Turning molehills into mountains: Sleepiness increases workplace interpretive bias
基于进化理论的三项研究发现，困倦会放大员工对模糊社交情境的负面解读，尤其在存在威胁的工作环境中，这种解释偏差可能影响员工健康与反生产行为。
Summary Three studies draw from evolutionary theory to assess whether sleepiness increases interpretive biases in workplace social judgments. Study 1 established a relationship between sleepiness and interpretive bias using ambiguous interpersonal scenarios from a measure commonly used in personnel selection ( N = 148). Study 2 explored the boundary conditions of the sleepiness–interpretive bias link via an experimental online field survey of U.S. adults ( N = 433). Sleepiness increased interpretive bias when social threats were clearly present (unfair workplace) but did not affect bias in the absence of threat (fair workplace). Study 3 replicated and extended findings from the previous two studies using objective measures of sleep loss and a quasi‐experimental manipulation of minor sleep loss ( N = 175). Negative affect, ego depletion, or personality variables did not influence the observed relationships. Overall, results suggest that a self‐protection/evolutionary perspective best explains the effects of sleepiness on workplace interpretive biases. These studies advance the current research on sleep in organizations by adding a cognitive “threat interpretation” bias approach to past work examining the emotional reaction/behavioral side of sleep disruption. Interpretive biases due to sleepiness may have significant implications for employee health and counterproductive behavior. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.