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Interpersonal differences abound in the workplace. Reaping the benefits of organizational diversity requires understanding and appreciating one another's different backgrounds, worldviews, perspectives, and viewpoints. However, the innate ease and preference associated with interacting with similar others makes relating across differences challenging in a number of ways. The five papers in this symposium provide cutting-edge insights into breakdowns in understanding that can occur across interpersonal differences in organizations, including both the emotional and cognitive processes underlying these breakdowns, as well as potential tools to prevent and repair them. The Illusion of Rapport: How Coercive Power Disparities Undermine High-Quality Connections Author: Andrea Dittmann; U. of Southern California - Marshall School of Business Author: Kyle Dobson; U. of Virginia Author: David Yeager; The U. of Texas at Austin The Role of Identity in Relationships with Neurodivergent Colleagues Author: Natalie Longmire; Tulane U. Author: Niranjan Srinivasan Janardhanan; London School of Economics Intellectual Humility Predicts Empathic Accuracy and Empathic Resilience Author: Michal Lehmann; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Author: Shir Genzer; Hebrew U. of Jerusalem Author: Nur Kassem; Hebrew U. of Jerusalem Author: Daryl R. Van Tongeren; Hope College Author: Anat Perry; Hebrew U. of Jerusalem Everyday People, Rare Relationships: Microemancipation in Racialized and Gendered Organizations Author: Jennifer Wiseman; U. of Utah, David Eccles School of Business Author: Jared Mitchell Poole; U. of Massachusetts, Boston Author: Amelia Stillwell; U. of Utah Conspiratorial Beliefs and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: The Role of Perspective-Taking Author: Yingli Deng; Durham U. Business School Author: Hooria Jazaieri; Santa Clara U. Author: Cynthia S. Wang; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Author: Jennifer Ann Whitson; U. of California, Los Angeles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the extant research highlighting the benefits of having difficult conversations, its inherent complexity – particularly due to the interdependent, multimodal, and highly contextualized nature of conversation – has impeded its empirical advancement and theoretical integration. Furthermore, previous research has assumed that having, or being able to have, difficult conversations is invariably beneficial for individuals, teams, and organizations. However, exactly how these conversations unfold and lead to positive outcomes remain a mystery. In this symposium, five presentations will explore why and how particular conversational elements within difficult contexts, such as grief, distrust, conflict, diverging goals, and advice giving and seeking, may lead to better or worse outcomes for individuals in organizational settings. In total, the symposium offers empirical and theoretical insights into the burgeoning science of conversation research, as well as practical solutions for managers, leaders, and employees who wish to create spaces where people are heard and feel connected to others. Expressions of Sympathy are Less Effective When They Focus on the Positive Author: Daniel Chiacchia; U. of Toronto, Rotman School of Management Author: Rachel Lise Ruttan; U. of Toronto Author: Katherine Ann DeCelles; U. of Toronto Author: Sora Jun; Rice U. Communicating Under Distrust Author: Laura Wallace; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Author: Yena Kim; U. of Chicago Booth School of business Author: Emma Levine; U. Of Chicago The Social Effects of Discrete Emotions on Curiosity Elicited During Conflict Author: Christina Bradley; U. of Michigan, Ross School of Business Author: Nadav Klein; INSEAD Boomerasking: Answering Your Own Questions Author: Alison Wood Brooks; Harvard U. Author: Michael Yeomans; Imperial College Business School Flattering Advice: Avoiding Disappointment as a Driver of Gender Discrimination Author: Zaidan Chen; Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology Author: David Hagmann; - [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As organizational research begins to catch up with the largely theoretical framework around the experience and effects of diversity at work, we propose a symposium that focuses on managing marginalization at work through the issues surrounding impression management. The purpose of this symposium is to explore the impact of social and contextual factors on interpersonal impression management choices and outcomes. Specifically, the presentations in this symposium investigate how organizational factors and individuals' experiences with identity-related issues influence their (a) self-perceptions, (b) image concerns, and (c) self-expression choices. By integrating literature on marginalized identities, impression management, and authenticity, we aim to generate discussions around how employees navigate their identities in complex workplace dynamics, how managers can be allies against stereotyping processes, and how organizations can develop future work environments that promote individuals' sense of self and well-being. Voices in my Head: How Women of Color Manage their Constellations of Intersecting Identities Author: Alexis Nicole Smith; Oklahoma State U. Author: Chi Nguyen; Oklahoma State U. Author: Marla Baskerville Watkins; Northeastern U. Undoing Discrimination at Intersectional Identities: Gender Quotas and Marginalized Women Directors Author: Priyanka Dwivedi; Texas A&M U., Mays Business School Author: Yashodhara Basuthakur; Texas A&M U., Mays Business School Author: Cynthia E. Devers; Virginia Tech A Latent Profile Analysis of Social Class Management Strategies Among Junior Professionals Author: Hyejin Yu; NEOMA Business School Author: Alexis Nicole Smith; Oklahoma State U. Author: Songqi Liu; National Science Foundation How Scanning One's Workplace Environment Influences The Identity Management Process Author: John Lynch; U. of Illinois at Chicago Author: Alexander Lyle Effinger; U. of Illinois Chicago Author: Jingyu Zhang; U. of Florida Workplace Advice to "Just Be Yourself!" Repels Stigmatized Employees Author: Rebecca Ponce de Leon; Columbia Business School Author: Katherine Du; Lubar College of Business Author: Kyle Dobson; U. of Virginia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of research document the significant benefits of authenticity both in personal and professional life. As many as 60 studies have found that authenticity is linked to greater well-being and meaning in life (for a review, see Sutton, 2020), heightened self-esteem (Heppner et al., 2008), lowered stress (Wood et al., 2008), and better interpersonal relationships (Brunell et al., 2010; Le & Impett, 2013). In the workplace, employees who feel and express themselves authentically are more engaged (Bailey et al., 2022; Cable et al., 2013); while experiencing inauthenticity at work depletes employee resources (Reis et al., 2016). Authenticity occurs when individuals express their core or inner selves (Kernis & Goldman, 2006). At first blush, this definition seems straightforward, describing an intuitive phenomenological experience that occurs on an almost daily basis (Huber et al., 2022). Despite this apparent simplicity, questions remain regarding what authenticity precisely is, how to measure it, and how to access it in professional life. These questions have led to frustrations as researchers try to wrap their arms around its theoretical boundaries, even leading some to question the validity of authenticity as a scientific construct (Baumeister, 2019, Sedikides et at al., 2018, Rivera et al., 2019). Given the benefits of authenticity for individuals and their organizations, the goal of this panel is to expose these challenges directly as well as provide solutions for how to approach authenticity as a topic of theoretical and empirical study. In our proposed panel symposium, we will bring together leading experts on the topic of authenticity who will discuss the hurdles, pain points, and breakthroughs they have experienced in studying this elusive topic. Points for discussion include: Is the axiom to "bring your whole self to work" an appropriate suggestion? How might expressed authenticity impact work relationships? Is authenticity experienced differently across organizational contexts? Across organizational hierarchies? What are the potential perils of authenticity when we try to relate to one another in a personal manner? What does the next decade of authenticity research look like? What advice do you have for organizational scholars interested in studying authenticity? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on authenticity has begun to consider the role of others in being ""true to the self"", but other work suggests the deep importance of others in being, feeling, and seeming authentic. This symposium emphasizes the embedded relationality inherent in the construct of authenticity from various angles as we explore the growing importance of others in being authentic at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is ironic that people feel more and more lonely, anxious, and depressed when we have so many gadgets and ways to help us connect with others. We imagine that the psychological and existential suffering and pain that many suffer today arises from the dehumanizing conditions of their work lives. Therefore, the purpose of this symposium is to focus scholarly attention on the question of how to re-humanize the way we think about ourselves and, importantly, how to re- humanize modern workplaces. This symposium will bring together scholars to present their work that provides invaluable insights on what it is to be human and how to recover the lost humanness in the organizational context. This symposium will also include an interactive session designed to uncover important new research questions that we hope will stimulate further interest in workplace humanization within the study of management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanization and dehumanization broadly refer to the attribution or denial of 'humanness' to others: traits that make up the 'human essence' or make humans unique from other animals. There has been a recent surge of psychological research demonstrating the importance of humanization and dehumanization across many phenomena. However, (de)humanization is typically entwined with a variety of related constructs (e.g., mind perception, objectification), leading to a lack of conceptual clarity. Additionally, despite the close attention paid to dehumanization and humanization in the psychological sciences, the extension of these concepts to organizational scholarship has been limited. Some of the questions we will discuss include: How should scholars define humanization and dehumanization, and how do we distinguish these constructs from mind perception, objectification, and anthropomorphism? Which organizational contexts/processes are most likely to motivate people to (de)humanize others, or even themselves? What are some barriers to the application of (de)humanization to organizational research? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across organizations, employees frequently come face-to-face with the suffering of their peers. Suffering causes a lasting psychological toll and costs organizations billions of dollars annually. Organizational scholars have in turn espoused compassion as a powerful antidote that can assuage others' pain. In this symposium, five papers extend this line of research by (1) deepening the understanding of compassion's antecedents and consequences, (2) challenging the overly positive view of compassion, and (3) considering the role of self-compassion in organizations. These papers explore compassion towards others and the self across diverse contexts and utilize a wide range of methodological approaches. Following the paper presentations, our discussant, Hillary Anger Elfenbein, will offer feedback on the development of the papers and share insights on how to further advance research in this burgeoning domain. This symposium is designed to inspire generative conversations and new streams of research on compassion in the workplace. The Emergence and Influence of Prosocial Emotions in the Employee Voice Process Presenter: Emily Dunham Heaphy; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst Presenter: Jacoba Marja Lilius; Queen's U. Presenter: Elana Feldman; U. of Massachusetts, Lowell The Role of Self-Separation in Empathic Concern Towards Others Presenter: Kyle Dobson; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Rachel Lise Ruttan; Rotman School of Management Presenter: Ashley Elizabeth Hardin; Washington U. in St. Louis Presenter: Andrew Todd; U. of California, Davis Shall We Dance?: Toward A Relational Model of Compassion Presenter: Reut Livne-Tarandach; U. of Oregon Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Tradeoffs After a Failed Workplace Helping Attempt Presenter: Yu Tse Heng; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle Self-Compassion at Work: A Self-Regulation Perspective on Its Beneficial Effects for Work and Home Presenter: Remy E. Jennings; U. of Florida Presenter: Klodiana Lanaj; U. of Florida Presenter: You Jin Kim; Fox School of Business, Temple U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]