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Gratitude at work is associated with a number of benefits and recent research has begun to explore the other side of gratitude–feeling appreciated at work (Sheridan & Ambrose, 2022). What is becoming clear is that gratitude and appreciation are key ingredients for developing high quality connections in the workplace. To ensure that management research on gratitude and appreciation is poised to keep up with the complexity and turbulence organizations and leaders face today, researchers must ask new questions and adopt new perspectives. While there are many benefits of gratitude and appreciation for both individuals and employers, there are still unexplored nuances to understanding these emotions at work. This symposium explores the complex nature of gratitude and appreciation at work and how we, as a field, can take research on these social emotions into the future. The studies in this symposium are diverse in methods (e.g., field study, team, time-lagged survey design, experimental design), theory (e.g., optimal distinctiveness theory, social learning theory, person perception, expectancy violations theory, social comparison theory), and focus (e.g., outcomes, antecedents, appreciation meta-accuracy, relational implications), and as such, offer an innovative and complimentary view on gratitude and appreciation at work. Our symposium (1) rethinks the conventional ways of looking at gratitude and appreciation at work, (2) offers novel insights into how to effectively manage and lead organizations, and (3) propels the gratitude and appreciation literature forward into new directions, all with a focus on two simple words: thank you. Creating an Optimal Workplace: How Gratitude and Appreciation Enhance Employee's Sense of Belonging Author: Ayana N. Younge; U. of Virginia, Darden School of Business Learning to Say Thanks: A Trickle-Down Model of Leader Gratitude Expression Author: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle Author: Jack Ting-Ju Chiang; Guanghua School of Management, Peking U. Author: Haiyang Liu; Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological U., Singapore Author: Zheng Wang; School of management, Zhejiang U. Author: Satoshi Akutsu; Hitotsubashi U. Author: Emi Osono; - Author: Ayana N. Younge; U. of Virginia, Darden School of Business Do You See What I See? The Modesty Curse for Subordinates' Meta-Appreciation Accuracy at Work Author: Sharon Sheridan; College of Business, Clemson U. Author: Lauren Rachel Locklear; Texas Tech U. Author: Dejun "Tony" Kong; U. of Colorado, Boulder I (Actually) Can't Thank You Enough: How Expectations for Gratitude Expressions Impact Relationships Author: Meghan Kane; U. of Central Florida Author: Lauren Rachel Locklear; Texas Tech U. Author: Mark G. Ehrhart; U. of Central Florida The Dark Side of Gratitude Expression: A Third-Party, Social Comparison Perspective Author: SungHyoun Hong; Georgia State U., J. Mack Robinson College of Business [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivating high-quality social relationships is key to building a better workplace and a better society. Yet, in today's uncertain and face-paced environment, modern organizations and their leaders are facing unprecedented challenges in doing so. This symposium comprises five papers that examine virtuous emotions, virtuous actions, and/or tensions inherent in social relationships to shed light on challenges in building positive and healthy workplace. The papers employ diverse theoretical perspectives (e.g., social learning theory, risk regulation theory, social comparison theory, ambivalence theories), theoretical foci (e.g., trickle-down effects, leader-follower congruence, a third party's countervailing reactions, the intra-or interpersonal influence of ambivalence), methods (e.g., scale development, multi-wave survey, experimentation, qualitative methods), and study populations (e.g., racial minorities, working mothers). Together, five papers in this symposium highlight some intriguing and complex issues related to virtuous emotions, virtuous actions, and tensions in social relationships and provide insights into the challenges and useful ways of relationship management. * The Ripple Effect of Gratitude * Presenter: Lauren Rachel Locklear; Texas Tech U. * Presenter: Meghan Kane; U. of Central Florida * Presenter: Mark G. Ehrhart; U. of Central Florida * The Impact of Supervisor Gratitude Expressions on Subordinate Feelings of Appreciation and Voice * Presenter: Dejun Kong; U. of Colorado Boulder * Presenter: Sharon Sheridan; College of Business, Clemson U. * Presenter: Liuba Belkin; Lehigh U. * Presenter: Maureen L. Ambrose; U. of Central Florida * Presenter: William J. Becker; Virginia Tech * Majority Group Observers' Reactions to Acts of Oppositional Courage for Social Equity * Presenter: Christian Noble Thoroughgood; Georgia State U., J. Mack Robinson College of Business * Presenter: Dejun Kong; U. of Colorado Boulder * Presenter: Katina Sawyer; George Washington U. * Presenter: Jennica R. Webster; Marquette U. * Presenter: Paige Watson; Clemson U. * An Ambivalent Story: Implications of Simultaneously Agreeing and Disagreeing with Stereotypes * Presenter: Laura Rees; Oregon State U. * Presenter: Allie Freshley; Queen's U. * The Relational Contexts that Harness the Benefits of Leader Emotional Ambivalence on Engagement * Presenter: Jamie Strassman; U. of Texas at Austin * Presenter: Kate Walsh; U. of Wisconsin-Madison * Presenter: Jean-Nicolas Reyt; McGill U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political landscape in the U.S. has become increasingly negative as members of major parties dislike each other more than at any time in the recent past. Some researchers characterize the dynamics as the "age of rage" (Webster, 2020). Against this backdrop we bring together four papers that outline the pervasive implications of political affiliation/ideology at work. Two papers suggest that political discourse at work, even if one is not engaging in it, has negative effects such as job dissatisfaction, rumination (on negative events), and insomnia as well as engaging in counterproductive work behaviors. A third paper addresses the explanatory variables that help understand why political affiliation/ideology related variables influence hiring. Results suggest that suspicion and trustworthiness are key variables such that suspicion helps predict negative outcomes such as expected CWBs while trustworthiness helps explain positive outcomes such as expected task performance. Our last paper addresses the issue of how political affiliation influences reactions toward anti-racism programs and shows that political affiliation was the strongest antecedent of reactions toward such programs and toward organizational attraction. All told, the papers suggest political affiliation/ideology is a critical variable with pervasive effects on employees' cognitions, emotions, and well-being, as well as consequences for organizations. * Political Discourse at Work: How and Why Ambient Political Conversations Impact Employee Outcomes * Presenter: Maira Elize Ezerins; U. of Arkansas, Fayetteville * Presenter: Young Eun Lee; Florida State U. * Presenter: Christopher C. Rosen; U. of Arkansas * Presenter: Philip L. Roth; Clemson U. * Enough Already! The Implications of Political Discourse at Work * Presenter: Cecily Cooper; U. of Miami * Presenter: Kurt T Dirks; Washington U. in St. Louis * Presenter: Craig D. Crossley; U. of Central Florida * Presenter: Sharon Sheridan; College of Business, Clemson U. * The Influence of Political Affiliation in the Workplace: The Role of Trustworthiness and Suspicion * Presenter: Philip L. Roth; Clemson U. * Presenter: Phil Bobko; Gettysburg College * Presenter: Jason Thatcher; Fox School of Business, Temple U. * Presenter: Wenxi Pu; U. of Manitoba * Partisanship vs. Principles for Policies:What Drives Responses to Anti-Racist Workplace Initiatives * Presenter: David A. Harrison; U. of Texas at Austin * Presenter: Alison V. Hall; U. of Texas At Arlington * Presenter: Laura Garcia; - [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace humor is a powerful communication tool that is known to facilitate positive outcomes for employees, teams, and interpersonal relationships. However, in recent years, scholars have questioned the positive nature of humor and have encouraged the study of multiple types of humor, including those that can generate negative outcomes for both users and recipients. Additionally, there have been calls to understand the reasons behind the use of humor in the workplace and to consider how the contexts in which humor is used may influence outcomes. These queries suggest that the literature on workplace humor is still in its infancy, leaving us with a limited understanding of this common phenomenon. This symposium addresses this research agenda by investigating: (1) multiple types of humor (e.g., offensive humor, aggressive humor, leader self-deprecating humor, sarcastic humor), (2) unique effects of different types of humor (e.g., perceived norm violations, perspective taking, outright exclusion), (3) mechanisms that can influence the use of humor (e.g., risk of exclusion, need satisfaction, relative power, anxiety), (4) outcomes from reacting to other's humor (e.g., joke listener's morality evaluation), and (5) influence of social contexts within which humor is used (e.g., conflict-ridden vs. conflict-free). Overall, our symposium aims to promote the investigation of humor to newer grounds and perspectives. How power influences the use of humor. Presenter: Thomas Bradford Bitterly; HKUST Business School. Was that sarcasm or supportiveness? Receiving sarcasm during conflict enhances perspective taking. Presenter: Li Huang; INSEAD. It's no joke! Coping with the risk of exclusion with humor. Presenter: Shubha Sharma; U. of Georgia. Presenter: Marie S. Mitchell; U. of Georgia. Moral evaluations of humor apply beyond just those telling the joke. Presenter: Wei Jee Ong; National U. of Singapore. Presenter: Kai Chi Yam; National U. of Singapore. Presenter: Christopher Barnes; U. of Washington. Bad measurement is no joke: Developing and validating a measure of leader humor types. Presenter: Cecily Cooper; U. of Miami. Presenter: Sharon Sheridan; College of Business, Clemson U. Presenter: Dejun Kong; U. of South Florida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of organizational psychology is currently in what some scholars have referred to as an affective era (Judge, Weiss, Kammeyer-Mueller, & Hulin, 2017) and have called for examinations of discrete emotions at work. In response to these calls, the subject of gratitude has recently received attention in management research, but there is still little knowledge of the functions of gratitude in the workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this symposium is to provide understanding of gratitude in organizations by exploring its antecedents and outcomes. Specifically, this symposium demonstrates the many ways gratitude can enhance the employment experience for individuals and can foster inclusive organizations. This symposium consists of four papers that explore the significance of gratitude as it is felt and expressed between employees and their coworkers, supervisors, and organizations. Specifically, the first paper investigates the relative contribution of feelings of gratitude toward the organization in the employee-organization relationship as compared to alternative theoretical explanations. The second paper examines the influence of attributions on employee expressions of gratitude toward their supervisors. The third study examines which characteristics of work events lead employees to feel and express gratitude toward coworkers. Finally, the last paper explores the manifestation and functions of gratitude culture at multiple levels of analysis. Together, these papers advance understanding of the positive impact that gratitude can have on employees and their organizations. We believe that this symposium showcases the importance of gratitude in organizations and will motivate future research in this area. The Employee-Organization Relationship: Contributions of Gratitude and Indebtedness Presenter: Xueqi Wen; U. of Houston Presenter: Robert Eisenberger; U. of Houston-Main Campus Presenter: Tae-Yeol Kim; China Europe International Business School Presenter: Deog Ro Lee; Seowon U. How Subordinates' Attributions Influence Feelings of Pride, Felt Gratitude, and Expressed Gratitude Presenter: Sharon Sheridan; U. of North Dakota Examining Antecedents of Gratitude Expressions in the Workplace Presenter: Lauren Rachel Locklear; U. of Central Florida Presenter: Mark G. Ehrhart; U. of Central Florida Presenter: Steven Whiting; U. of Central Florida The Social Functions of Gratitude in Organizations: A Multi-Method Study Presenter: Olivia Amanda O'Neill; George Mason U. Presenter: Hooria Jazaieri; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a significant body of research has established a relationship between abusive supervision and employee performance (i.e., task performance, OCB, CWB), there has been a lack of consensus regarding how abusive supervision impacts performance outcomes. Individual studies testing mediating mechanisms in isolation are informative, but this piecemeal approach leaves unclear the relative explanatory power of the various theoretical perspectives used to explain the performance-related consequences of abusive supervision. To address this limitation and provide theoretical clarity, the current study uses meta-analytic latent variable structural equation modeling to examine the relative influence of multiple mediators of the relationships between abusive supervision and performance outcomes. We compiled 310 effect sizes from 184 independent samples and examined the mediating relationships by indicators of fairness, social exchange quality, state negative affect, and resource depletion. The strength of the mediating influences differed across performance outcomes, suggesting the mechanisms and corresponding theoretical perspectives are differentially important for various performance behaviors. Implications and future directions for the study of abusive supervision are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research offers theoretical insights that explain the process by which inclusiveness encompasses organizations by traversing multiple organizational levels. As such, we conceptualize inclusiveness at the supervisory level as a form of modeling and examine its relationship with inclusiveness at the broader organizational level. Additionally, we explain and demonstrate the moderating impact of supervisory moral identity on the trickle-down effect. Third, we demonstrate that organizational inclusiveness trickles down to positively impacts subordinates' inclusive-related behavior and attitudes through supervisory inclusiveness. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, both the popular press and the broader psychology literature has acknowledged the importance of gratitude. Despite this evidence on the significance of gratitude, the organizational literature on gratitude has been extremely limited. Often viewed from a general disposition or state perspective, the interpersonal dynamics of gratitude in work relationships has received little empirical and theoretical attention by management scholars. This symposium focuses on the interpersonal processes of gratitude in the employee-supervisor and employee-organization relationship. The symposium consists of four papers--one theory, two field studies, and an experiment--that explore the significance of gratitude as it is felt and expressed between relationship partners. Specifically, the first paper offers new theory about the effect of gratitude on the development of differential work relationships, identification, and prosocial behaviors. The second paper investigates the importance of upward appreciation on the quality of supervisor-subordinate relationships in a multilevel field study. The third paper examines the relative importance of gratitude in comparison to indebtedness in the employee-organization relationship in a sample of call-center employees. The last paper explores the connection between gratitude and unethical behaviors on behalf of a relational partner using an experimental design. These papers advance our understanding of gratitude's role in driving interpersonal processes at work. We believe the symposium showcases the importance of this topic and will stimulate future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the broader psychology literature has demonstrated the importance of gratitude in human relationships. Despite this evidence that gratitude is central to effective relationships, research on gratitude in organizational relationships has received little attention. This symposium seeks to address this gap by examining the role of gratitude in organizations. The symposium includes four empirical papers--two field experiments and two field studies--that explore the influence of gratitude on beneficiaries, their coworkers, and their organizations. Specifically, the studies in the symposium examine the role of gratitude in informing the meaning of one's work and motivating performance, the importance of appreciation in supervisor/subordinate relationships, the explanatory power of gratitude in understanding employees' reactions to receiving OCB at work, and the downside of grateful feelings for professional colleagues. These papers extend our understanding of organizational gratitude by considering novel contexts and novel outcomes. We hope the symposium will highlight the importance of this topic and stimulate future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the trickle-down effect of organizational inclusiveness. We draw upon social cognitive theory to argue that top management's inclusiveness will be positively related to supervisory inclusiveness. We identify the weakening effect of supervisor political. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]