Telling people they might lose motivates more than telling them they might win, research shows

Athletes say they hate to lose more than they love to win. New research finds the same sentiment is shared in organizations. A Virginia Tech researcher and his colleagues discovered that when managers frame work problems as a potential loss, employees are more likely to take action than when those problems are framed as potential gains. The research also revealed that when the potential loss impacts a larger group, employees are more likely to take action in the form of speaking up to a supervisor in hopes of finding a solution. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.