Economic booms exacerbate fundamental attribution error in work evaluations

Publication Type

Conference Proceeding Article

Publication Date

8-2016

Abstract

This research tested the idea that economic booms make people more likely to underappreciate contextual influences in work outcomes due to a higher generalized sense of the extent to which individuals have control over outcomes during times of prosperity. In Study 1, we tested this theory using data from 64,236 respondents surveyed across 52 countries and 17 years and data about objective indicators of their macroeconomic environments. We found that in times marked by lower unemployment rates, people's sense of control is higher, and they are less likely to believe contextual influences matter for work outcomes. In Study 2, we constructively replicated the effect by manipulating the perception of the economicenvironment among people employed in organizations, and we explored consequences for promotion and demotion decisions. Study 3 was an unobtrusive field experiment in which freelancers from 47 countries evaluated ostensibly real workand made promotion recommendation, replicating the findings. The consideration of the economic context of organizational decision making bridges the macro-micro divide in organizational sciences to provide a novel explanation of when and why people make a widespread mistake of underappreciating the role of contextual influences in work evaluations.

Discipline

Growth and Development | Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Academy of Management Proceedings: AOM 2016, Anaheim, CA, August 5-9

Identifier

10.5465/AMBPP.2016.11125abstract

Publisher

Academy of Management

City or Country

San Diego

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2016.11125abstract

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