The Elephant and Donkey in the Room: Time-Varying Effects of Political Dissimilarity on Social Interactions at Work During U.S. Elections

References

• Altmann T, Roth M (2023) Testing the social mindfulness paradigm: Longitudinal evidence of its unidimensionality, reliability, validity, and replicability in a sample of health care providers. Plos One 18(2):e0281738.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Ashforth BE, Johnson SA (2001) Which hat to wear? The relative salience of multiple identities in organizational contexts. Hogg MA, Terry DJ, eds. Social Identity Processes in Organizational Contexts (Psychology Press, New York), 31–48.Google Scholar
• Baer MD, Rodell JB, Dhensa-Kahlon RK, Colquitt JA, Zipay KP, Burgess R, Outlaw R (2018) Pacification or aggravation? The effects of talking about supervisor unfairness. Acad. Management J. 61(5):1764–1788.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Baumeister RF, Bratslavsky E, Finkenauer C, Vohs KD (2001) Bad is stronger than good. Rev. General Psych. 5(4):323–370.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Baumgaertner B, Carlisle JE, Justwan F (2018) The influence of political ideology and trust on willingness to vaccinate. PLoS One 13(1):e0191728.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Bezrukova K, Spell CS, Perry JL, Jehn KA (2016) A meta-analytical integration of over 40 years of research on diversity training evaluation. Psych. Bull. 142(11):1227–1274.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Bliese PD, Lang JWB (2016) Understanding relative and absolute change in discontinuous growth models: Coding alternatives and implications for hypothesis testing. Organ. Res. Methods 19(4):562–592.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Bølstad J, Dinas E, Riera P (2013) Tactical voting and party preferences: A test of cognitive dissonance theory. Political Behav. 35(1):429–452.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Brown KW, Berry DR, Quaglia JT (2016) The hypo-egoic expression of mindfulness in social life. Brown KW, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Hypo-Egoic Phenomena, Oxford Library of Psychology Series (Oxford University Press Incorporated, Oxford, UK), 147–159.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Carney DR, Jost JT, Gosling SD, Potter J (2008) The secret lives of liberals and conservatives: Personality profiles, interaction styles, and the things they leave behind. Political Psych. 29(6):807–840.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Carton AM, Cummings JN (2012) A theory of subgroups in work teams. Acad. Management Rev. 37(3):441–470.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chattopadhyay P (1999) Beyond direct and symmetrical effects: The influence of demographic dissimilarity on organizational citizenship behavior. Acad. Management J. 42(3):273–287.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chattopadhyay P, Tluchowska M, George E (2004) Identifying the ingroup: A closer look at the influence of demographic dissimilarity on employee social identity. Acad. Management Rev. 29(2):180–202.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chen MK, Rohla R (2018) The effect of partisanship and political advertising on close family ties. Science (1979) 360(6392):1020–1024.Google Scholar
• Clair JA, Beatty JE, Maclean TL (2005) Out of sight but not out of mind: Managing invisible social identities in the workplace. Acad. Management Rev. 30(1):78–95.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Cunningham GB (2007) Perceptions as reality: The influence of actual and perceived demographic dissimilarity. J. Bus. Psych. 22(1):79–89.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Davis M (1980) A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog. Selected Doc. Psychol. 10(1):85. Google Scholar
• DeBruine L, Jones B (2021) Face Research Lab London set. Accessed March 3, 2023, https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Face_Research_Lab_London_Set/5047666.Google Scholar
• Dimotakis N, Scott BA, Koopman J (2011) An experience sampling investigation of workplace interactions, affective states, and employee well-being. J. Organ. Behav. 32(4):572–588.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Dinas E (2014) Does choice bring loyalty? Electoral participation and the development of party identification. Amer. J. Political Sci. 58(2):449–465.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Doering L, Tilcsik A (2025) Location matters: Everyday gender discrimination in remote and on-site work. Organ. Sci. 36(2):547–571.Link, Google Scholar
• Dovidio JF, Gaertner SL (2010) Intergroup bias. Fiske ST, Gilbert DT, Lindzey G, eds. Handbook of Social Psychology (John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ), 1084–1121.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Dwertmann DJG, Nishii LH, van Knippenberg D (2016) Disentangling the fairness & discrimination and synergy perspectives on diversity climate: Moving the field forward. J. Management 42(5):1136–1168.Google Scholar
• Emerson KTU, Murphy MC (2014) Identity threat at work: How social identity threat and situational cues contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in the workplace. Cultural Diversity Ethnic Minority Psych. 20(4):508–520.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fasbender U, Burmeister A, Wang M (2020) Motivated to be socially mindful: Explaining age differences in the effect of employees’ contact quality with coworkers on their coworker support. Personality Psych. 73(3):407–430.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Forbes S, Fikretoglu D (2018) Building resilience: The conceptual basis and research evidence for resilience training programs. Rev. General Psych. 22(4):452–468.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Frey D (1981) The effect of negative feedback about oneself and cost of information on preferences for information about the source of this feedback. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 17(1):42–50.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gabriel AS, Koopman J, Rosen CC, Johnson RE (2018) Helping others or helping oneself? An episodic examination of the behavioral consequences of helping at work. Personality Psych. 71(1):85–107.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gale J, Erez A, Bamberger P, Foulk T, Cooper B, Riskin A, Schilpzand P, et al. (2024) Rudeness and team performance: Adverse effects via member social value orientation and coordinative team processes. J. Appl. Psych. 109(12):1948–1971.Crossref, Google Scholar
• George MM, Strauss K, Mell JN, Vough HC (2023) When “who I am” is under threat: Measures of threat to identity value, meanings, and enactment. J. Appl. Psych. 108(12):1952–1978.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gerpott FH, Fasbender U, Burmeister A (2020) Respectful leadership and followers’ knowledge sharing: A social mindfulness lens. Human Relations 73(6):789–810.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gordon C, Arian A (2001) Threat and decision making. J. Conflict Resolution 45(2):196–215.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gordon AM, Luciani M, From A (2025) I love you but I hate your politics: The role of political dissimilarity in romantic relationships. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 129(4):692–713.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Guillaume YRF, Dawson JF, Otaye‐Ebede L, Woods SA, West MA (2017) Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity? J. Organ. Behav. 38(2):276–303.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Harrison DA, Price KH, Bell MP (1998) Beyond relational demography: Time and the effects of surface-and deep-level diversity on work group cohesion. Acad. Management J. 41(1):96–107.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Haslam SA (2011) Psychology in Organizations, 2nd ed. (SAGE Publications, London).Google Scholar
• Hawkins CB, Nosek BA (2012) Motivated independence? Implicit party identity predicts political judgments among self-proclaimed Independents. Personality Soc. Psych. Bull. 38(11):1437–1452.Crossref, Google Scholar
• He Y, Costa PL, Walker JM, Miner KN, Wooderson RL (2019) Political identity dissimilarity, workplace incivility, and declines in well‐being: A prospective investigation. Stress Health 35(3):256–266.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Henderson AA, Jeong SS (2022) Political affiliation dissimilarity: Exploring lone affiliate employees’ work attitudes and experiences. Stress Health 38(2):249–260.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hewstone M, Rubin M, Willis H (2002) Intergroup bias. Annual Rev. Psych. 53(1):575–604.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hill AD, Johnson SG, Greco LM, O’Boyle EH, Walter SL (2021) Endogeneity: A review and agenda for the methodology-practice divide affecting micro and macro research. J. Management 47(1):105–143.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hogg MA (2012) Uncertainty-identity theory. van Lange PAM, Kruglanski AW, Higgins ET, eds. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology (SAGE, London), 62–80.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hu J, Liden RC (2015) Making a difference in the teamwork: Linking team prosocial motivation to team processes and effectiveness. Acad. Management J. 58(4):1102–1127.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Huber GA, Malhotra N (2017) Political homophily in social relationships: Evidence from online dating behavior. J. Politics 79(1):269–283.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Iyengar S, Westwood SJ (2015) Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization. Amer. J. Political Sci. 59(3):690–707.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Iyengar S, Sood G, Lelkes Y (2012) Affect, not ideology. A social identity perspective on polarization. Public Opinion Quart. 76(3):405–431.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Iyengar S, Lelkes Y, Levendusky M, Malhotra N, Westwood SJ (2019) The origins and consequences of affective polarization in the United States. Annual Rev. Political Sci. 22(1):129–146.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Jehn KA, Mannix EA (2001) The dynamic nature of conflict: A longitudinal study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Acad. Management J. 44(2):238–251.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Johnson AF, Roberto KJ (2018) Right versus left: How does political ideology affect the workplace? J. Organ. Behav. 39(8):1040–1043.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Jonas E, Greenberg J, Frey D (2003) Connecting terror management and dissonance theory: Evidence that mortality salience increases the preference for supporting information after decisions. Personality Soc. Psych. Bull. 29(9):1181–1189.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Joshi A, Neely BH (2018) A structural-emergence model of diversity in teams. Annual Rev. Organ. Psych. Organ. Behav. 5(1):361–385.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kaiser CR, Vick SB, Major B (2006) Prejudice expectations moderate preconscious attention to cues that are threatening to social identity. Psych. Sci. 17(4):332–338.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kammeyer-Mueller JD, Livingston BA, Liao H (2011) Perceived similarity, proactive adjustment, and organizational socialization. J. Vocational Behav. 78(2):225–236.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Keith BE, Magleby DB, Nelson CJ, Orr EA (1992) Myth of the Independent Voter (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA).Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kivikangas JM, Fernández-Castilla B, Järvelä S, Ravaja N, Lönnqvist J-E (2021) Moral foundations and political orientation: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Psych. Bull. 147(1):55–94.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Klein KJ, Dansereau F, Hall RJ (1994) Levels issues in theory development, data collection, and analysis. Acad. Management Rev. 19(2):195–229.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Korman BA, Reinwald M, Kunze F, Koos S (2025) How political context affects immigrant newcomers’ social undermining dynamics and well-being at work. Acad. Management J. 68(3):540–566.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kreiner GE, Hollensbe EC, Sheep ML (2006) On the edge of identity: Boundary dynamics at the interface of individual and organizational identities. Human Relations 59(10):1315–1341.Crossref, Google Scholar
• LeDoux JE (2014) Coming to terms with fear. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111(8):2871–2878.Crossref, Google Scholar
• LeDoux J (2015) Anxious. The Modern Mind in the Age of Anxiety (Oneworld Publications, London).Google Scholar
• Leigh A, Melwani S (2019) # BlackEmployeesMatter: Mega-threats, identity fusion, and enacting positive deviance in organizations. Acad. Management Rev. 44(3):564–591.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lynn M, Snyder CR (2002) Uniqueness seeking. Snyder CR, Lopez SJ, eds. Handbook of Positive Psychology (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK), 395–410.Google Scholar
• Mael F, Ashforth BE (1992) Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. J. Organ. Behav. 13(2):103–123.Crossref, Google Scholar
• McAllister DJ (1995) Affect-and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations. Acad. Management J. 38(1):24–59.Crossref, Google Scholar
• McDonald MD, Mendes SM, Kim M (2007) Cross-temporal and cross-national comparisons of party left-right positions. Election Stud. 26(1):62–75.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Meier LL, Gross S, Spector PE, Semmer NK (2013) Relationship and task conflict at work: Interactive short-term effects on angry mood and somatic complaints. J. Occupational Health Psych. 18(2):144–156.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mönke FW, Lievens F, Hess U, Schäpers P (2024) Politics speak louder than skills: Political similarity effects in hireability judgments in multiparty contexts and the role of political interest. J. Appl. Psych. 109(1):1–12.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Morewedge CK, Kahneman D (2010) Associative processes in intuitive judgment. Trends Cognition Sci. 14(10):435–440.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mutz DC, Mondak JJ (2006) The workplace as a context for cross-cutting political discourse. J. Politics 68(1):140–155.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Nkomo SM, Bell MP, Roberts LM, Joshi A, Thatcher SMB (2019) Diversity at a critical juncture: New theories for a complex phenomenon. Acad. Management Rev. 44(3):498–517.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Petriglieri JL (2011) Under threat: Responses to and the consequences of threats to individuals’ identities. Acad. Management Rev. 36(4):641–662.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Reinwald M, Kunze F (2020) Being different, being absent? A dynamic perspective on demographic dissimilarity and absenteeism in blue-collar teams. Acad. Management J. 63(3):660–684.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Riordan CM, Wayne JH (2008) A review and examination of demographic similarity measures used to assess relational demography within groups. Organ. Res. Methods 11(3):562–592.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Röllicke L (2023) Polarisation, identity and affect - Conceptualising affective polarisation in multi-party systems. Election Stud. 85(1):102655.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rosen CC, Koopman J, Gabriel AS, Lee YE, Ezerins M, Roth PL (2024) Hidden consequences of political discourse at work: How and why ambient political conversations impact employee outcomes. J. Appl. Psych. 109(6):795–810.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Roth PL, Goldberg CB, Thatcher JB (2017) The role of political affiliation in employment decisions: A model and research agenda. J. Appl. Psych. 102(9):1286–1304.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Schilpzand P, de Pater IE, Erez A (2016) Workplace incivility: A review of the literature and agenda for future research. J. Organ. Behav. 37(S1):57–88.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Selig JP, Preacher KJ (2008) Monte Carlo method for assessing mediation: An interactive tool for creating confidence intervals for indirect effects [Computer software]. Accessed December 17, 2024, http://quantpsy.org/.Google Scholar
• SHRM (2019) Politics in the workplace. Accessed September 24, 2025, https://www.shrm.org/content/dam/en/shrm/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/SHRM-Politics-in-the-Workplace-Survey-Oct-2019.pdf.Google Scholar
• SimanTov-Nachlieli I, Bamberger P (2021) Pay communication, justice, and affect: The asymmetric effects of process and outcome pay transparency on counterproductive workplace behavior. J. Appl. Psych. 106(2):230–249.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Singer JD, Willett JB (2003) Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis: Modeling Change and Event Occurrence (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK).Crossref, Google Scholar
• Solomon BC (2025) Liberal versus conservative distrust: A construal-level approach to dissimilarity in the workplace. J. Appl. Psych. 110(6):755–775.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Song Y, Liu Y, Wang M, Lanaj K, Johnson RE, Shi J (2018) A social mindfulness approach to understanding experienced customer mistreatment: A within-person field experiment. Acad. Management J. 61(3):994–1020.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Swigart KL, Anantharaman A, Williamson JA, Grandey AA (2020) Working while liberal/conservative: A review of political ideology in organizations. J. Management 46(6):1063–1091.Crossref, Google Scholar
• van Dijk H, Meyer B, van Engen M, Loyd DL (2017) Microdynamics in diverse teams: A review and integration of the diversity and stereotyping literatures. Acad. Management Ann. 11(1):517–557.Crossref, Google Scholar
• van Doesum NJ, van Lange DAW, van Lange PAM (2013) Social mindfulness: Skill and will to navigate the social world. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 105(1):86–103.Crossref, Google Scholar
• van Doesum NJ, Murphy RO, Gallucci M, Aharonov-Majar E, Athenstaedt U, Au WT, Bai L, et al. (2021) Social mindfulness and prosociality vary across the globe. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118(35):e2023846118.Crossref, Google Scholar
• van Lange PA, van Doesum NJ (2015) Social mindfulness and social hostility. Current Opinion Behav. Sci. 3(1):18–24.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Wagner M (2024) Affective polarization in Europe. Eur. Political Sci. Rev. 16(3):378–392.Crossref, Google Scholar
• West EA, Iyengar S (2022) Partisanship as a social identity: Implications for polarization. Political Behav. 44(2):807–838.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Woolum A, Foulk T, Lanaj K, Erez A (2017) Rude color glasses: The contaminating effects of witnessed morning rudeness on perceptions and behaviors throughout the workday. J. Appl. Psych. 102(12):1658–1672.Crossref, Google Scholar
• World Economic Forum (2024) The Global Risks Report 2024. Accessed January 8, 2025, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2024.pdf.Google Scholar
• Yen C-L, Cheng C-P, Huang C-L, Lin Y-C (2021) Does awareness of death strengthen awareness of self? The effects of existential threat on self-focus. Current Psych. 40(5):1–6.Crossref, Google Scholar