Retraction of Gino et al. (2020)

J Pers Soc Psychol. 2023 Sep;125(3):648. doi: 10.1037/pspa0000351.

Abstract

Reports the retraction of "Why connect? Moral consequences of networking with a promotion or prevention focus" by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki and Tiziana Casciaro (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2020[Dec], Vol 119[6], 1221-1238). This retraction is at the request of the Research Integrity Officer at Harvard Business School after the results of a review into data for Study 3a collected and analyzed by Francesca Gino. The review identified unexplained discrepancies between (a) the data associated with Study 3a in the Open Science Framework platform and (b) the original, raw data collected in Qualtrics. These discrepancies, which involved 28% of the total data from Study 3a, biased the published results in the direction of the study hypothesis. A reanalysis of the original data invalidated the previous conclusion from the study. The report of the investigation did not concern either Maryam Kouchaki or Tiziana Casciaro, who agree with the retraction. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-42384-001.) Networks are a key source of social capital for achieving goals in professional and personal settings. Yet, despite the clear benefits of having an extensive network, individuals often shy away from the opportunity to create new connections because engaging in instrumental networking can make them feel morally impure. In this article, we explore how the motives people have when engaging in networking impact these feelings and, as result, change how frequently they engage in networking and their job performance. Across a correlational survey study, a laboratory experiment (with samples from the United States and Italy), two online studies, an organizational network survey study, and a field experiment with professionals (total N = 2,551), we examine how self-regulatory focus, whether promotion or prevention, affects people's experience of and outcomes from networking. We find that a promotion focus, as compared to a prevention focus or a control condition, is beneficial to professional networking, as it lowers feelings of moral impurity from instrumental networking. As such, networking with a promotion focus increases the frequency of instrumental networking as compared to a control condition, whereas networking with a prevention focus decreases frequency of instrumental networking as compared to a control condition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Publication types

  • Retraction of Publication