Flattering your boss can actually be bad for you: Study
If you love to indulge in flattery or kissing up to your boss, think twice. While it may boost your career, it can also drain self control resources, thus making you more susceptible to bad behavior at the workplace, a study has found.
Ingratiation, or kissing up, which generally includes flattery, conforming with the supervisor’s opinion and doing favors, is just one of the many behaviors employees use to create and maintain their desired image in the workplace. However, “there’s a personal cost to ingratiating yourself with your boss,” said lead author Anthony Klotz, Associate Professor at the Oregon State University (OSU) in the US.
“When your energy is depleted, it may nudge you into slack-off territory,” he added.
The findings, appearing in the journal of Applied Psychology, showed that the extent to which employees engaged in ingratiation varied widely from day to day and the more they engaged in kissing up, the more their self-control resources got depleted.
“It makes sense that ingratiation is depleting, because successfully kissing up requires the appearance of sincerity and that requires self-control,” Klotz said.
Those who flattered the boss appeared to have a false sense of security and were more likely to lack self-discipline. As a result, they were uncivil to co-workers who were not as high up on the management chain as they were, skipped meetings and surfed the internet rather than working.
But, those with high levels of political skill were less prone to engage in deviance after performing impression management, signaling that it can act as a buffer against the depleting effects of ingratiation. “Leaders can respond to their employees’ ingratiation efforts in ways that are resource depleting or in ways that are more resource giving,” Houston noted. “Positive reinforcement is resource giving, and it’s free.”
The results were based on nearly 100 professionals in China who were examined using two supervisor-focused impression management tactics — ingratiation and self promotion — for over two work weeks. Participants were asked to complete a daily dairy about their workplace experiences and also took a survey measuring their ‘political skill’.
This refers to a set of social abilities that helps them effectively understand others at work, influence others in ways that enhance their own objectives, and navigate social situations.
Ingratiation, or kissing up, which generally includes flattery, conforming with the supervisor’s opinion and doing favors, is just one of the many behaviors employees use to create and maintain their desired image in the workplace. However, “there’s a personal cost to ingratiating yourself with your boss,” said lead author Anthony Klotz, Associate Professor at the Oregon State University (OSU) in the US.
“When your energy is depleted, it may nudge you into slack-off territory,” he added.
The findings, appearing in the journal of Applied Psychology, showed that the extent to which employees engaged in ingratiation varied widely from day to day and the more they engaged in kissing up, the more their self-control resources got depleted.
“It makes sense that ingratiation is depleting, because successfully kissing up requires the appearance of sincerity and that requires self-control,” Klotz said.
Those who flattered the boss appeared to have a false sense of security and were more likely to lack self-discipline. As a result, they were uncivil to co-workers who were not as high up on the management chain as they were, skipped meetings and surfed the internet rather than working.
But, those with high levels of political skill were less prone to engage in deviance after performing impression management, signaling that it can act as a buffer against the depleting effects of ingratiation. “Leaders can respond to their employees’ ingratiation efforts in ways that are resource depleting or in ways that are more resource giving,” Houston noted. “Positive reinforcement is resource giving, and it’s free.”
The results were based on nearly 100 professionals in China who were examined using two supervisor-focused impression management tactics — ingratiation and self promotion — for over two work weeks. Participants were asked to complete a daily dairy about their workplace experiences and also took a survey measuring their ‘political skill’.
This refers to a set of social abilities that helps them effectively understand others at work, influence others in ways that enhance their own objectives, and navigate social situations.
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