William J. Becker

Organizational Neuroscience: Taking Organizational Theory Inside the Neural Black Box:

This article introduces the reader to organizational neuroscience, an emerging area of scholarly dialogue that explores the implications of brain science for workplace behavior. The authors begin by discussing how going inside the brain adds new levels of analysis that can advance and connect theories of organizational behavior. They then present three concrete examples of what an organizational neuroscience perspective can achieve by extending current theory, providing new research directions, and resolving ongoing theoretical debates. Last, the authors address a number of deeper metatheoretical questions raised by neuroscience, concluding that it brings new insights that will force scholars to rethink their concept of human nature.

Dynamic aspects of voluntary turnover: an integrated approach to curvilinearity in the performance-turnover relationship.

Previous research pertaining to job performance and voluntary turnover has been guided by 2 distinct theoretical perspectives. First, the push-pull model proposes that there is a quadratic or curvilinear relationship existing between these 2 variables. Second, the unfolding model of turnover posits that turnover is a dynamic process and that a downward performance change may increase the likelihood of organizational separation. Drawing on decision theory, we propose and test an integrative framework. This approach incorporates both of these earlier models. Specifically, we argue that individuals are most likely to voluntarily exit when they are below-average performers who are also experiencing a downward performance change. Furthermore, the interaction between this downward change and performance partially accounts for the curvilinear relationship proposed by the push-pull model. Findings from a longitudinal field study supported this integrative theory.

The Promise and Peril of Organizational Neuroscience: Today and Tomorrow

In this short response, we extend Lindebaum’s ethical analysis of organizational neuroscience. We do so in three ways. First, we examine the contemporary technical state of modern neuroscientific tools. Second, we consider the ethical implications of future investigations, including the possibility that neuroscience could enrich and otherwise improve peoples’ lives. Finally, we argue for a more open ethical dialogue—not only one that includes those who might be harmed by neuroscientific interventions but also one that does not neglect those who can be legitimately benefited.

An Overview of Organizational Neuroscience

Abstract This chapter overviews organizational neuroscience (ON), covering the past, present, and future of this growing field of inquiry. First, we define ON and clarify the boundaries of the field. Second, we describe the evolution of ON by starting with early papers that tended to discuss the potential of ON to benefit both research and practice. Throughout its development, debates have abounded about the value of ON. Such debates are often related to challenges in collecting, integrating, interpreting, and using information from the brain-level of analysis. It is time for the field to move beyond these debates to focus on applying neuroscience to further theory development and reveal more comprehensive answers to research questions of importance to both academics and practitioners. Third, we propose and describe future research directions for ON. The research directions that we propose are merely a sample of the many paths along which ON inquiry can move forward. Fourth, we outline potential practical implications of ON, including: training and development, job design, high-performance assessment, motivating communications, and conflict prevention. Finally, we draw conclusions about ON as it stands today, address challenges in developing ON, and point out opportunities. We conclude with takeaways and highlight the importance of ON for both academics and practitioners.

Using Physiological Methods to Study Emotions in Organizations

Abstract The application of physiological methods to the study of psychological phenomena has garnered considerable interest in recent years. These methods have proved especially useful to the study of emotions, since evidence suggests that validly measuring a person’s emotional state using traditional, psychometric methods such as surveys or observation is considerably more difficult than once thought. The present chapter reviews the challenges associated with measuring emotions from a purely psychological perspective, and suggests that the study of emotions in organizations can benefit from the use of physiological measurement to complement traditional assessment methods. We review more established approaches to physiological measurement, including those related to hormone secretion, cardiovascular activity, and skin conductance. We then highlight somewhat more recent attempts to use neurological scanning. A theme of this chapter is that both psychological and physiological measures are relevant to understanding and assessing emotions in organizations. Accordingly, we propose a multi-method approach involving both types of assessment. Finally, we discuss the practical and ethical implications of employing various forms of physiological measurement in the study of emotions, specifically in the context of organizations.

Emotional Labor Within Teams: Outcomes of Individual and Peer Emotional Labor on Perceived Team Support, Extra-Role Behaviors, and Turnover Intentions:

We investigated the relationship of emotional labor to perceived team support, extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions. Our primary research question involved whether the relationships of individual deep acting with perceived team support and extra-role behaviors were conditional on the level of peer deep acting in the team. The possibilities were explored in two field studies. Study 1 sampled 195 students in 47 project teams multiple times over the course of a semester. Study 2 surveyed 202 nurses and their supervisors within 35 teams in a hospital. The multilevel results of both studies showed that the relationships between individual deep acting and outcome variables were dependent upon the level of peer deep acting in the team. As expected, individual and peer surface acting had only direct relationships with the same outcomes. These findings provided general support for our model and suggested that team-level effects are an important theoretical and practical consideration for understanding emotional labor within teams and organizations.

Organizational Justice through the Window of Neuroscience

Abstract This chapter advocates the use of neuroscience theoretical insights and methodological tools to advance existing organizational justice theory, research, and practice. To illustrate the value of neuroscience, two general topics are reviewed. In regard to individual justice, neuroscience makes it clear that organizational justice theory and research needs to integrate both emotion and cognition. Neuroscience also suggests promising avenues for practical individual justice interventions. For other-focused justice, neuroscience clarifies how empathy provides a mechanism for deontic justice while again highlighting the need to consider both emotion and cognition. Neuroscience research into group characterizations also suggests promising explanations for deontic justice failures. We also show how other-focused justice interventions are possible, but more complex, than for self-focused justice. We conclude that interdisciplinary research has great potential to advance both organizational justice and neuroscience research.

How Insights From Neuroeconomics Can Inform Organizational Research: The Case of Prosocial Organizational Behavior

The aim of this paper is to delineate how insights from neuroeconomics research can inform organizational theory and practice. We argue that neuroeconomics stands out from other more general neuroscience approaches by providing a powerful normative lens through which organizational research questions can be analyzed. We use the example of prosocial organizational behavior to demonstrate how neuroeconomics, by combining the normative standards of economic game theory with a cognitive neuroscience approach, can help organizational researchers to better understand the motivational underpinnings of many of the behavioral phenomena they are interested in. A central aspect of our contribution lies in introducing the neuropsychological concept of prepotent response tendencies into organizational research and highlighting its relevance for research on prosocial behavior and decision making.

Crying Is in the Eyes of the Beholder: An Attribution Theory Framework of Crying at Work

This article contributes to research on emotion expression, attributions, and discrete work emotions by developing an observer-focused model to explain the outcomes of crying at work. Our model is focused on crying as a form of emotion expression because crying may be driven by different felt emotions or be used as a means of manipulation. In addition, the model focuses on observers, who must form perceptions of the emotion expression in order to determine an appropriate response. This model is particularly valuable because it addresses the reality that an observer will develop an impression of another person’s emotion and intention, and that this impression may not always align with the reality of the emotion being experienced by the expresser.

The Dark Side of Subjective Value in Sequential Negotiations: The Mediating Role of Pride and Anger.

Scholars who study negotiation increasingly recognize the importance of social context, seeing negotiations not merely as 1-shot interactions but as influenced by what came before. Under this longitudinal conceptualization of negotiation, a number of recent studies demonstrate that social psychological outcomes from prior negotiations are positively related to economic performance in subsequent negotiations when negotiating repeatedly with the same counterpart. In this report, we investigate a counterexample in the context of “sequential negotiations,” which we define as multiple negotiation sessions that occur within a short time frame but facing different counterparts in each session. We theorize, in sequential negotiations, that subjective value from 1 negotiation should be negatively related to objective outcomes in a subsequent negotiation because of spillover effects of incidental anger and pride. We test this model in 2 studies: a multiround lab study with a student sample and a longitudinal field study with employees negotiating as part of their jobs. Results from both studies support the hypothesized negative relationship between subjective value from an initial negotiation and the objective outcome from a subsequent negotiation with a different counterpart. The mediating role of pride is supported partially in Study 1 and fully in Study 2, whereas the mediating role of anger is not supported in either study. We discuss implications for negotiation theory and practice.