Hot shots and cool reception? An expanded view of social consequences for high performers

Elizabeth M. Campbell, Aichia Chuang, Hui Liao, Jing Zhou, Yuntao Dong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

106 Scopus citations

Abstract

While high performers contribute substantially to their workgroups and organizations, research has indicated that they incur social costs from peers. Drawing from theories of social comparison and conservation of resources, we advance a rational perspective to explain why high performers draw both intentional positive and negative reactions from peers and consider how cooperative work contexts moderate these effects. A multisource field study of 936 relationships among 350 stylists within 105 salons offered support for our model and an experiment with 204 management students constructively replicated our findings and ruled out alternative explanations. Results indicated that peers offered more support and also perpetrated more undermining to high performers. Paradoxical cognitive processes partly explain these behaviors, and cooperative contexts proved socially disadvantageous for high performers. Findings offer a more comprehensive view of the social consequences of high performance and highlight how peer behaviors toward high performers may be calculated and strategic rather than simply reactionary.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)845-866
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Applied Psychology
Volume102
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Psychological Association.

Keywords

  • High performers
  • Resource threat
  • Social support
  • Social undermining
  • Strategic mistreatment

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