中文导读

公司感谢员工的方式大致有两种：一种是私下的，比如加薪或一份不对外公开的优秀绩效评价；另一种是公开的，比如“月度最佳员工”、在会议上当众表扬，或者给一个更体面的职位头衔。美国康奈尔大学劳资关系学院的 Emily Zitek 与伦敦大学学院的 Verena Krause、哈佛医学院的 Alexander H. Jordan 合作，于2026年10月8日在《社会心理与人格科学》发表论文，康奈尔大学10月20日发布新闻稿介绍了这项研究。研究团队开展了四项在线调查，共有1000多名全职员工参与，让他们自评自恋（narcissism）程度，并回答公开与私下奖励对自己的激励作用、更偏好哪一种，以及是选更好的头衔还是更高的薪水。文章大致按“现象—研究方法—主要发现—原因解释—现实意义—局限”展开：先对比两类奖励，再交代调查怎么做，接着说明多数人更喜欢私下奖励、自恋程度高的人更看重公开奖励，然后用“在乎地位、不担心别人嫉妒”来解释，最后谈到企业常见的“头衔膨胀”（title inflation）以及研究只能说明关联。阅读时可留意 while、but、by contrast 如何表示对比，以及 may、might、could 如何表示推测和保留。

正文

When a company wants to thank a good worker, it can do so quietly or publicly. A pay rise or a performance review may stay private, while an “employee of the month” award, praise at a meeting or a grander job title is shared with colleagues. A new study from Cornell University suggests that most people prefer the quiet kind, but one type of person likes the public kind much more.

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公司想感谢一名优秀员工时，可以悄悄地做，也可以公开地做。加薪或一份绩效评价可能只有本人知道，而“月度最佳员工”奖、会议上的表扬或更体面的职位头衔则会让同事们都看到。康奈尔大学的一项新研究表明，大多数人更喜欢低调的那种，但有一类人对公开的那种喜欢得多。

The study, published on 8 October in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, was led by Emily Zitek. Her team ran four online surveys of full-time employees, with more than 1,000 people. Participants rated their own level of narcissism, a personality trait linked to a strong wish for attention and admiration. They then said how much public and private rewards motivated them, which kind they preferred, and whether they would choose a better title or higher pay.

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这项研究于10月8日发表在《社会心理与人格科学》期刊上，由 Emily Zitek 主持。她的团队对全职员工开展了四项在线调查，共有1000多人参与。参与者为自己的自恋程度打分；自恋是一种与强烈渴望关注和赞赏相关的人格特质。随后，他们说明公开奖励和私下奖励对自己有多大激励作用、更喜欢哪一种，以及会选择更好的头衔还是更高的薪水。

Overall, people liked private rewards better. Zitek said this was “somewhat surprising given how common public rewards are.” People higher in narcissism also enjoyed private rewards, but they liked public rewards much more than others did. They were also more likely to accept a job with a better title over one with more money.

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总体而言，人们更喜欢私下的奖励。Zitek 说，这一点“有些出人意料，因为公开奖励十分常见”。自恋程度较高的人也喜欢私下奖励，但他们对公开奖励的喜爱远超其他人。他们也更可能接受头衔更好的工作，而不是钱更多的工作。

The surveys also pointed to a reason. People higher in narcissism cared more about status and worried less about envy. Many workers fear that a public prize could make colleagues jealous and harm their relationships. Narcissists, by contrast, tend to see such a prize as a way to raise their status. “Narcissists may even desire others to be envious of them,” Zitek said, because envy can show that others recognise their status.

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调查还指向了一个原因。自恋程度较高的人更在乎地位，也不太担心别人嫉妒。许多员工担心，一个公开的奖项可能让同事眼红，损害彼此的关系。相比之下，自恋者往往把这样的奖项看作提升自己地位的途径。Zitek 说：“自恋者甚至可能希望别人嫉妒他们。”因为嫉妒可以表明别人认可了他们的地位。

The findings raise questions about a common practice called title inflation, in which companies give staff grander titles without changing their work or pay. Such titles may please a few people, but most others will not value them much. Zitek warned that title inflation “might not be helping your employees as much as you think,” and could even make a company seem less believable. Stressing public rewards, she added, might also attract more narcissists.

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这些发现让人质疑一种常见做法——“头衔膨胀”，即公司给员工更响亮的头衔，却不改变他们的工作内容或薪水。这样的头衔也许能让少数人高兴，但其他大多数人不会太看重。Zitek 提醒说，头衔膨胀“也许并不像你想的那样对员工有帮助”，甚至可能让公司显得不那么可信。她还说，强调公开奖励可能还会吸引更多自恋者。

The researchers do not say that public praise is always wrong. Their point is that good leaders fit their methods to the people they manage, and that the same reward can feel different to different workers. Because people described themselves in the surveys, the results show patterns rather than prove what causes what. Zitek is now studying how narcissistic managers change the behaviour of the people who work for them.

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研究者并没有说公开表扬总是不对的。他们的观点是，好的领导者会根据所管理的人调整方法，而同样的奖励在不同员工看来感受可能大不相同。由于调查中的信息是人们对自己的描述，这些结果显示的是规律，并不能证明谁导致了谁。Zitek 目前正在研究自恋型管理者会如何改变下属的行为。

新闻来源

• Cornell Chronicle · Workplace narcissists crave more than a quiet raise (20 Oct 2026)
• Social Psychological and Personality Science · Inflated Titles, Inflated Egos: Narcissism Predicts the Desire for Public Rewards (8 Oct 2026)

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