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    • COVID-19 Business Impact Center
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      How Best-Self Activation Influences Emotions, Physiology and Employment Relationships
      12 Oct 2015Working Paper Summaries

      How Best-Self Activation Influences Emotions, Physiology and Employment Relationships

      by Dan Cable, Jooa Julia Lee, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats
      Through a series of experiments, Francesca Gino and colleagues show what happens when an organization helps to activate individuals' "best selves."
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      Author Abstract

      Best-self activation happens when individuals gain fresh input from their social network about who they are when they are making their maximum contribution. Most societies and organizations have not created ways of reminding people who they are when they are at their best, even though theory suggests that this information can inspire them to achieve more of their potential. In this paper, two lab experiments and a field experiment showed positive change in individuals’ physiology, creative problem solving, performance under pressure, and social relationships, especially when the stories were reflected back to them by others in their social network.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: September 2015
      • HBS Working Paper Number: 16-029
      • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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      Francesca Gino
      Francesca Gino
      Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration
      Unit Head, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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