1161: “Are You Really Going to Eat That?” Toward an Understanding of Workplace Food Shaming (20312)

Monday, August 12, 2024

08:00 – 09:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

Location: Swissotel: Matterhorn

Session Number: 1161
Paper Session
Orientation: Research
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/wjpYrL

Author(s)

AP

Amanda S. Patel

Suffolk U., United States
MM

Michael Matthews

U. of Texas Rio Grande Valley, United States
GA

Giselle Elaine Antoine

Washington U. in St. Louis, Olin Business School, United States
VL

Vanessa Liu

Singapore U. of Social Sciences
GB

Gregory Robert Beaver

Suffolk U., United States

Previous research on workplace eating has demonstrated a link between employee eating and work. While nascent research shows that eating behaviors influence coworker perceptions, we argue that workplace eating goes beyond this and serves a key social function. To that end, we develop the construct of workplace food shaming (i.e., signaling disapproval of coworker food choices). Relying on social self-preservation theory, we argue demonstrate that workplace food shaming leads to work withdrawal. We further argue and find that a healthy eating identity, through workplace healthy eating, strengthens the relationship between workplace food shaming and withdrawal. We contribute to our theoretical understanding of workplace food shaming by elucidating the social function it serves and demonstrate its importance for organizationally relevant outcomes.

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