Well but not Welcome: Backlash and career consequences for prioritizing physical and mental wellbeing at work

Although many modern organizations frequently promote employee wellbeing, including an emphasis on mental and physical health, the interpersonal consequences of these initiatives have been largely neglected. Across three studies, we show that employees experience different forms of backlash when they prioritize their physical or mental health over immediate work demands. In Studies 1 and 2, we demonstrate that while individuals are willing to openly penalize employees who prioritize physical wellbeing (e.g. going to the gym) over work demands—judging them as less committed to the organization and having less leadership potential, as well as being less likely to endorse them for career opportunities—this effect was not observed for employees who prioritized mental wellbeing (e.g. meditating, journaling, therapy). However, in Study 3, we find that despite the lack of explicit backlash against employees who prioritize mental wellbeing, these individuals were less likely to receive critical, job-relevant feedback, suggesting a subtler form of backlash may occur in the domain of mental wellbeing.