Jolted: How Task-Based Jolts Disrupt Status Conferral by Impacting Higher and Lower Status Individuals' Generosity

Despite growing evidence that the status conferred to individuals in organizations can change, few theoretical accounts explain when and how established patterns of status conferral are disrupted. We develop a theory of "task-based jolts"-organizational-level events that alter group tasks and goals in a way that requires employees to adjust the way they work-as a significant catalyst to disrupt status conferral in an existing hierarchy. We employed a multimethod design across two empirical studies (Study 1-quasifield experiment; Study 2-yoked experiment) and found that jolts are appraised differently by higher and lower status individuals, and as such, the jolt has contrasting implications for their generosity toward their coworkers and ultimately the status conferred to them. When employees' initial status is higher, they appraise a task-based jolt as self-threatening, undermining their concern for others and their generosity, which ultimately causes them to lose status in the immediate aftermath of the jolt. Conversely, when employees' initial status is lower, they appraise a task-based jolt as more of an opportunity, increasing their belief that they can contribute and their generosity, which ultimately causes them to gain status in the immediate aftermath of the jolt. Our findings offer valuable insights into how and why organizational-level change can indirectly influence microlevel interpersonal behaviors (generosity) that, in turn, affect status hierarchies within the organization.