The Formation and Perception of Authenticity and its Organizational Outcomes

Given the benefits of authenticity for individuals and their organizations, the goal of this symposium is to explore how authenticity is constructed, maintained, and perceived in organizations. In addition, we examine the consequences and outcomes associated with authenticity for organizations, individuals, and leaders. In our first presentation, we consider how individuals experience authenticity within their organizations. Specifically, Horton and colleagues examine the psychological outcomes of a physical decision that we make each day—what to wear. They examine the relationship between authenticity and power as predictors of the important organizational outcome of workplace engagement. Across two multi-day experiments, participants generally reported feeling more authentic when they wore casual attire, relative to professional attire or a mixed strategy. In addition, this casual attire prompted greater workplace engagement. Thus, this paper examines how attire can impact psychological outcomes, and the unique ways attire impacts power and authenticity. In the following two presentations, we consider the relationship between physical expressions, specifically facial expressions, and authenticity. First, Liu finds that emotion expression variability in leaders is an important predictor of perceived authenticity. Specifically, in six studies she describes the benefits of emotion expression variability in leadership using naturalistic and experimental settings. Greater emotion expression variability is associated with greater authenticity judgments which increased leadership effectiveness. Second, Rees considers how sensitivity to being judged impacts the judgment of others’ authentic or inauthentic expressions. In two studies, she finds that when perceivers believe that being respected by others is important, i.e., they are socially sensitive, they are more likely to be influenced by the perceptions of another person’s authenticity. First, she finds that those higher on sensitivity indicate that they pay more attention to interpersonal cues than those less sensitive. They also judge hypothetical coworkers smiling (in)authentically as more(less) authentic, warm, competent, and like a good coworker. She also finds that priming judgers to expect (in)authentic expressions influences judgments even when the actual expression does not differ. In the final two presentations, we turn towards expressions of authenticity. First, Bailey and colleagues explore how social judgments about authenticity can stem from, and prompt greater social status. They investigate how being perceived as authentic results in greater respect and admiration. They find that the reverse is also true, such that individuals of higher status are assumed to be more authentic. These findings speak to the reciprocal relationship between perceptions of authenticity and societal value associated with competence and expertise. In the final presentation of the session, Van Zant explores how inauthenticity via self-promotion underlies the pervasive organizational issue of overconfidence. In three studies, he finds that the prevalence of overconfident advice is not due to a failure to hold advisors accountable for their overconfidence. Rather, actors engage in strategic self-promotion when they deliberately attempt to project competence to an audience. Following the presentations, the discussant, Dana Carney, will discuss what makes authenticity distinct from related concepts such as deception, and the implications of authenticity for theory and practice. Taken together, these presentations consider the antecedents and formation of authenticity within an organization through physical expressions of attire and emotions. This set of papers also considers the important outcomes associated with authenticity, examining work engagement, leadership effectiveness, respect, and admiration. The Impact of Attire on Remote Worker Authenticity, Power, and Engagement Presenter: Erica Bailey; Columbia Business School Presenter: Carl Blaine Horton; Columbia U. Presenter: Adam Galinsky; Columbia U. Does Emotion Expression Variability Help or Hinder Leaders? Presenter: Zaijia Liu; Columbia U. How Sensitivity to Being Judged Shapes Judgments of Others’ (In)Authentic Expression Presenter: Laura Rees; Oregon State U. The Reciprocal Relationship Between Social Status and Perceived Authenticity Presenter: Erica Bailey; Columbia Business School Presenter: Isaac Raymundo; Columbia Business School Presenter: Sheena S. Iyengar; Columbia U. Strategically Overconfident (to a Fault): How Self-Promotion Motivates Advisor Confidence Presenter: Alex Bryant Van Zant; Rutgers Business School