IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v168y2022ics0749597821000923.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Talking shop: An exploration of how talking about work affects our initial interactions

Author

Listed:
  • Martin, Sean R.
  • Harrison, Spencer H.
  • Hoopes, Charlotte
  • Schroeder, Juliana
  • Belmi, Peter R.

Abstract

This paper explores the linguistic cues that distinguish conversations about work topics from conversations about non-work topics and how those differences affect conversation partners. Using an exploratory analysis of a field experiment in a large U.S. technology firm, we generate hypotheses that when the conversations topic is work, people use more words associated with achievement, which makes them seem less supportive and attentive to their conversation partners. Subsequently, conversation partners are less interested in future interactions. We then test and largely confirm our hypotheses by analyzing data from a laboratory experiment. This research illuminates one potential reason why some new connections persist while others do not and suggests how people might have interactions that endure beyond a first encounter.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin, Sean R. & Harrison, Spencer H. & Hoopes, Charlotte & Schroeder, Juliana & Belmi, Peter R., 2022. "Talking shop: An exploration of how talking about work affects our initial interactions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:168:y:2022:i:c:s0749597821000923
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.104104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597821000923
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.104104?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kay, Aaron C. & Wheeler, S. Christian & Bargh, John A. & Ross, Lee, 2004. "Material priming: The influence of mundane physical objects on situational construal and competitive behavioral choice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 83-96, September.
    2. Shantz, Amanda & Latham, Gary P., 2009. "An exploratory field experiment of the effect of subconscious and conscious goals on employee performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 9-17, May.
    3. Rauyruen, Papassapa & Miller, Kenneth E., 2007. "Relationship quality as a predictor of B2B customer loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 21-31, January.
    4. Vancouver, Jeffrey B. & Morrison, Elizabeth Wolfe, 1995. "Feedback Inquiry: The Effect of Source Attributes and Individual Differences," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 276-285, June.
    5. repec:oup:jconrs:v:47:y:2021:i:5:p:787-806. is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Kristin Behfar & Gerardo A. Okhuysen, 2018. "Perspective—Discovery Within Validation Logic: Deliberately Surfacing, Complementing, and Substituting Abductive Reasoning in Hypothetico-Deductive Inquiry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 323-340, April.
    7. Lin-Healy, Fern & Small, Deborah A., 2012. "Cheapened altruism: Discounting personally affected prosocial actors," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 269-274.
    8. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    9. Adam M. Kleinbaum & Alexander H. Jordan & Pino G. Audia, 2015. "An Altercentric Perspective on the Origins of Brokerage in Social Networks: How Perceived Empathy Moderates the Self-Monitoring Effect," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1226-1242, August.
    10. Shea, Catherine T. & Fitzsimons, Gráinne M., 2016. "Personal goal pursuit as an antecedent to social network structure," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 45-57.
    11. Dubois, Anna & Gadde, Lars-Erik, 2002. "Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 553-560, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Coreynen, Wim & Vanderstraeten, Johanna & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen & Cannaerts, Nele & Loots, Ellen & Slabbinck, Hendrik, 2020. "What drives product-service integration? An abductive study of decision-makers’ motives and value strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 189-200.
    2. Andrejkow, Joanna & Berger, Leslie & Guo, Lan, 2022. "Conscious and nonconscious goal pursuit in multidimensional tasks," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    3. Relling, Marleen & Schnittka, Oliver & Sattler, Henrik & Johnen, Marius, 2016. "Each can help or hurt: Negative and positive word of mouth in social network brand communities," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 42-58.
    4. Haftor, Darek. M. & Climent Costa, Ricardo, 2023. "Five dimensions of business model innovation: A multi-case exploration of industrial incumbent firm’s business model transformations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Annosi, Maria Carmela & Capo, Francesca & Appio, Francesco Paolo & Bedetti, Ivan, 2023. "Unveiling micro-foundations of digital transformation: Cognitive models, routines, and organizational structures in agri-food SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    6. Hossain, Mokter, 2021. "Frugal innovation and sustainable business models," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Inoue, Yuhei & Funk, Daniel C. & McDonald, Heath, 2017. "Predicting behavioral loyalty through corporate social responsibility: The mediating role of involvement and commitment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 46-56.
    8. Valerie L. Bartelt & Alan R. Dennis & Lingyao Yuan & Jordan B. Barlow, 2013. "Individual Priming in Virtual Team Decision-Making," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 873-896, September.
    9. Wang, Xuehua & Wang, Xiaoyu & Lei, Jing & Chao, Mike Chen-ho, 2021. "The clothes that make you eat healthy: The impact of clothes style on food choice," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 787-799.
    10. Karla Zimpel-Leal & Fiona Lettice, 2021. "Generative Mechanisms for Scientific Knowledge Transfer in the Food Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-23, January.
    11. Donthu, Naveen & Kumar, Satish & Pattnaik, Debidutta, 2020. "Forty-five years of Journal of Business Research: A bibliometric analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1-14.
    12. Darima Fotheringham & Michael A. Wiles, 2023. "The effect of implementing chatbot customer service on stock returns: an event study analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 802-822, July.
    13. S. Arunachalam & Sridhar N. Ramaswami & Pol Herrmann & Doug Walker, 2018. "Innovation pathway to profitability: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 744-766, July.
    14. Bilgihan, Anil & Madanoglu, Melih & Ricci, Peter, 2016. "Service attributes as drivers of behavioral loyalty in casinos: The mediating effect of attitudinal loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 14-21.
    15. Pascal Dey & Chris Steyaert, 2016. "Rethinking the Space of Ethics in Social Entrepreneurship: Power, Subjectivity, and Practices of Freedom," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 627-641, February.
    16. Saarijärvi, Hannu & Mitronen, Lasse & Yrjölä, Mika, 2014. "From selling to supporting – Leveraging mobile services in the context of food retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 26-36.
    17. Kareklas, Ioannis & Muehling, Darrel D. & King, Skyler, 2019. "The effect of color and self-view priming in persuasive communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 33-49.
    18. Ashish Arora & Michelle Gittelman & Sarah Kaplan & John Lynch & Will Mitchell & Nicolaj Siggelkow & Aaron K. Chatterji & Michael Findley & Nathan M. Jensen & Stephan Meier & Daniel Nielson, 2016. "Field experiments in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 116-132, January.
    19. Yi Yong Lee & Chin Lay Gan & Tze Wei Liew, 2023. "Thwarting Instant Messaging Phishing Attacks: The Role of Self-Efficacy and the Mediating Effect of Attitude towards Online Sharing of Personal Information," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-23, February.
    20. FeCheng Ma & Farhan Khan & Kashif Ullah Khan & Si XiangYun, 2021. "Investigating the Impact of Information Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Dynamic Capabilities on Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:168:y:2022:i:c:s0749597821000923. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.