Bold or reckless? The impact of workplace risk-taking on attributions and expected outcomes

Abstract

Risk-takers are rhetorically extolled in America, but does this veneration ignore the downsides of failure? We test competing perspectives on how workplace risk-takers are perceived by examining cultural attitudes about individuals who successfully take, unsuccessful take, and avoid risks at work. The results of two experiments show that, in comparison to risk-avoidance, expected workplace outcomes are enhanced by successful risktaking and that failure does not appear to significantly harm expected workplace outcomes for risk-takers. While one experiment finds that failed risk-takers are seen as more likely to be downsized (because they are viewed as more foolish), we also find failed risk-takers are perceived as more likely to be hired and promoted. Mediation analyses reveal this is primarily because risk-taking-regardless of outcome-considerably increases perceptions of agency and decreases perceptions of indecisiveness, and these attributions predict positive workplace outcomes. We also find the results to be remarkably similar across varying participant characteristics (namely, gender, race, education level, work experience, income, and age), which suggests that there is a broad cultural consensus in the U.S. about the value of risk-taking. In sum, we find evidence that observers generally make more positive attributions about risk-takers than about risk-avoiders, even when risk-takers fail.PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.risk-taking should, in and of themselves, influence judgements about risk-takers, as experimental research has found that when people become arbitrarily associated with rewards or success, people judge them more favorably than those associated with fewer rewards or failure [8,9]. This suggests that outcomes of risk-taking behavior will influence attributions made by observers, with successful risk-takers being perceived as more competent (given that they are more likely to receive material rewards), and failed risk-takers as less competent (given that they are less likely to receive material rewards), than risk-avoiders. Since perceived competence guides the distribution of workplace and reward outcomes generally [10], these attributions should further magnify the benefits of successful risk-taking and amplify the costs of unsuccessful risk-taking. Thus, this "negativity bias perspective," strongly suggests that, relative to risk-avoiders, risk-takers' reputations are likely to face more downside from failed risk-taking than upside from successful risk-taking.However, failed workplace risk-taking may have fewer negative effects on attributions than the negativity bias perspective would predict. Through its intimate connection with entrepreneurialism [11], risk-taking signals a plucky agency and confidence [3]. Many ethnographic accounts of workplaces also testify to the social value attached to risk-taking, from the managerial world [4] to bond sales [12] to the tech sector [3]. Even when risk-takers did not succeed, Neff (2012) explained that the mere act of taking risks became seen by certai...

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“…By taking risks and failing, on the other hand, the individual learns something valuable about that decision and scenario and gains confidence in the future. According to previous research, successful risk-taking enhances outcomes in the workplace (e.g., being promoted), whereas failed risk-taking does not necessarily result in a disadvantage in the workplace [46].…”

Job satisfaction has differential associations with delay discounting and risk-taking

“…It seems plausible to believe greater social acceptance may lead to increased job satisfaction. Risk-taking has also been linked to a greater sense of agency 49 , 50 . A higher sense of agency increases the possibility to influence one's own work, which in turn may lead to a higher sense of involvement, an important factor of job satisfaction 3 , 51 .…”

İş Rolüne Uygunluğun İşe Yöneli̇k Ri̇sk Alma Üzeri̇ndeki̇ Etki̇si̇nde Kendi̇ni̇ İfade Etmeni̇n Düzenleyi̇ci̇ Ve Araci Etki̇si̇: Rol Kurami Perspekti̇fi̇

“…The contribution of academicians' suitability for their roles to risk-taking behaviors shows that they may be open to risk. Fisk and Overton (2020) emphasized that risk reduces the perception of indecision and that risk-taking acts as a cultural mechanism that protects employees from punishment even if it fails. This shows that taking risks for the job can lead to positive results in terms of suitability for a role in academia.…”

“…Lu et al (2018) revealed in their research that interpersonal insecurity increases the tendency to take risks. Fisk and Overton (2020) in their research on successful or unsuccessful risktaking behaviors of employees in the workplace; stated that successful risk-taking will improve workplace results, while unsuccessful risk-taking will not create a disadvantage at work. They emphasized that although workplaces that take unsuccessful risks are perceived to be more likely to downsize, people who take unsuccessful risks are more likely to be hired and promoted (compared to risk-averse ones).…”