sensemaking, and acting that alleviates the suffering of another person. This process has recently received substantial attention by organizational researchers and practitioners alike. This article reviews what researchers currently know about compassion as it unfolds in dyadic interactions in work organizations. We begin by reviewing what we know about the benefits of compassion for the person who is suffering, for the provider of compassion, and...

This article summarizes current theory and research related to apologies in close relationships. Eight studies examined predictors of the occurrence and effectiveness of apologies, and 7 studies investigated outcomes associated with apologies. Two studies investigated predictors and associated outcomes of apologies. Findings indicated that characteristics of the victim (e.g., willingness to empathize), characteristics of the transgressor (e.g., gender, personality), and specific contextual factors (e.g., relational...

Despite wide acceptance of the stereotype that women apologize more readily than men, there is little systematic evidence to support this stereotype or its supposed bases (e.g., men’s fragile egos). We designed two studies to examine whether gender differences in apology behavior exist and, if so, why. In Study 1, participants reported in daily diaries all offenses they committed or experienced and whether an apology...

Distinguishes 2 types of self-blame—behavioral and characterological. Behavioral self-blame is control related, involves attributions to a modifiable source (one's behavior), and is associated with a belief in the future avoidance of a negative outcome. Characterological self-blame is esteem related, involves attributions to a relatively nonmodifiable source (one's character), and is associated with a belief in personal deservingness for past negative outcomes. Two studies are reported...

Because a relatively small percentage of individuals who experience a traumatic event ultimately develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is incumbent upon researchers to identify factors of vulnerability and risk. One possible risk factor is attributional style or the types of causes individuals habitually offer for negative life events. This study examined the association between pessimistic attributional style and symptoms of PTSD. Because of methodological...

Tested the prediction of the reformulated learned helplessness model, which claims that the tendency to explain bad events by internal, stable, and global causes potentiates quitting when bad events are encountered. Two studies were conducted, using a total of 197 life insurance agents as Ss. Explanatory style, as measured by the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), correlated with and predicted the performance of the Ss. In...

Two university varsity swimming teams took the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) at the start of the season. Swimmers with a pessimistic explanatory style went on to show more unexpected poor performances during competition than optimistic swimmers. We then tested the purported mechanism of this effect by experimentally simulating defeat, giving each swimmer falsely negative times. Performance deteriorated for those swimmers with a pessimistic explanatory style...

Some teachers are dramatically more effective than others, but traditional indicators of competence (e.g., certification) explain minimal variance in performance. The rigors of teaching suggest that positive traits that buffer against adversity might contribute to teacher effectiveness. In this prospective longitudinal study, novice teachers (N = 390) placed in under-resourced public schools completed measures of optimistic explanatory style, grit, and life satisfaction prior to the...

This article presents a meta-analytic review of the association between attributional styles and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. In 28 studies involving 7500 subjects, the correlations were consistent with those predicted by the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression. For negative outcomes, attributions along the internal, stable, and global dimensions were associated positively with depression. Conversely, higher levels of depressive symptoms were related to...

The tendency to "bask in reflected glory" (BIRG) by publicly announcing one's associations with successful others was investigated in 3 field experiments with more than 300 university students. All 3 studies showed this effect to occur even though the person striving to bask in the glory of a successful source was not involved in the cause of the source's success. Exp I demonstrated the BIRG...