SPEAKRE：Dr. Kenneth Tai （SMU）

TIME/DATE：2026.5.18   10：00

CLASSROOM：A402

ABSTRACT

As displays of affluence proliferate across digital media, people may feel envious of others’ favorable financial situations, commonly referred to as wealth envy. Yet despite its prevalence and impact, limited research has simultaneously examined the drivers of wealth envy, the underlying processes it triggers, and its downstream consequences for employees within and beyond the workplace. Integrating social comparison theory and self-regulation theory, we examine a key antecedent of wealth envy and its mixed downstream consequences at work and home. Specifically, we theorize that employees’ wealth news consumption influences wealth envy. We further propose that wealth envy prompts employees to engage in two distinct cognitive processes: problem-solving, pondering, and affect-focused rumination, which in turn differentially predict task performance, financial investment effort, and family incivility. In a 10-day experience sampling investigation of 142 employees, we find that wealth news consumption the evening before is positively related to next-day wealth envy. Furthermore, while daily wealth envy enhances (reduces) daily task performance (family incivility) through problem-solving pondering, it also increases (reduces) family incivility (daily task performance) through affect-focused rumination. However, wealth envy does not relate to financial investment effort. Overall, our research provides theoretical and empirical insights into the complex and dual nature of wealth envy.

GUEST BIO

Kenneth Tai is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior & Human Resources at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. He earned his Ph.D. in Management & Organization from the National University of Singapore (2013) and a B.Soc.Sci. (Honors) in Psychology (2008) from Singapore Management University. His research focuses on envy, deviance, workplace interpersonal dynamics, well-being, and social inclusion. He has published extensively in leading management and psychology journals and has received multiple research and teaching honors from Singapore Management University.

https://faculty.smu.edu.sg/profile/kenneth-tai-911