| This study was a field experiment examining the perceptions of fairness and emotion by participants after reviewing a case study of negative change and either (1) given no social account explanation, (2) given a social account explanation, (3) developed a social account through a traditional strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis (SWOT), and finally (4) developed a social account through an appreciative inquiry (AI) process. It was expected that individuals who become actively involved in the development of a social account would experience more positive emotion, less negative emotion, higher job satisfaction, and a higher sense of fairness or justice. It was also expected that the groups participating in the AI social account development exercise would experience the highest level of justice, positive emotion, job satisfaction, and the lowest negative emotion. This would provide evidence for the use of a new social account, described in the study as the "Appreciative Account.";As was predicted, the AI groups had the highest scores for justice, positive emotion, job satisfaction and the lowest scores for negative emotion, as measured by the mean differences in scores from the pre-condition questionnaires to the post-condition questionnaires. Thought listing comments provided further evidence for the support of AI. The data was mixed on statistical significance between SWOT and AI groups.;This study provides solid evidence for the use of a new social account described in this study as the appreciative account. This type of approach is important for organizations as they look to improve performance, increase loyalty, increase organizational citizenship behaviors, and increase levels of trust. In addition, this study may be the first study to look at AI, justice, and emotion together. |
