Flattery Essay

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Workplace Flattery “Flattery is excessive or insincere praise” --Green and Chaney (2006, p. 33) Frequently, in our daily life, people compliment and praise us. When they provide over-exaggerated and dishonest praise, it is called flattery. It is a very common and widely used technique to fulfill ones desire and need. Chan and Sengupta (2010) mentions that flattery has been in practice since a long time and it is commonly used as a “persuasion method” by the employees to convince their superiors for certain tasks or rewards (p. 122). According to Seiter’s 2007 study (as cited in Grant, Fabrigar, and Lim, 2010, p. 226), there are different reasons for complimenting another person; such as if the server gives a compliment to their customer, they receive a higher tip. Studies by Fogg & Nass (1997), Gordon (1996), and Vonk (2002), have shown that the person who gives a compliment to another person is usually evaluated positively because everybody wants to be liked (as cited in Chan & Sengupta, 2010, p. 122). “Sucking up,” “Brown nosing,” and “Schmoozing” are the common names given to the workers ingratiation at the workplace. They engage in such activities hoping to get an opportunity of getting a desired project, safeguard their career, promotion and salary increase. Therefore, ingratiation is a method of increasing “interpersonal attractiveness in the eyes of the manager” (Deluga, 2003, p. 14). Reasons of Workplace Flattery There are many reasons for workplace flattery. Fogg and Nass (1997) states, it occurs when a person in the company communicates good things about another person regardless of “that person’s true qualities or abilities” (as cited in Chan & Sengupta, 2010, p. 123). According to Bragg (2004), and Fisher (2002), some employees are compelled to use such strategies like flattery and ingratiation. Employees who have

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