“I'm so stressed!”: The relational consequences of stress bragging

Abstract

Feeling stressed is an unfortunately common experience among employees—and one with significant consequences for personal and professional well-being. Yet, in addition to trying to manage high stress levels, some employees are actively bragging about it to others at work. Given the general negativity of stress, however, the idea of bragging about stress and its relational implications are unclear. To investigate this phenomenon, we introduce the concept of stress bragging and draw on person-perception theorizing to examine its potential workplace consequences for both braggarts and their coworkers. In a combination of a lab experiment (Study 1) and a multi-source field study (Study 2), we show that stress bragging has resoundingly negative implications for braggarts as they are evaluated as less competent and less warm by coworkers, reducing their receipt of citizenship behaviors. Additionally, in Study 2, we find that coworkers of stress braggarts also suffer by experiencing higher levels of burnout due to enhanced stress crossover effects. This research on stress bragging integrates and extends the literatures on stress and self-promotion, while also providing insight into the relational ramifications of this unconventional behavior.