Reversing the Pollyanna Effect: the Curvilinear Relationship Between Core Self-Evaluation and Perceived Social Acceptance

Despite the popularity of the core self-evaluation (CSE) concept in the organizational psychology literature, research has largely neglected the relational costs perceived by individuals with excessively high levels of CSE (i.e., hyper-CSE). This study addresses these gaps by examining the curvilinear relationship between CSE and social acceptance. Using data from 165 employees and their supervisors, we found support for our model, which posits that CSE has an inverted U-shaped relationship with social acceptance. We also found that this relationship was moderated by conscientious organizational citizenship behaviors (conscientious-OCB). The diminishing returns of CSE occurred only for employees who were rated low in conscientious-OCB. Conversely, when conscientious-OCB was high, employees continued to have positive social acceptance effects. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.