Publications
Publications
- May 2020
- Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
To Be or Not to Be Your Authentic Self? Catering to Others' Expectations and Interests Hinders Performance
By: Francesca Gino, Ovul Sezer and Laura Huang
Abstract
When approaching interpersonal first meetings (e.g., job interviews), people often cater to the target’s interests and expectations to make a good impression and secure a positive outcome such as being offered the job (pilot study). This strategy is distinct from other approaches identified in prior impression management research (Studies 1A, 1B and 1C), and does not produce the benefits people expect. In a field study in which entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to potential investors (Study 2), catering harmed investors’ evaluations, while being authentic improved them. People experience greater anxiety and instrumentality when they cater to another person’s preferences than when they behave authentically (Studies 3A and 3B). Compared to behaving authentically or to a control condition, catering harms performance because trying to anticipate and fulfill others’ preferences feels instrumental and increases anxiety (Studies 4 and 5). Taken together, these results suggest that although people believe using catering in interpersonal first meetings will lead to successful outcomes, the opposite is true: catering creates undesirable feelings of instrumentality for the caterer, increases anxiety, and ultimately hinders performance.
Keywords
Authenticity; Catering; Honesty; Selection; Impression Management; Interpersonal Communication; Behavior; Performance
Citation
Gino, Francesca, Ovul Sezer, and Laura Huang. "To Be or Not to Be Your Authentic Self? Catering to Others' Expectations and Interests Hinders Performance." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 158 (May 2020): 83–100.
About The Authors
