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2024 AOM Annual Meeting

HR

Session: 1679: Cultivating Human Capital: New Dimensions in Job Performance and Inclusion

1679: Wilting Under the Spotlight: The Darling Effect and Its Influence on Performance (14788)

Monday, August 12, 2024
16:45 – 18:15 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)
Location: Swissotel: St Gallen 3
Session Number: 1679
Paper Session
Orientation: Research
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/QGdLKw
The present study introduces the darling effect concept, defined as the social conferral of high success expectations upon an individual, based on early performance success, which can inadvertently undermine subsequent performance. We drew from the performance and status literatures to propose that ‘darlings’ who fail to meet socially-conferred performance expectations face potential status loss. As such, we predicted that darling status would be associated with reduced performance under conditions of adversity and/or high negative scrutiny. Study hypotheses were tested across samples of professional boxers (Study 1) and top-20 ranked U.S. Professional Golf Association (PGA) golfers (Study 2). Study 1 results showed that darlings (Olympic medalist boxers) won a significantly lower percentage of their world title fights across their careers than matched, non-darling boxers (i.e., high-flyers) under adversity (i.e., losing their first world-title bout). Study 2 measured darling status continuously based on PGA golfers’ pre-tournament ranks for The Masters, PGA Championship, The U.S. Open, and Open Championship tournaments from 2009-2019. Results showed that, compared to lower-ranked darlings, higher-ranked darlings performed worse (i.e., required more total strokes to complete golf tournaments) under conditions of high versus low negative media scrutiny. We discuss the theoretical and research implications of our findings.

view paper (if available)