IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v144y2018icp25-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When sharing hurts: How and why self-disclosing weakness undermines the task-oriented relationships of higher status disclosers

Author

Listed:
  • Gibson, Kerry Roberts
  • Harari, Dana
  • Marr, Jennifer Carson

Abstract

It is generally believed that self-disclosure has positive effects, particularly for relationships; however, we predict and find negative effects in the context of task-oriented relationships. Across three laboratory experiments, we find that both task-relevant (Study 1) and task-irrelevant (Studies 2 and 3) weakness disclosures, made by a higher (versus peer) status coworker during an interdependent task, negatively affected the receiver’s perception of the discloser’s status and consequently undermined the discloser’s influence, encouraged task conflict, and led to lower relationship quality with the discloser. Peer status disclosers did not trigger these negative responses. We find support for perceived vulnerability as the proposed psychological process (Study 3). Specifically, higher (but not peer) status disclosers experience a status penalty after weakness disclosures because these disclosures signal vulnerability, which violates the expectations people have for higher (but not peer) status coworkers. These findings provide insight into the effects of self-disclosing weakness at work and the ways in which high status employees may inadvertently trigger their own status loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibson, Kerry Roberts & Harari, Dana & Marr, Jennifer Carson, 2018. "When sharing hurts: How and why self-disclosing weakness undermines the task-oriented relationships of higher status disclosers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 25-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:144:y:2018:i:c:p:25-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.09.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597815302521
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.09.001?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. Ariane Ollier-Malaterre & Nancy P. Rothbard & Justin Berg, 2013. "When worlds collide in cyberspace: How boundary work in online social networks impacts professional relationships," Post-Print hal-00785979, HAL.
    2. Singh-Manoux, Archana & Adler, Nancy E. & Marmot, Michael G., 2003. "Subjective social status: its determinants and its association with measures of ill-health in the Whitehall II study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1321-1333, March.
    3. Tracy L. Dumas & Katherine W. Phillips & Nancy P. Rothbard, 2013. "Getting Closer at the Company Party: Integration Experiences, Racial Dissimilarity, and Workplace Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1377-1401, October.
    4. Eric Luis Uhlmann, 2013. "Acting professional: An exploration of culturally bounded norms against nonwork role referencing," Post-Print hal-00863398, HAL.
    5. Moon, Youngme, 2000. "Intimate Exchanges: Using Computers to Elicit Self-Disclosure from Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(4), pages 323-339, March.
    6. Tsedal B. Neeley, 2013. "Language Matters: Status Loss and Achieved Status Distinctions in Global Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 476-497, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sun, Katherine Qianwen & Slepian, Michael L., 2020. "The conversations we seek to avoid," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 87-105.
    2. Qiu, Judy & Kesebir, Selin & Günaydin, Gül & Selçuk, Emre & Wasti, S. Arzu, 2022. "Gender differences in interpersonal trust: Disclosure behavior, benevolence sensitivity and workplace implications," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).

    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. Alyson Byrne & Julian Barling, 2017. "When She Brings Home the Job Status: Wives’ Job Status, Status Leakage, and Marital Instability," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 177-192, April.
    2. Vanessa Conzon & Ruthanne Huising, 2024. "Devoted but Disconnected : Managing Role Conflict Through Interactional Control," Post-Print hal-04553331, HAL.
    3. Eric M. Anicich & Nathanael J. Fast & Nir Halevy & Adam D. Galinsky, 2016. "When the Bases of Social Hierarchy Collide: Power Without Status Drives Interpersonal Conflict," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 123-140, February.
    4. Erin Reid, 2015. "Embracing, Passing, Revealing, and the Ideal Worker Image: How People Navigate Expected and Experienced Professional Identities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 997-1017, August.
    5. Landefeld, John C. & Burmaster, Katharine B. & Rehkopf, David H. & Syme, S. Leonard & Lahiff, Maureen & Adler-Milstein, Sarah & Fernald, Lia C.H., 2014. "The association between a living wage and subjective social status and self-rated health: A quasi-experimental study in the Dominican Republic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 91-97.
    6. Eunkyung Lee & Yeosun Yoon, 2022. "Heading Up or Stuck Down Here? The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility on Subjective Social Status and Brand Identification," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    7. Peltokorpi, Vesa, 2015. "Corporate Language Proficiency and Reverse Knowledge Transfer in Multinational Corporations: Interactive Effects of Communication Media Richness and Commitment to Headquarters," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 49-62.
    8. Liu, Guoqing & Yang, Yiying & Wang, Yangqian & Zhao, Shouying & Cheng, Gang, 2023. "The trajectory of subjective social status and its influencing factors in the transition period of freshmen in senior high school," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    9. Sara Moussawi & Marios Koufaris & Raquel Benbunan-Fich, 2021. "How perceptions of intelligence and anthropomorphism affect adoption of personal intelligent agents," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(2), pages 343-364, June.
    10. Miranda L. Ritterman & S. Leonard Syme, 2009. "The importance of community development for health and well-being," Community Development Innovation Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue 3, pages 001-013.
    11. Yi Sun & Shihui Li & Lingling Yu, 2022. "The dark sides of AI personal assistant: effects of service failure on user continuance intention," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(1), pages 17-39, March.
    12. Jerneja Farkas & Majda Pahor & Lijana Zaletel-Kragelj, 2011. "Self-rated health in different social classes of Slovenian adult population: nationwide cross-sectional study," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(1), pages 45-54, February.
    13. Park, Gain & Park, YounJung & Lee, Seyoung, 2024. "Compliance-gaining in metaverse: A moderated parallel mediation model testing the interaction between legitimization of paltry favors technique and victim identification," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    14. Noor Hasmini Binti Abd Ghani & Mohammad Kashedul Wahab Tuhin, 2016. "Consumer Brand Relationships," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 6(4), pages 950-957.
    15. Macleod, John & Davey Smith, George & Metcalfe, Chris & Hart, Carole, 2005. "Is subjective social status a more important determinant of health than objective social status? Evidence from a prospective observational study of Scottish men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1916-1929, November.
    16. Maja Adena & Michal Myck, 2013. "Poverty and Transitions in Health," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1319, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Zeng, Fue & Ye, Qing & Li, Jing & Yang, Zhilin, 2021. "Does self-disclosure matter? A dynamic two-stage perspective for the personalization-privacy paradox," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 667-675.
    18. Martin Korndörfer & Boris Egloff & Stefan C. Schmukle, 2015. "A Large Scale Test of the Effect of Social Class on Prosocial Behavior," Working Papers 1601, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    19. Jason R. D. Rarick & Carly Tubbs Dolan & Wen‐Jui Han & Jun Wen, 2018. "Relations Between Socioeconomic Status, Subjective Social Status, and Health in Shanghai, China," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(1), pages 390-405, March.
    20. Ilias‐Ioannis Kyriopoulos & Dimitris Zavras & Antonis Charonis & Kostas Athanasakis & Elpida Pavi & John Kyriopoulos, 2016. "Indebtedness, Socioeconomic Status, and Self‐Rated Health: Empirical Evidence From Greece," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), pages 387-397, December.

    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:144:y:2018:i:c:p:25-43. 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.