Workplace Capitalization: The Consequences of Sharing Good News at Work

Abstract

Capitalization—the process of sharing a personal positive event with others—provides disclosers with many advantages such as increased self-esteem, relationship quality, and relationship trust. However, because theory on capitalization has been narrowly developed within the context of close relationship partners, it is unclear whether these benefits generalize when disclosing positive events at work. In this paper I investigate capitalization in the workplace, defined as the process of sharing personal work-related positive events with coworkers. Drawing from social comparison theory, I posit that competition influences whether workplace capitalization will result in positive versus negative reactions. Whereas workplace capitalization leads to admiration and interpersonal citizenship behavior when competition is low, under competitive conditions workplace capitalization generates envy and social undermining. Overall, my model expands the potential consequences of capitalization to the responder and postulates competition as a key determinative boundary condition.