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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations
Empathy Gaps Between Helpers And Help-Seekers: Implications For Cooperation, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Empathy Gaps Between Helpers And Help-Seekers: Implications For Cooperation, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Vanessa K. Bohns
Help-seekers and potential helpers often experience an “empathy gap” – an inability to understand each other’s unique perspectives. Both parties are concerned about their reputation, self-esteem, and relationships, but these concerns differ in ways that lead to misinterpretation of the other party’s actions, and, in turn, missed opportunities for cooperation. In this article, we review research that describes the role-specific concerns of helpers and help-seekers. We then review studies of emotional perspective-taking, which can help explain why help-seekers and helpers often experience empathy gaps. We go on to discuss recent work that illustrates the consequences of empathy gaps between helpers …
Guilt By Design: Structuring Organizations To Elicit Guilt As An Affective Reaction To Failure, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis K. Flynn
Guilt By Design: Structuring Organizations To Elicit Guilt As An Affective Reaction To Failure, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis K. Flynn
Vanessa K. Bohns
In this article, we outline a model of how organizations can effectively shape employees’ affective reactions to failure. We do not suggest that organizations eliminate the experience of negative affect following performance failures—instead, we propose that they encourage a more constructive form of negative affect (guilt) instead of a destructive one (shame). We argue that guilt responses prompt employees to take corrective action in response to mistakes, while shame responses are likely to elicit more detrimental effects of negative affect. Further, we suggest that organizations can play a role in influencing employees’ discrete emotional reactions to the benefit of both …