At face value, self-conscious emotions (e.g., pride, shame) should have straightforward links to positive or negative outcomes in the workplace. Theories of emotions would support this viewpoint, with evolution, non-cognitive-based emotion theories (e.g., Ekman, 1977; James-Lange, 1884; Robinson, 1995) providing a conceptual foundation for implicit emotion-outcome relationships (i.e., positive emotions – positive outcomes and negative emotions – negative outcomes), and cognitive, appraisal-based theories of emotions (e.g., Lazarus, 1991; Roseman, 1984) incorporating additional cognitive factors that contribute to how an employee experiences and reacts to an emotional event. Together, these theories provide a conceptual foundation for both implicit and paradoxical emotion-outcome relationships (i.e., inherently negative emotions (e.g., guilt, shame) leading to positive workplace outcomes and vice versa). In the organization sciences, a plethora of studies use discrete emotions to explain the connections between their antecedents and outcomes of interest. In this manuscript, we conduct a systematic quantitative review of all studies that have examined self-conscious emotions in workplace settings and perform a meta-analysis that examines the evidence for consistent as well as counterintuitive relationships between self-conscious emotions and workplace constructs. This meta-analysis sheds light on the role of self-conscious emotions in the workplace and helps to guide future research by providing insight into the expected—and unexpected—outcomes of workplace emotions.
