Deviating From the Script: A Content Analysis of Organizational Dissent as Portrayed on Primetime Television

Abstract

Scholars have argued that workers portrayed on television were often comfortable voicing disagreement to their supervisors but that disagreements rarely resulted in any change to the status quo. Organizational dissent, which by definition represents a challenge to the status quo, has been linked to a number of benefits for the dissenter and the organization. The researchers of the present study examined how dissent was portrayed on primetime television. Results indicated that dissenters often approached supervisors who had the power to address the frustrating circumstance that triggered the disagreement but that dissent was instrumentally ineffective and failed to elicit emotional support from the dissent audience.