Cheap talk? Follower sarcasm reduces leader overpay by increasing accountability

How Identity Impacts Bystander Responses to Workplace Mistreatment

Integrating a social identity approach with Cortina's (2008) theorizing about selective incivility as modern discrimination, we examine how identification-with an organization, with one's gender, and as a feminist-shapes bystanders' interpretations and responses to witnessed incivility (i.e., interpersonal acts of disrespect) and selective incivility (i.e., incivility motivated by targets' social group membership) toward women at work. We propose that bystanders with stronger organizational identification are less likely to perceive incivility toward female colleagues as discrimination and intervene, but female bystanders with stronger gender identification are more likely to do so. Results from two-wave field data in a cross-lagged panel design (Study 1, N = 336) showed that organizational identification negatively predicted observed selective incivility 1 year later but revealed no evidence of an effect of female bystanders' gender identification. We replicated and extended these results with a vignette experiment (Study 2, N = 410) and an experimental recall study (Study 3, N = 504). Findings revealed a "dark side" of organizational identification: strongly identified bystanders were less likely to perceive incivility as discrimination, but there were again no effects of women's gender identification. Study 3 also showed that bystander feminist identification increased intervention via perceived discrimination. These results raise doubts that female bystanders are more sensitive to recognizing other women's mistreatment as discrimination, but more strongly identified feminists (male or female) were more likely to intervene. Although strongly organizationally identified bystanders were more likely to overlook women's mistreatment, they were also more likely to intervene once discrimination was apparent.

Unpredictable volatility and trust: The VISA model of person perception

By accounting for perceptions of volatility and predictability of key character dimensions (e.g., the predictable volatility of sociability), I advance our understanding of person perception and interpersonal relationships. I incorporate volatility into person perception theory by introducing the volatility, integrity, sociability, and ability (VISA) model. I illustrate the importance of unpredictable volatility and the VISA model by analyzing the use of humor, and I propose three moderators of the effects of humor on trust: content, context, and intent. In doing so, I develop a foundation for future person perception research and bridge the impression formation (warmth and competence), trust (ability, benevolence, and integrity), and status (competence, generosity, and commitment) literature.

SHARP wit: Why receiving sarcasm improves perspective-taking

Despite its use of opposing expressions, sarcasm is often used to communicate a speaker's viewpoint. The current analysis explores whether and when sarcasm increases the recipients' understanding. We propose a theoretical model-the SHARP model-that specifies how sarcasm often helps activate perspective-taking. Our model proposes that sarcasm can provide the cognitive readiness and the motivational drive that enable recipients to see the world from the speaker's viewpoint. Building off findings in psychology and sociology, we hypothesize that sarcasm activates two precursors to perspective-taking: deliberate processing and open-mindedness. We also discuss three moderators that can reduce sarcasm's positive effects and even turn them negative. We call on future research to empirically test the SHARP model.

More Power, More Warmth: The Enhancing Effect of Power on the Perceived Warmth About High-Power Individuals Under Chinese Culture

Previous literature concerning power stereotypes demonstrates that compared to low-power (LP) individuals, high-power (HP) individuals tend to be perceived as having positive competence but negative warmth. Based on previous research, the current research further classified HP into senior and junior HP and mainly compared the perceived warmth between senior and junior HP individuals in Chinese culture. By classifying power into HP and LP, the pilot study employed the trait-rating task to replicate the results of previous research. In Study 1, we classified HP into senior and junior HP and revealed that participants indicated more positive warmth evaluations for senior HP individuals than for junior HP individuals. We named this "more power, more warmth" effect the MPMW effect. Further investigation demonstrated that the MPMW effect was more likely to emerge for participants with high Confucianism identification (Study 2a), for Chinese participants rather than Western participants (Study 2b), or when the knowledge of Confucianism was accessible in a given situation (Study 3). The present research firstly demonstrated that the contents of power stereotypes may partially display culture-specific characteristics in Chinese culture. The continuous classification approach to power provided a novel insight for future power research.