Salt in the Wound: A Social Comparison Perspective on Witnessing Coworkers’ Gratitude Expression Toward Supervisors
研究员工目睹同事向主管表达感激时，低领导-成员交换社会比较（LMXSC）的员工会因嫉妒而损害该同事，基于社会比较理论和情绪的社会功能视角。
When employees express gratitude to their supervisors, it may convey important social information to coworkers who witness the expression, shaping their reactions toward the gratitude expresser. Yet, third-party reactions to employees’ gratitude expressions remain undertheorized, despite organizations’ heightened focus on promoting such expressions through various organizational programs and initiatives (e.g., appreciation programs). Drawing on social comparison theory and social functional accounts of emotions, we argue that witnessing a coworker’s gratitude expression toward a mutual supervisor reflects a source of upward social comparison information for employees who perceive a lower quality relationship with the supervisor (i.e., those with lower levels of leader-member-exchange social comparison, or LMXSC). We propose that lower LMXSC employees are likely to experience greater feelings of envy toward the gratitude expresser and, in turn, undermine them at work. The results of an experiment and a critical incident study support these predictions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our investigation, as well as avenues for future research on workplace gratitude.