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Motivated employee blindness: The impact of labor market instability on judgment of organizational inefficiencies

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  • Proudfoot, Devon
  • Kay, Aaron C.
  • Mann, Heather

Abstract

While employees might be expected to be especially vigilant to problems within their organization during times of economic instability, we build on motivational perspectives put forth by System Justification Theory to propose the opposite effect, namely that economic instability enhances employees’ tendency to defensively ignore and diminish organizational problems. We experimentally manipulated perceptions of labor market trends and asked participants to report on problems within their own actual organization. As predicted, an ostensibly weak external labor market led employees to perceive their organization as less inefficient (Study 1), identify fewer organizational efficiency problems (Study 2), downplay the impact of organizational inefficiencies (Study 3), and generate a greater ratio of pros to cons regarding how their organization is run (Study 4), compared to employees exposed to relatively favorable labor market information. Results suggest an enhanced motivation to deny the existence of organizational flaws when employment alternatives are perceived to be scarce.

Suggested Citation

  • Proudfoot, Devon & Kay, Aaron C. & Mann, Heather, 2015. "Motivated employee blindness: The impact of labor market instability on judgment of organizational inefficiencies," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 108-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:108-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.06.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kay, Aaron C. & Jost, John T., 2003. "Complementary Justice: Effects of "Poor But Happy" and "Poor But Honest" Stereotype Exemplars on System Justification and Implicit Activation of the Justice Motive," Research Papers 1753r, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    2. Amy C. Edmondson, 2003. "Speaking Up in the Operating Room: How Team Leaders Promote Learning in Interdisciplinary Action Teams," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(6), pages 1419-1452, September.
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    4. Jost, John T. & Hunyady, Orsolya, 2002. "The Psychology of System Justification and the Palliative Function of Ideology," Research Papers 1754, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yufei Zhong & Huisi (Jessica) Li, 2024. "Do Lower-Power Individuals Really Compete Less? An Investigation of Covert Competition," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 741-768, March.
    2. Metin Camgoz, Selin & Bayhan Karapinar, Pinar & Tayfur Ekmekci, Ozge & Metin Orta, Irem & Ozbilgin, Mustafa F., 2024. "Why do some followers remain silent in response to abusive supervision? A system justification perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 872-882.

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