Ample experimental evidence shows that negative gossip fosters cooperation in groups by increasing individuals’ reputational concerns. However, recent field studies showed that negative gossip ...decreases organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among its targets (i.e., people whom gossip is about). Bridging these findings, we study the role of social inclusion in explaining how negative gossip affects targets’ engagement in OCB. Based on social exchange theory, we predict that targets of negative gossip experience low social inclusion. In turn, we propose that low social inclusion leads to low OCB of gossip targets. Results of three studies, a correlational study (N = 563), a laboratory experiment (N = 85), and an online scenario experiment (N = 597), showed that being the target of negative gossip reduced social inclusion and indirectly decreased OCBs. Our multi-method approach bridges findings from research conducted in organizations and in laboratory experiments and offers a more nuanced understanding of the effects of negative gossip on targets’ behavior. We show that due to its detrimental effect on targets’ social inclusion, negative gossip may not be as effective for enabling sustainable cooperation as experimental studies claim it to be.
Inclusion: Conceptualization and measurement Jansen, Wiebren S.; Otten, Sabine; van der Zee, Karen I. ...
European journal of social psychology,
June 2014, Volume:
44, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Many organizations have diversity statements in place in which they publicly declare their appreciation of and commitment to workforce diversity. These statements can either contain moral motives ...(e.g., “diversity reduces social inequalities”), business motives (e.g., “diversity enhances innovation”), or a combination of moral and business motives. In a desk study involving 182 Dutch organizations, we found that (a) private sector organizations more often than public sector organizations communicate business motives, (b) that public and private sector organizations are equally likely to communicate moral motives, and (c) that public sector organizations more frequently than private sector organizations communicate a combination of moral and business motives. Next, we used an experimental design to examine the causal influence of communicating different diversity motives on organizations' employment image (i.e., perceptions of organizational morality, competence, and attractiveness) among prospective employees (n = 393). Here, we used a scenario in which a healthcare organization was portrayed as either a public or a private sector organization and communicated either only moral motives, only business motives or a combination of moral and business motives for diversity. We found that for a public sector organization communicating moral instead of business motives for valuing diversity induced a more favorable employment image. For a private sector organization, there were no differences in employment image depending on the motive communicated. Together, these two studies shed new light on the role of diversity motives in establishing a positive employment image.
We aim to improve our understanding of how perceptions of social inclusion come about, unfold over time, and relate to individual and group outcomes. To do so, we draw on the MARGINI model, which ...offers a novel theoretical account of inclusion by delineating that inclusion is the result of a dynamic interplay between the individual's motivation to be included in the group (individual inclusion goal) and the group's willingness to include the individual (group inclusion goal). In a longitudinal field study (3 waves) following project teams (n = 304, divided into 46 teams) working on an eight‐week consultancy project, we found that individual and group inclusion goals (a) mutually influenced each other over time and (b) in conjunction determined group members' individual outcomes as well as overall group performance. Together, this research sheds new light on the dynamics and effects of inclusion on individuals and groups.
In two experiments we tested how explicitly including the cultural majority group in an organization’s diversity approach (all-inclusive multiculturalism) affects the extent to which majority members ...feel included in the organization and support organizational diversity efforts. In Study 1 we focused on prospective employees. We found that an all-inclusive diversity approach, compared with the “standard” multicultural approach in which the majority group is not explicitly made part of organizational diversity, led to higher levels of anticipated inclusion for those with a high need to belong. In Study 2 we turned to sitting organizational members. Here, we again found that an all-inclusive multicultural approach increased perceptions of inclusion, but now the effect was present regardless of individual levels of need to belong. Perceived inclusion, in turn, was positively related to majority members’ support for organizational diversity efforts. Together, these findings underline the effectiveness of an all-inclusive multicultural approach towards diversity.
Previous studies have shown that nursing students' perceptions of nursing change over time. Little research has been undertaken in the Netherlands of students entering nursing programmes and of how ...they progress.
The aims of this study were to explore whether nursing students' orientation and attitudes towards nursing changed over time, when these changes occurred, and what factors influenced the changes. We also aimed to identify the factors which prompted them to consider leaving their programmes, and what factors affected their motivation to stay.
The study used a longitudinal quantitative design.
Questionnaires were administered to all students enrolled in a Bachelor's of Nursing programme at four nursing universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands (n=1414). The data for this study were collected during the first two years of the programme, from September 2011 to June 2013. A total of 123 respondents completed the survey each year and this group was used to examine changes over time.
At four time intervals respondents completed a survey consisting of 1) the Nursing Orientation Tool, 2) the Nursing Attitude Questionnaire and 3) background characteristics. Non-parametric tests were used to explore changes in factor scores over time.
The results showed an improvement in the students' orientation and attitudes towards knowledge, skills and the professional roles of nurses, while empathic behaviour decreased over time. Although the changes showed non-linear patterns over time, the results showed clear effects between the different time points. The reasons for attrition (24%) proved to be related both to problems with the educational programme and to personal problems. An important motivator for students to stay in the course was their passionate desire to become nurses, suggesting that the positive aspects of a nursing career dominated the problems they encountered.
Tutors and mentors should pay more attention to the individual perceptions and problems of first and second-year students, both in the classroom and during clinical placements. Knowledge of the students' perceptions from the very beginning could be vital to study success.
•Nursing students' orientation and attitudes towards nursing change over time.•Idealistic views change to a more professional view with the focus on knowledge.•Students' changing perceptions may be predictive of withdrawal from the programme.•The first 2years of education are decisive for students' completion of their studies.
We examined how perceived organizational diversity approaches (colorblindness and multiculturalism) relate to affective and productive work outcomes for cultural majority and minority employees. ...Using structural equation modeling on data collected in a panel study among 152 native Dutch majority and 77 non‐Western minority employees, we found that perceptions of a colorblind approach were most strongly related to work satisfaction and perceived innovation for majority members, while perceptions of a multicultural approach “worked best” for minority members. Moreover, these effects were fully mediated by the extent to which employees felt socially included in the organization. Thus, while inclusion is an important factor for both groups to enhance work outcomes, it is facilitated by different diversity approaches for majority and minority members.
In this research, we aim to develop a better understanding of the different ways in which employees can advance or resist the diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies implemented by their organization. ...To this end, we complement prior work by distinguishing between employees' attitudinal and behavioral opposition versus support for D&I policies. We combine these to distinguish different combinations of attitudinal and behavioral responses that characterize specific groups of employees, which we label opponents, bystanders, reluctants, and champions. In a large‐scale survey study conducted among employees from seven organizations located in the Netherlands (n = 2913), we find empirical support for the validity of this taxonomy and its value in understanding the likelihood that employees advance or resist D&I policies. Furthermore, we find more convergence between attitudinal and behavioral support when employees perceive a more positive climate for inclusion. Together, these results advance existing scholarly work by providing both a theoretical account of and empirical evidence for the different ways in which D&I policies may find support or resistance from employees. In addition, our work offer practitioners a practical tool to examine the likelihood that D&I policies meet support or opposition from their employees and therefore enables them to design and implement more effective D&I interventions.
We investigated how and when gender dissimilarity relates to two highly important individual work outcomes: social inclusion and absenteeism. We collected survey data among 397 employees from a ...university of applied sciences and combined these with data from the organization’s personnel administration. Our results indicate that dissimilarity was negatively related to perceived work group inclusion. In addition, this negative effect was stronger when the group was perceived to have a negative diversity climate. Finally, there was a conditional indirect effect of gender dissimilarity on absenteeism through inclusion. That is, being different from other group members in terms of gender was associated with higher absenteeism through lower levels of perceived inclusion, but only when the group was perceived to have a negative diversity climate. Together, the present research demonstrates that sometimes being different is associated with more absences and underlines the importance of establishing a positive climate for gender diversity.
We investigated how the perception of being dissimilar to others at work relates to employees' felt inclusion, distinguishing between surface-level and deep-level dissimilarity. In addition, we ...tested the indirect relationships between surface-level and deep-level dissimilarity and work-related outcomes, through social inclusion. Furthermore, we tested the moderating role of a climate for inclusion in the relationship between perceived dissimilarity and felt inclusion. We analyzed survey data from 887 employees of a public service organization. An ANOVA showed that felt inclusion was lower for individuals who perceived themselves as deep-level dissimilar compared to individuals who perceived themselves as similar, while felt inclusion did not differ among individuals who perceived themselves as surface-level similar or dissimilar. Furthermore, a moderated mediation analysis showed a negative conditional indirect relationship between deep-level dissimilarity and work-related outcomes through felt inclusion. Interestingly, while the moderation showed that a positive climate for inclusion buffered the negative relationship between deep-level dissimilarity and felt inclusion, it also positively related to feelings of inclusion among all employees, regardless of their perceived (dis)similarity. This research significantly improves our understanding of how perceived dissimilarity affects employees by distinguishing between surface-level and deep-level dissimilarity and by demonstrating the importance of a climate for inclusion.
PDF
