Publications

July 2022
Article

The Passionate Pygmalion Effect: Passionate Employees Attain Better Outcomes in Part Because of More Preferential Treatment by Others

By: Ke Wang, Erica R. Bailey and Jon M. Jachimowicz

Employees are increasingly exhorted to “pursue their passion” at work. Inherent in this call is the belief that passion will produce higher performance because it promotes intrapersonal processes that propel employees forward. Here, we suggest that the pervasiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Self-fufilling Prophecy; Lay Beliefs; Interpersonal Processes; Employees; Performance; Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Social Psychology

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Article

Common Variants of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Do Not Predict the Positive Mood Benefits of Prosocial Spending

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Lara B. Aknin, Colin Ross, Lihan Chen and Frances S. Chen

Who benefits most from helping others? Previous research suggests that common polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) predict whether people behave generously and experience increases in positive mood in response to socially-focused experiences in daily... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Positivity; Behavior Genetics; Individual Differences; Behavior; Emotions; Genetics; Spending

2023
Working Paper

Job Design and Workers’ Wellbeing: Evidence from a Hospital Setting

By: Susanna Gallani and Jacob Riegler

This study examines the relationship between job design imbalance and workers’ well-being. We build on Simons (2005) framework for the design of high-performing jobs and develop a survey instrument to capture workers’ perceptions of their job design and work... View Details

Keywords: Well-being; Job Design and Levels; Working Conditions; Perception; Work-Life Balance; Health Industry

June 2017
Article

The Surprising Effectiveness of Hostile Mediators

By: Ting Zhang, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton

Contrary to the tendency of mediators to defuse negative emotions between adversaries by treating them kindly, we demonstrate the surprising effectiveness of hostile mediators in resolving conflict. Hostile mediators generate greater willingness to reach agreements... View Details

Keywords: Mediation; Conflict; Negotiation; Hostility; Negotiation Style; Emotions; Conflict and Resolution

March 2011
Article

Zoom In, Zoom Out

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Zoom buttons on digital devices let us examine images from many viewpoints. They also provide an apt metaphor for modes of strategic thinking. Some people prefer to see things up close, others from afar. Both perspectives have virtues. But they should not be fixed... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cognition and Thinking; Perspective; Leadership; Opportunities; Decisions

2010
Working Paper

Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal

By: Lara B. Aknin, Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh, Elizabeth W. Dunn, John F. Helliwell, Robert Biswas-Diener, Imelda Kemeza, Paul Nyende, Claire Ashton-James and Michael I. Norton

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). Analyzing survey data from 136 countries, we show that... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Happiness; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; Uganda; Canada

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

Regulating our own emotions in stressful situations is difficult enough, but business leaders face the added challenge of attempting to regulate the collective emotions of the groups they lead to guide them... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

19 Jul 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Helping You Help Me: The Role of Diagnostic (In)Congruence in the Helping Process within Organizations

Keywords: by Colin M. Fisher, Julianna Pillemer & Teresa M. Amabile

Research Summary

Reinvention and “Frame Flexibility”

By: Ryan L. Raffaelli

Adopting a radical innovation creates pressure for leaders to reframe their mental models while they also sustain their organization's existing capabilities and product category variants. Yet at key junctures in a product class and during technological change, a... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Change; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diffusion Processes; Technology Adoption; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Emotions

30 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 30

PublicationsEmotion-induced Engagement in Internet Video Ads Authors:Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel, and Rik Pieters Publication:Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming) Abstract This study shows how advertisers can leverage View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2024
Article

Leadership and Plumbing

By: Frank V. Cespedes

“Leadership” is a growth industry. Amazon lists over 60,000 books on the topic. Most focus on emotional intelligence, charisma, avoiding narcissism (usually someone else’s problem, according to these authors, not their problem) and other personality traits. But as... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development

February 2023
Article

Homophily and Acrophily as Drivers of Political Segregation

By: Amit Goldenberg, Joseph M. Abruzzo, Zi Huang, Jonas Schone, David Bailey, Robb Willer, Eran Halperin and James J. Gross

Political segregation is an important social problem, increasing polarization and impeding effective governance. Previous work has viewed the central driver of segregation to be political homophily, the tendency to associate with others who have similar views. Here we... View Details

Keywords: Political Affiliation; Extremism; Values and Beliefs; Identity; Groups and Teams; Emotions; Civil Society or Community

Article

Guilt Enhances the Sense of Control and Drives Risky Judgments

By: Maryam Kouchaki, Christopher Oveis and F. Gino

The present studies investigate the hypothesis that guilt influences risk-taking by enhancing one's sense of control. Across multiple inductions of guilt, we demonstrate that experimentally induced guilt enhances optimism about risks for the self (Study 1), preferences... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Emotions

August 2001 (Revised August 2012)
Case

BestDoctors, Inc.

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Seth Bokser

Upon learning the news of a critical illness, patients and their families are shocked, saddened, fearful, and angry all at once. And just as soon as they catch their collective breath, they all ask the same question—a question that has the potential to infuse hope into... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Knowledge Sharing; Demand and Consumers; Health Industry

Educators

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

authors Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer discuss how even seemingly humdrum events can make huge differences in employees' emotional and intellectual well-being. "There's no reason, no matter how resource-constrained an... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

emotional state, which the authors call competitive arousal, often leads to bad decisions. Managers can minimize the potential for competitive arousal and the harm it can inflict by avoiding certain types of interaction and targeting the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2014
Working Paper

Conflicts of College Conference Realignment: Pursuing Revenue, Preserving Tradition, and Assessing the Future

By: Vadim Kogan and Stephen A. Greyser

Over the past two years, conference realignment has taken a front seat in the college sports landscape. Economic incentives were too attractive to overlook for some universities. College football programs across the country have a lot at stake, because for many,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Higher Education; Sports; Revenue; Emotions; Sports Industry; Education Industry

30 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Why Anger Makes a Wrongly Accused Person Look Guilty

whether an accused person has committed the offense, based on the emotions he or she expresses. Such an unfair judgment can have grave consequences, affecting the accused person’s career and even leading to job loss. "People who are... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2017
Module Note

Leading Global Teams

By: Tsedal Neeley

This module aims to help students become effective leaders and members of global teams that must work together across national boundaries and toward a common goal. Students will learn to diagnose the challenges that global teams often face as well as strategies that... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Leadership; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues