The Good in the Bad and the Bad in the Good: The Counterintuitive Self in Organizational Life

Abstract

In this symposium, we seek to bring together a collection of papers that not only broaden our understanding of self-oriented research in organizations, but also that highlight the ways in which these self- processes—some of which have been considered as largely positive and others as negative—may have unexpected upsides and downsides. In our first presentation, Chon, Sitkin, and Wiesenfeld propose that conceptions of self-awareness should distinguish among its three distinct focal targets (internal, external, and social) and present a new measure grounded in these distinctions through the lens of experienced (self-reported) and perceived (other-reported) self- awareness. The authors then use this reframing to challenge lay beliefs regarding the positive influence of self-awareness. In our second presentation, Wald and Chaudhry examine how self-awareness affects interpersonal judgment. They find that in some cases, self- awareness actually lowers trust, and that this effect is strongest when the target’s behavior is perceived as easy to change (i.e., highly mutable). In our third presentation, Brockner and Van Dijke examine how self-affirmation can affect workplace behavior. They find that self-affirmation and work engagement interactively influence employees’ return to work behavior. In our fourth presentation, Schaumberg and Chavez disentangle the consequences of shame, a self- conscious emotion. They find that the affective core of shame proneness relates positively to task performance, but that avoidance tendencies in response to transgressions are unrelated or negatively related to performance. Finally, in our fifth presentation, Newark and Dane examine the upside of abandoning a self-narrative. They consider why and how one might do so – and what one may stand to gain when one does. A Preliminary Examination of the Dark Side of Self-Awareness Presenter: Danbee Chon; Stanford U. Presenter: Sim B. Sitkin; Duke U. Presenter: Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld; New York U. People are More Trusting of Others Who are Unaware (vs. Aware) of their own Negative Behavior Presenter: Kristina Wald; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Presenter: Shereen J. Chaudhry; U. of Chicago Booth School of business The Interactive Effect of Self-affirmation and Work Engagement on the Decision to Return to Work Presenter: Joel Brockner; Columbia U. Presenter: Marius Van Dijke; Erasmus U. Rotterdam Shame Predicts Success: When and Why Shame Proneness Relates Positively to Task Performance Presenter: Rebecca Schaumberg; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Koji Chavez; Indiana U. When Your Tale Becomes Untenable: Abandoning Self-Narratives for an Unnarrated Self Presenter: Daniel Newark; HEC Paris Presenter: Erik Ian Dane; Washington U. in St. Louis