管理工程学报2026，Vol.40Issue(3)：71-83,13.DOI:10.13587/j.cnki.jieem.2026.03.006
融入还是卓尔不群?明星员工印象管理策略的人际后果研究
Blend in or stand out?Interpersonal outcomes of impression management strategies of star employees
摘要
Abstract
Exposure to the organizational"spotlight"puts star employees in the limelight,earning them the favor of leadership and granting them preferential access to resources and opportunities.Idealistically,star employees should serve as pioneers and role models,inspiring their non-star colleagues to optimize their work practices and performance.In reality,however,star employees often overshadow their non-star counterparts,obscuring their contributions and excluding them from opportunities.Consequently,non-star colleagues may develop a complex interpersonal attitude toward star employees,admiring their success while also feeling overshadowed.This research is based on the interpersonal dynamics between stars and non-stars and raises the following research questions:As organizational"highlighters,"how do star employees manage their workplace image?How did coworkers respond to the celebrity"workplace show"? As the saying goes,"Tall trees catch much wind,""The nail that sticks up gets hammered down,"and"It is lonely at the top."These adages reflect the fact that,as a"minority"within the group,star employees are more likely to become interpersonal victims.Therefore,they must face greater interpersonal pressure—pretending to be average or standing out?On the one hand,star employees desire to maintain their unique status within the organization and advance their career aspirations.On the other hand,star employees must garner the support of their peers to progress with less resistance. To explain the interpersonal confusion of star employees,this study uses Fiske's impression formation model and Robert's Social Identity-based Impression Management(SIM)strategy,revealing the interaction between star employees and non-star colleagues from the perspectives of impression management and impression perception.Specifically,the SIM strategies of star employees include social recategorization strategies(i.e.,assimilation and decategorization)and positive uniqueness strategies(i.e.,integration and confirmation).The former uses the qualifications of star employees as a guide,manages"blend in"through the significance of organizational membership,and influences the interpersonal attitude of coworkers by influencing their archetypal impression.The latter takes as a cue the uniqueness of star employees,manages"stand out"through the legitimacy of star status,and influences the interpersonal attitude of colleagues by influencing their authentic impression.Archetypal impression refers to the impression that colleagues have regarding the extent to which star employees possess typical organizational characteristics,whereas authentic impression refers to the impression that when colleagues have a unique performance of star employees,their uniqueness is generated by the degree of genuine self-expression.Both are conducive to reducing star employees' ostracism and achieving popularity. To test the research hypothesis,this study first followed Call et al.'s recommendation and screened star employees primarily based on three dimensions:disproportionately high performance over a long period,visibility,and social capital.This study ultimately obtained 416 effective paired samples.Second,through the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis,the SIM strategies scale's reliability and validity meet the requirements.Then,SPSS was employed to describe the means,standard deviations,and correlation coefficients between the variables.Finally,AMOS 20 was utilized to test the indirect effects of the structural equation model using a deviation-corrected nonparametric percentile residual Bootstrap method.The results revealed the following:1)Assimilation and integration strategies have positive interpersonal outcomes,increased popularity,and reduced ostracism.2)Decategorization does not significantly influence interpersonal outcomes.3)However,confirmation results in negative outcomes,including an increase in ostracism and a decrease in popularity.This study categorizes star employees as heterogeneous individuals based on impression management strategies.It is the first to integrate impression management theory and social cognitive theory,and incorporate prototypicality and authenticity to address the social dilemma of"blend in vs.stand out."It unveils the reasons behind different interpersonal attitudes toward star employees and provides practical implications for star employees,managers,and regular employees.关键词
明星员工/基于社会身份的印象管理策略(SIM)/职场排斥/职场接纳Key words
Star employees/Social Identity-based Impression Management(SIM)/Ostracism/Popularity分类
管理科学引用本文复制引用
马兰明,马君..融入还是卓尔不群?明星员工印象管理策略的人际后果研究[J].管理工程学报,2026,40(3):71-83,13.基金项目
国家自然科学基金(71872111) （71872111）
教育部人文社会科学研究规划基金(16YJA630036) The National Natural Science Foundation of China(71872111) （16YJA630036）
The Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China(16YJA630036) （16YJA630036）
