown to be empirically messy or inconsistent (Dodson & Heng, 2021). The literature has teased out two components of compassion: self-compassion (kind acts toward the self; Neff, 2003) and other-compassion (kind acts toward others; Lazarus, 1991). The former has been studied as a state (Leary, Tate, Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007), trait (Anjum Liang, Durrani, & Parvez, 2020), and process (Schabram & Heng, 2021), while the latter has been conceptualized as a process (Dutton, Workman, & Hardin, 2014). Taken together, these shortcomings pave the way for future research to investigate the implications of compassion in the organizational context and conceptualizations and comparisons of the constructs. This symposium seeks to investigate the role that self- and/or other- compassion play in addressing employee suffering – a common yet understudied area. Our symposium includes five papers that collectively make three important contributions. First, we contribute to the compassion literature by expanding scholars’ knowledge to both the antecedents and consequences of compassion, which shows that compassion can be harnessed in organizations and can benefit the individual employee as well as surrounding employees or a diverse workgroup. Second, we explore various conceptualizations of compassion, which paints a clearer picture on how compassion can be utilized and studied in the workplace. Third, we consider the role that compassion may have for the self and other employees, highlighting both the potential upsides and downsides from an organizational perspective. We hope this symposium will encourage future research and stimulate further discussion around the importance of studying and practicing compassion at work. Clearance to Care: The Impact of Sufferer Self-Compassion on Observer Compassion Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Virginia Presenter: Charmi Patel; Henley Business School, U. of Reading The Effects of Forgone Identity Preference and Existential Meaning Beliefs on Compassion Presenter: Rachel Burgess; W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State U. When to Care: Self- and Other-Compassion on Citizenship Behavior Presenter: Sara Krivacek; Clemson U. Presenter: Thomas Joseph Zagenczyk; North Carolina State U. Presenter: Kristin L. Scott; College of Business, Clemson U. Presenter: Yannick Griep; Radboud U., Netherlands Exploring the Possible Benefits of Self-Compassion for Interracial Interactions Presenter: Jean-Marc Moke; York U. Presenter: Natalya Alonso; Haskayne School of Business, U. of Calgary Presenter: Brent John Lyons; Schulich School of Business, York U. The Straining Effect of Leader Identity Threat and the Exacerbating Role of Overidentification Presenter: Jordan Nielsen; Purdue U. Presenter: Thomas Ptashnik; U. of Iowa Presenter: Amy E. Colbert; U. of Iowa

In this research, we examine the effects of cannabis use on creativity and evaluations of creativity. Drawing on both the broaden-and-build theory and the affect-as-information model, we propose that cannabis use would facilitate more creativity as well as more favorable evaluations of creativity via cannabis-induced joviality. We tested this prediction in two experiments, wherein participants were randomly assigned to either a cannabis use or cannabis abstinence condition. We find support for our prediction that cannabis use facilitates joviality, which translates to more favorable evaluations of creativity of one's own ideas and others' ideas. However, our prediction that cannabis use facilitates creativity via joviality was not supported. Our findings suggest that cannabis use may positively bias evaluations of creativity but have no impact on creativity. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The average employee feels burnt out, a multidimensional state of depletion likely to persists without intervention. In this paper, we consider compassion as an agentic action by which employees ma...

In this research, we explore how employees' self-reflections following a failed attempt to help a coworker shape future helping intentions and behaviors. Specifically, we propose a dual-process model of parallel affective and cognitive pathways to delineate how, and why, reflecting on an interpersonal helping failure with selfcompassion would result in countervailing effects on future helping. Whereas self-compassion reduces employees' future helping via the alleviation of guilt (affective mechanism), it also increases employees' future helping via the facilitation of helping self-efficacy (cognitive mechanism). We further draw on theories of attribution to propose that these effects depend on who was at fault for the helping failure, such that the effects are strengthened when coworker blame attribution is low. Results across four studies improve our understanding of the phenomenon of interpersonal helping failures, and the role of employee self-reflection in shaping the impact of these failures on future intentions and behavior.

The theme of this year’s symposium, Creating a Better World Together, calls for scholars across the field of management to aid in our understanding of how individuals and organizations can help to lead “the world from darkness to better days”. In order for individuals and organizations to positively impact the world, scholars need to better understand both (i) how to sustain individual and organizational motivation to continuously engage in prosocial ventures and (ii) how to help ensure that individuals’ and organizations’ prosocial ventures actually make (continuously) positive impacts on the world. The present symposium presents some of the latest research on the psychology of prosocial and charitable behaviors, each project aiming to shed light on previously unknown barriers to effective prosociality: prosociality that actually helps the world, prosocial appeals that actually foster helping behavior, and prosocial behavior that actually fosters moral praise. We believe that a better understanding of the psychology behind prosocial and charitable behaviors—especially when and why such helping behaviors and appeals backfire—is critical when trying to effectively Create a Better World Together. The Negative Effects of Giver Spotlighting on Recipients of Aid Presenter: Samantha Kassirer; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Maryam Kouchaki; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management When You Try Your Best to Help but Don't Succeed Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Virginia Presenter: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle Weather to Help: How Sunlight (and the Stock Market) Influence Prosocial Behavior Presenter: Polly Kang; NUS Business School Presenter: Maurice Schweitzer; U. of Pennsylvania Zero-Sum Beliefs Increase Stress by Undermining Expectations of Prosocial Behavior Presenter: Michael White; Columbia Business School Presenter: Genevive Gregorich; Columbia Business School Presenter: Shai Davidai; Columbia Business School Presenter: Modupe Akinola; Columbia U. Partitioning Prosocial Acts to Increase Moral Praise Presenter: Rebecca Schaumberg; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Stephanie Lin; INSEAD

In the United States, employees receive an average of four days of bereavement leave following the death of a family member. When they return to work, their grief is unlikely to be checked at the office door, and is instead carried over into the workplace. Grief research, however, has largely been limited to the clinical and social psychological sciences, thus leaving unaccounted for work-related considerations of the grief experience. In this research, I address this gap by examining what the grief-work experience entails and how it impacts bereaved employees. Using a mixed-methods approach, I first conducted 31 interviews (inductive Study 1) to understand the bereaved employee experience. Based on these insights, I developed a theoretical model delineating the positive and negative impact that work experiences have on the bereaved employee. Then, I conducted a three-wave field study (deductive Study 2) with a broader sample of 500 recently bereaved employees to test this theoretical model. Across both studies, I find that work experiences may be helpful (grief diversion, experienced compassion) or harmful (grief intrusion, experienced callousness), and have the potential to replenish or exacerbate positive states (sense of normalcy, purpose, connection) that facilitate employee well-being (lower work impairment, lower distress). In sum, this research sheds light on the nuances of the bereaved employee experience.

Summary Burgeoning organizational research has begun to explore how self‐compassion or the compassion individuals give to themselves in times of suffering may positively contribute to organizational outcomes. This review describes self‐compassion and its theoretical underpinnings in a workplace context, systematically reviews the current empirical literature on self‐compassion using samples of working adults, critically analyzes the current state of the literature, and provides recommendations for robust future research. In the process, we offer a dynamic, process‐based conceptualization of self‐compassion that aligns past research with current directions in organizational compassion and several suggestions for using a processual approach to improve theoretical and empirical rigor. We also guide future scholarly work surrounding self‐compassion in organizations by highlighting fundamental research questions that could advance our theoretical understanding of self‐compassion in organizational contexts.

This panel symposium brings leading self-compassion and organizational compassion scholars and practitioners into a conversation to explore how self-compassion could uniquely improve organizational functioning amidst current world challenges. Self-compassion – broadly defined as the compassion extended to oneself in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or suffering – has been proposed as an adaptive strategy for promoting well-being and positive psychological functioning, particularly in difficult times. Although prior work on self-compassion offers an essential first step toward understanding the potential benefits of self-compassion in the workplace, many organizational research opportunities have yet to be capitalized. The symposium will comprise a brief introduction to self-compassion and research related to key organizational constructs, a moderated discussion, and a question and answer session to facilitate connections and insights.

Since the Affective Revolution declared by Barsade, Brief, and Spataro (2003), interest in the role of affect and emotions has become “de rigueur” (Ashkanasy & Dorris, 2017: 67) for organizational scholars. In summarizing the past two decades of this literature, a series of reviews (e.g., Ashkanasy & Ashton-James, 2005; Ashkanasy & Dorris, 2017; Ashkanasy & Humphrey, 2011; Brief & Weiss, 2002; van Knippenberg & van Kleef, 2016) note three common trends: 1) the Affective Event Theory (AET) is at the core of research on emotions, 2) it is important to examine the interaction of AET with emotion-laden topics (e.g., emotional labor, emotional intelligence), and 3) leaders serve as “mood managers” who actively influence their followers’ feelings and emotions. On the precipice of the third decade of the affective revolution, this symposium showcases a recent stream of research projects on affect and emotions that extend these previous trends both in isolation and together. By highlighting the contemporary and ongoing approach that advances these trends in one or more ways, each of the papers in this symposium set a research agenda for the future. A Randomized Controlled Trial Approach to Examining the Effects of Cannabis Use on Creativity Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Christopher Barnes; U. of Washington Presenter: Kai Chi Yam; National U. of Singapore When a Leader is Ostracized: A Multilevel Model of Leader’s Experienced Ostracism at Work Presenter: Seoin Yoon; Texas A&M U., College Station Presenter: Junhyok Yim; City U. of Hong Kong Presenter: Stephen Hyrum Courtright; Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa Exchanging the Same Favor: The Role of Resource Distinctions and Affect in Leader-follower Exchanges Presenter: Fadel Khalil Matta; U. of Georgia Presenter: Edwyna Theresa Hill; U. of Georgia Presenter: Michael Baer; Arizona State U. Presenter: Emma Laier Frank; U. of Georgia Presenter: Kelly Schwind Wilson; Purdue U., West Lafayette The Effects of Low Power on Paranoia and Aggression Presenter: Michael Schaerer; Singapore Management U. Presenter: Trevor Foulk; U. of Maryland Presenter: Christilene Du Plessis; Singapore Management U. Presenter: Min-Hsuan Tu; U. at Buffalo, The State U. of New York Presenter: Satish Krishnan; Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

A decade of research has highlighted the benefits of being compassionate to oneself in times of suffering. Despite this, many remain hesitant to practice it, fearing the interpersonal backlash that stems from beliefs that self-compassion is selfish or even self-indulgent. In this research, we consider the implications of sufferer self-compassion for others’ perceptions, feelings, and behaviors toward the sufferer. Drawing on social information processing theory, we propose that sufferer self-compassion facilitates others’ felt compassion for the sufferer, in turn encouraging supportive behaviors toward the sufferer. We tested and found support for our predictions in a laboratory experiment of 242 participants participating in 121 dyadic, face-to-face interactions. Contrary to the concern that sufferer self-compassion might trigger punitive evaluations or treatment from surrounding others, our results suggest that sufferers’ self-compassion can instead spill over to fuel others’ compassionate behaviors.

Despite the larger body of research that highlights the benefits of social inclusion (the act of including someone in interpersonal relationships) and costs of social exclusion (the act of excluding someone from interpersonal relationships), less is known about the potentially counterintuitive effects of each and why they might occur. This symposium is comprised of five presentations that advance our understanding of the “dark” sides of inclusion and exclusion in the workplace by: (1) examining counterintuitive models of leader and coworker “deserved” exclusionary behaviors (e.g., ostracism and abusive supervision), with a deeper exploration into counterintuitive reasons of why certain employees are excluded and the unexpected positive outcomes of this exclusion; and (2) exploring models of how mismatching leader and follower inclusionary and exclusionary behaviors (e.g., trust, helping behavior, and abusive supervision) can lead to greater performance. Included in this symposium are papers that employ rigorous methodologies (i.e., multilevel, multiphase, and multisource design) for hypothesis testing. Overall, the proposed symposium will have important implications for management scholars and practitioners alike. The Effects of Subordinate Ascribed and Achieved Status on Supervisor Incivility Presenter: Christy Zhou Koval; Eli Broad School of Business, Michigan State U. Presenter: Jie Li; Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology Presenter: Huiwen Lian; U. of Kentucky Ashamed for Performing Well: An Examination of Abusive Supervision from the Third Party Perspective Presenter: Zhiyu Feng; Nanyang Technological U. Presenter: Fong T. Keng; Nanyang Technological U. Presenter: Dong Liu; Georgia Institute of Technology Presenter: Hu Li; Nanjing U. When There’s No One Else To Blame: Coworker Competence and Warmth, Ostracism, and Ingratiation Presenter: Christian Noble Thoroughgood; Villanova U. Presenter: Wei Wang; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Katina Sawyer; George Washington U. Presenter: Kristin L. Scott; College of Business, Clemson U. Moderators that Qualify a Positive Relation of Abusive Supervision with Employee Performance Presenter: SinHui Chong; Nanyang Technological U. Presenter: Riguang Gao; - Dyadic Trust between Leaders and Followers: Asymmetry as a Motivational Force Presenter: C. Ashley Fulmer; Georgia State U. Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Washington, Seattle

Across organizations, employees frequently come face-to-face with the suffering of their peers. Suffering causes a lasting psychological toll and costs organizations billions of dollars annually. Organizational scholars have in turn espoused compassion as a powerful antidote that can assuage others' pain. In this symposium, five papers extend this line of research by (1) deepening the understanding of compassion's antecedents and consequences, (2) challenging the overly positive view of compassion, and (3) considering the role of self-compassion in organizations. These papers explore compassion towards others and the self across diverse contexts and utilize a wide range of methodological approaches. Following the paper presentations, our discussant, Hillary Anger Elfenbein, will offer feedback on the development of the papers and share insights on how to further advance research in this burgeoning domain. This symposium is designed to inspire generative conversations and new streams of research on compassion in the workplace. The Emergence and Influence of Prosocial Emotions in the Employee Voice Process Presenter: Emily Dunham Heaphy; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst Presenter: Jacoba Marja Lilius; Queen's U. Presenter: Elana Feldman; U. of Massachusetts, Lowell The Role of Self-Separation in Empathic Concern Towards Others Presenter: Kyle Dobson; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Rachel Lise Ruttan; Rotman School of Management Presenter: Ashley Elizabeth Hardin; Washington U. in St. Louis Presenter: Andrew Todd; U. of California, Davis Shall We Dance?: Toward A Relational Model of Compassion Presenter: Reut Livne-Tarandach; U. of Oregon Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Tradeoffs After a Failed Workplace Helping Attempt Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle Self-Compassion at Work: A Self-Regulation Perspective on Its Beneficial Effects for Work and Home Presenter: Remy E. Jennings; U. of Florida Presenter: Klodiana Lanaj; U. of Florida Presenter: You Jin Kim; Fox School of Business, Temple U.

Laboratory experiments have many benefits and serve as a powerful tool for social psychology research. However, relying too heavily on laboratory experiments leaves the entire discipline of social psychology vulnerable to the inherent limitations of laboratory research. We discuss the benefits of integrating archival research into the portfolio of tools for conducting social psychological research. Using four published examples, we discuss the benefits and limitations of conducting archival research. We also provide suggestions on how social psychological researchers can take advantage of the benefits while overcoming the weaknesses of archival research. Finally, we provide useful resources and directions for utilizing archival data. We encourage social psychologists to increase the robustness of this scientific literature by supplementing laboratory experiments with archival research.

A growing body of positive organizational scholarship research provides strong support for the ubiquity and importance of positive emotions in organizations. In this symposium, four empirical papers continue this line of research by examining the contours and consequences of awe, hope, and compassion in the workplace. These emotions are explored across a diverse set of research contexts, utilize several distinct empirical approaches, and focus on both the individual and group levels of analysis. Following the paper presentations, our discussant, Kathleen Sutcliffe, will offer recommendations for the development of the papers presented and provide insights on how to further advance research in this growing domain. The symposium is designed to provide insight on the role of positive emotions within the organizational context and inspire new streams research. The Emotional Culture of Curiosity and Awe on Performance, Innovation, and Employee Attitudes Presenter: Olivia Amanda O'Neill; George Mason U. Presenter: Jennifer Mueller; U. of San Diego Presenter: Chan Hyung Park; Washington U. in St. Louis, Olin Business School Which Matters More? Group Fear Versus Group Hope in Entrepreneurial Escalation of Commitment Presenter: Tori Yu-wen Huang; The U. of Nottingham, China Presenter: Vangelis Souitaris; Cass Business School, City U. London Presenter: Sigal Barsade; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania To Hope is to Persist: The Role of Hope in the Creative Process Presenter: Chaitali Kapadia; Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology Presenter: Shimul Melwani; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Doing Bad to Do Good? Compassion at Work and Pro-Social Rule Breaking Presenter: Samantha Su-Hsien Sim; NOVA School of Business and Economics Presenter: Jochen Matthias Reb; Singapore Management U.