OS Seminar

Fadel Matta, Terry College of Business - University of Georgia

Climbing Out of the Social Class Hole: How the Challenge of Upward Mobility Relates to Pride and Job Satisfaction

Upwardly mobile individuals (i.e., those achieving higher current social class while coming from lower social class origins) navigate starkly different social worlds, developing several strengths that can benefit organizations. Yet when attention shifts from what upward transitioners can contribute to what they experience in making the journey, existing research paints a largely bleak picture. They are often underrewarded, feel isolated, and experience adverse emotions like anxiety and guilt. Although pursuing upward mobility presents several challenges that are psychologically straining and emotionally draining, we argue that overcoming these barriers may simultaneously offer a bright side, fostering positive emotions and attitudes unavailable to those lacking such contrasting life experiences. Drawing on social comparison theory and research on temporal comparisons, we theorize that overcoming the barriers of lower social class origins offers a temporal vantage point from which upward transitioners can uniquely cherish their elevated standing, experiencing higher pride and subsequently more favorable job appraisals. Results from three archival studies and a preregistered in-person experiment support this theory: upward social class mobility is positively related to (and, as corollaries, current social class is positively related to, whereas social class background is negatively related to) pride and ultimately job satisfaction. While existing scholarship documents psychological and emotional costs of upward mobility, we reveal an affective and attitudinal silver lining that emerges precisely from overcoming barriers to mobility.

Astrid Homan, University of Amsterdam

A Multi-Angle View on Leadership

By Astrid C. Homan and a variety of co-authors

Leadership is inherently socially constructed – whether or not individuals rise the hierarchical ladder and how they are perceived once there determines their own and others’ perceptions of their leadership potential, effectiveness, and behaviors. Given the importance of leaders for organizational functioning, understanding who rises to these positions, how those in power are perceived, and how they can be effective is crucial. Within this talk, I will look at leadership in three different ways and discuss some exemplar studies illustrating these different perspectives. First, I will focus on implicit leadership theories (i.e., unconscious cognitive schemas of what a leader looks like), which shape who becomes or wants to become a leader and who does not. Here, I will focus mainly on the role of chronotype – the biological rhythms regulating sleep-wake preferences – in shaping leadership emergence (Abbaszadeh, Gündemir, Cook, Adams, & Homan, working paper). Understanding how implicit beliefs about leadership shape who rises in the hierarchy and who does not can aid better and more fair leadership development. Second, given the perks that come with leadership, one might intuit that those higher up the hierarchy are less likely to invite suspicion when an ambiguous transgression took place. However, we show that the powerful are more likely to be seen as the transgressor due to others thinking that they experience impunity (Van Kleef, Gündemir, Dunham, Quoidbach, & Homan, in press). Conversely, in competitive settings, those who are more likely to bend the rules are also more likely to rise to higher positions due to others labeling them as more prestigious and dominant (Homan, Wanders, Van Vianen, & Van Kleef, 2024). Understanding the reciprocal links between transgressions and leadership is relevant given the importance of norms and rules for effective coordination and order (Van Kleef, Homan, Stamkou, Karinen, & Gelfand, 2026). Finally, effective leadership requires understanding that a “one size fits all” approach does not exist. I will explain the importance for leaders of showing behavioral flexibility and being both re-active and pro-active in managing teams (Homan, Gündemir, Buengeler, & Van Kleef, 2020; in press). Together, these complementary projects show the breadth of leadership research, ranging from understanding who claims and is granted leadership (i.e., leadership emergence) to how others perceive those in power (i.e., leadership perceptions) to how one can be effective when reaching a position of power (i.e., leadership effectiveness).

Lindy Greer, Ross School of Business - University of Michigan

Details forthcoming.

Klodiana Lanaj, Warrington College of Business - University of Florida

All We Need is Love: Felt Love and Its Implications for Leader Identity and Resilience at Work

Holding a leader identity — viewing oneself as a leader — is critical for leadership effectiveness and development. Yet research on its antecedents has focused almost exclusively on work-related experiences such as feedback, training, and coaching, even though leader identity fluctuates substantially from day to day, suggesting non-work experiences may matter too. Drawing from communication research and self-affirmation theory, we propose that intimate non-work exchanges, such as affectionate communication with one’s romantic partner, are likely to matter for leader identity. Claiming a leader identity at work is inherently risky and evaluative, but affectionate communication with one’s partner acts as a source of self-affirmation by fostering feelings of love that may strengthen leader identity at work. Consistent with self-affirmation theory, these effects may be more pronounced in threatening contexts, but weaker for those with tendencies to discount non-performance related information. We find general support for our expectations across several studies. Affectionate communication strengthened leader identity via felt love. These effects were more pronounced for leaders in high-pressure jobs but weaker for those high in impostor thoughts. Strengthened leader identity, in turn, helped leaders be bolder and more resilient at work.

Katie Badura, Scheller College of Business - Georgia Tech

Stepping on My Toes? A Role Theory Perspective on How Leaders Perceive Follower Leadership Claiming

When followers take on leadership roles and assert a leader identity—known as leadership claiming—they may emerge as informal leaders, easing the burden on formal leaders. However, formal leaders may often struggle to actively allow their followers’ leader-like behaviors and to bestow a leader identity on them—referred to as leadership granting. In parallel with such unseized benefits, the literature on leadership claiming and granting has yet to fully explore the behaviors and perceptions involved in this interplay between followers and leaders. To better understand this phenomenon, we draw on role theory and examine the claiming–granting process as the enactment of leader–follower roles. Through this lens, we posit that while followers’ leadership claiming is likely to trigger perceptions of overstepping—thereby impairing leader performance—these negative reactions can be mitigated when formal leaders actively grant leadership in conjunction, highlighting the value of formal leaders’ granting of leadership to their followers. We test and find support for our theory across a preregistered experiment and an experience sampling study.