Jolted: How task-based jolts disrupt status conferral by impacting higher and lower status individuals' generosity

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Social Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Established organizational hierarchies are often assumed to be stable.
• Few theories explain how status conferral patterns are disrupted.
• Organizational-level events can significantly impact individual status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and test a theory of "task-based jolts" as a catalyst for disrupting status conferral.
• To investigate how task-based jolts affect higher and lower status individuals differently.
• To understand the role of generosity in status changes following organizational events.

Main Methods:

• A multimethod design was employed across two empirical studies.
• Study 1 utilized a quasi-field experiment.
• Study 2 employed a yoked experiment design.

Main Results:

• Task-based jolts are appraised differently by individuals based on their initial status.
• Higher-status individuals perceived jolts as self-threatening, reducing generosity and leading to status loss.
• Lower-status individuals viewed jolts as opportunities, increasing generosity and leading to status gain.

Conclusions:

• Task-based jolts can significantly disrupt established status hierarchies.
• Individual appraisal of organizational change mediates the impact on generosity and subsequent status.
• Organizational change indirectly influences microlevel behaviors, reshaping status dynamics.