The experience of being envied at work: How being envied shapes employee feelings and motivation

Ki Young Lee; Michelle K. Duffy; Kristin L. Scott; Michaéla C. Schippers

doi:10.1111/peps.12251

The experience of being envied at work: How being envied shapes employee feelings and motivation

Ki Young Lee, Michelle K. Duffy, Kristin L. Scott, Michaéla C. Schippers

Department of Business Administration

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We develop and test a theoretical framework delineating the dual affective and motivational experiences arising from perceptions of being envied in the workplace. We theorize that being envied can be pleasantly or unpleasantly experienced with opposite downstream effects on motivation and job performance. We test our model in two field studies using a sample of government employees (Study 1) and a sample of employees in the financial industry (Study 2). Our results indicate that being envied can elicit unpleasant mood and anxiety that influence work engagement and job performance in negative ways. In addition, we found that positive emotional experiences from being envied bolster work engagement and performance through positive mood but not pride. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	181-200
Number of pages	20
Journal	Personnel Psychology
Volume	71
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12251
Publication status	Published - 2018 Jun 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Study 1 was supported by the dean'ssmall research grant from Carlson School of Management. Study 2 and preliminary data collection for Study 1 were supported by the small grant from Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Applied Psychology
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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10.1111/peps.12251

Cite this

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abstract = "We develop and test a theoretical framework delineating the dual affective and motivational experiences arising from perceptions of being envied in the workplace. We theorize that being envied can be pleasantly or unpleasantly experienced with opposite downstream effects on motivation and job performance. We test our model in two field studies using a sample of government employees (Study 1) and a sample of employees in the financial industry (Study 2). Our results indicate that being envied can elicit unpleasant mood and anxiety that influence work engagement and job performance in negative ways. In addition, we found that positive emotional experiences from being envied bolster work engagement and performance through positive mood but not pride. Implications of our findings are discussed.",

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The experience of being envied at work: How being envied shapes employee feelings and motivation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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