(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-04-17)
Speach, Mary Eve Patrice
Although advice in the workplace is associated with positive outcomes, employees tend not to seek out advice from coworkers. As such, organizations may be tempted to encourage unsolicited advice between employees to maximize benefits. However, little is understood regarding its detrimental effects for particular groups of employees. Therefore, I leverage the literature on advice and model of stigma-induced identity threat to assert that those with disabilities, due to their unique backgrounds, are more likely to perceive unsolicited advice as an identity threat. This dissertation posits that this heightened perception, also known as an identity threat appraisal, will influence levels of paranoid cognition and decrease daily work engagement. Furthermore, given that not all advice is equal I propose that the nature of the unsolicited advice offered (message and context) may operate as features of advice, impacting paranoid cognition levels. Results of Study 1 indicate that recipients of unsolicited advice experience greater levels of paranoid cognition than those in the control condition. Study 2 explores the features of unsolicited advice through a vignette experimental design. Findings illustrate that paranoid cognition varies as a function of context but not message. Using an ESM approach, Study 3 replicates the main effect findings of the previous studies and links paranoid cognition to daily work engagement. Finally, for the moderating effects those with a disability who received public unsolicited advice reported higher levels of paranoid cognition than those without a disability in the third study. Theoretical and practical implications of this model are discussed.