Deployment of Algorithms in Management Tasks Reduces Prosocial Motivation

Author(s)

Armin Granulo, Sara Caprioli, Christoph Fuchs, Stefano Puntoni

Abstract

Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence,

firms increasingly deploy algorithms in a wide range of management

tasks (e.g., evaluating workers' performance). Scholars and major political institutions

have therefore called for a better understanding of the behavioral and

psychological consequences of this phenomenon. In this research, we

investigate how deploying algorithms in management tasks affects

prosocial motivation, a crucial dimension of workplace productivity and

social interactions. Across five pre-registered studies (N = 3,153, M_age = 33.96, SD_age = 11.89;

51% female), including field and experimental data, we find that

deploying algorithms (vs. humans) in management tasks reduces employees’

prosocial motivation (e.g., the desire to help others). We demonstrate

that this negative effect (i) occurs because management by algorithms

leads to greater objectification of others, (ii) also occurs when

algorithms perform tasks together with human managers, and (iii) depends

on the type of management task algorithms perform. These findings add

another layer to the political, academic, and organizational debate on

algorithmic management.

Organisation(s)

Department of Marketing and International Business

External organisation(s)

Technische Universität München, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Journal

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume

152

ISSN

0747-5632

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108094

Publication date

12-2023

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

502054 Entrepreneurship

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Psychology(all), Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous), Human-Computer Interaction

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