RT Article
T1 Satisfying Individual Desires or Moral Standards? Preferential Treatment and Group Members’ Self-Worth, Affect, and Behavior
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 113
IS 1
SP 133
OP 145
A1 Thau, Stefan
A1 Tröster, Christian
A1 Aquino, Karl
A1 Pillutla, Madan
A1 De Cremer, David
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2013
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/178564694X
AB We investigate how social comparison processes in leader treatment quality impact group members’ self-worth, affect, and behavior. Evidences from the field and the laboratory suggest that employees who are treated kinder and more considerate than their fellow group members experience more self-worth and positive affect. Moreover, the greater positive self-implications of preferentially treated group members motivate them more strongly to comply with norms and to engage in tasks that benefit the group. These findings suggest that leaders face an ethical trade-off between satisfying the moral standard of treating everybody equally well and satisfying individual group members’ desire to be treated better than others.
K1 Affect
K1 Status
K1 Social comparison
K1 Norm compliance
K1 Leadership
K1 Group value model
DO 10.1007/s10551-012-1287-5