Social stress, performance after-effects and extra-role behaviour.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Social stress, including negative feedback and ostracism, can significantly affect individuals in the workplace.
• Understanding the multifaceted after-effects of social stress is crucial for employee well-being and organizational productivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the diverse after-effects of social stress on work performance, extra-role behavior, and subjective operator state.
• To differentiate between immediate performance impacts and subsequent after-effects of social stress.

Main Methods:

• A laboratory experiment involving seventy participants divided into stress and no-stress conditions.
• Participants in the stress condition received false negative feedback and experienced social exclusion.
• Tasks included attention, divergent creativity, and assessments of extra-role behavior and subjective state.

Main Results:

• Social stress led to increased negative affect and decreased self-esteem.
• After-effects of social stress were observed in spontaneous extra-role behaviors and attention accuracy.
• The study confirmed participants experienced the intended social stress manipulation.

Conclusions:

• The findings underscore the importance of evaluating various after-effects of social stress, not just immediate performance.
• Social stress can diminish helpful behaviors and negatively impact an individual's emotional and self-perceptual state.
• Organizations should consider the broader consequences of social stress on employees.