Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2026

Abstract

Status is a fundamental feature of organizational life that shapes how individuals think, behave, and are evaluated. This dissertation examines the psychological and behavioral consequences of high status within and beyond teams. Across seven studies, I investigate how status shapes employees’ prosocial versus potentially harmful interpersonal behaviors within work groups and how it influences their engagement in organization-level activities beyond the boundaries of the immediate team. The first part of the dissertation examines the consequences of status within teams. Drawing on the contextual value perspective of status, I examine how group status conflict shapes the relationship between status and different types of workplace gossip. I find that when status conflict is high, high-status individuals are more likely to engage in negative competence-related gossip, partly because they become more concerned with protecting their standing. In contrast, when status conflict is low, high-status individuals are more likely to engage in positive warmth-related gossip. The second part of the dissertation examines whether status influences employees’ engagement in broader organizational activities. Integrating status research with self-determination theory, I examine how status shapes employees’ effort toward corporate social initiatives (CSI). I find that highstatus employees devote greater effort to corporate social initiatives because status enhances both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I further show that the career consequences of CSI effort depend on supervisors’ motivation attributions: CSI effort is evaluated more favorably when attributed to intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. Together, these findings show that status has broad consequences for employee behavior within and beyond teams. Within teams, status shapes how individuals manage interpersonal relationships and protect their standing. Beyond teams, status shapes how employees allocate effort toward broader organizational initiatives and how such effort is evaluated by others.

Degree Awarded

PhD in Business (OBHR)

Discipline

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Supervisor(s)

TAI, Tze Suen Kenneth

First Page

1

Last Page

137

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

Download

Available for download on Friday, October 22, 2027

Share

COinS