Understanding Workplace Envy Through Narrative Fiction
David Patient, Thomas B. Lawrence, Sally Maitlis
Organization Studies · 2003 · Volume 24 · Issue 7
DOI: 10.1177/01708406030247002
Abstract
In this article, we explore the social construction of workplace envy through an analysis of its portrayal in a fictional narrative. Based on our examination of three excerpts from Richard Russo's novel Straight Man , we argue that envy is socially constructed in prominent and revealing episodes within broader organizational narratives. We further show that envy both serves as a catalytic emotion that engenders action and sensemaking, and at the same time, acts as a mechanism that reproduces the moral and cultural order within which it occurs.
Keywords
emotion, envy, fiction, narrative, social construction
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